Giovanni Maria Bononcini

Giovanni Maria Bononcini was born on 23 September 1642 in Modena in Italy. He was court composer for eleven years in Venice and then travelled in Europe, reaching London in 1720 to work at the new Royal Academy of Music with George Frideric Handel as Principal. He left England under a cloud in 1732 eventually returning to Italy, where he died in Modena on 18 November 1678. He was prolific throughout his life with church music and opera.