Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti

Remembered today for the Dragonetti bow and for demonstrating the relevance of writing separate orchestral parts for the double bass, Italian double bass player and composer Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti was born in Venice on 9 April 1763. He remained in Venice for the first thirty years of his life, working at the Opera Buffa, the Chapel of San Marco and the Grand Opera.

He visited Haydn and Beethoven in Vienna on several occasions, and he had become well known throughout Europe, turning down various offers of work (including those from the Russian Tsar).

In 1794 he was finally tempted to leave his hometown for the British capital, where he played in the orchestra at the King's Theatre and at Philharmonic Society concerts, settling in London until his death on 16 April 1846.