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Giovanni Draghi (c1640-1708) was an Anglo-Italian composer and keyboard player. He was brought to London in the 1660s by King Charles II who was trying to establish Italian opera in England. He remained in England for the rest of his life. In 1673 Draghi was appointed as the main organist of the queen's Catholic chapel in Somerset House. In 1684 he was hired by organ builder Renatus Harris to demonstrate the superiority of his instrument when the organ maker was trying to gain the contract to build a new organ for the Temple Church. Rival organ builder Bernard Smith hired John Blow and
Henry Purcell to demonstrate his own instrument and won the contest.
Draghi was awarded a pension by William III in 1698.
The recording by Draghi on disc 1 is the second of two Cembalo
(keyboard) pieces labelled "38"; the first is a Toccata
and the second is un-named and mainly fugal -
you can hear the tune working through the
different parts until it disappears around bar 40.
The key is G minor.
The youtube link for the Draghi piece is here: Draghi fugue
Nigel Deacon / Diversity website, 2004 & 2020
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