Vincenzo Fiocchi

Vincenzo Fiocchi was an Italian composer, pianist, musicologist and teacher. He was born in Rome in 1767, studied in Naples at the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini under Fedele Fenaroli and later in Bologna under Giovanni Battista Martini. He served as an organist in Rome and later settled in Paris in 1802, where he debuted in the Théâtre Feydeau with the opera Le Valet des Deux Maîtres. Although his operatic works did not achieve sustained success there, he turned to instrumental, sacred and pedagogical compositions — for example Collection de duos et ariettes (1806), Ricercari à 2 et 3 voix (1808), Musique sacrée à 3 voix sans instruments (1812). He also co-authored, with Alexandre Étienne Choron, the treatise Principes d’accompagnement des écoles d’Italie (1807).

Before settling in Paris, Fiocchi returned to Rome after his studies and became organist at St Peter’s Basilica. Around the end of the eighteenth century he fled Rome during post-revolutionary unrest, finding refuge first in Florence, where he was received by Grand Duke Ferdinand, and later moving on to Paris. He was the son of Alessandro Fiocchi and during his earlier Italian career wrote sixteen operas that enjoyed moderate success, with performances in cities such as Florence, Venice and Milan.

In 1804 he collaborated with Alexandre Étienne Choron on an annotated anthology of Italian masters, Principes d’accompagnement des écoles d’Italie – Extrait des meilleurs auteurs, which included works by Leonardo Leo, Francesco Durante, Nicola Sala and Fedele Fenaroli. In 1811 he attempted to return to the operatic stage with the opera Sophocle, set to a libretto by Étienne Morel.

Fiocchi later taught various subjects at the Paris Conservatory, where among his students was Jean-Baptiste Roucour. He remained in Paris until his death there in 1843.

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