“LA PERFETTA COGNITIONE”: FRANCIS STEPHEN OF LORRAINE, PATRON OF VIVALDI

Agustsson discusses Vivaldi and his noble contacts in Vienna, focuses on the musical patronage of Francis Stephen and introduces a wealth of previously unknown archival sources. Born in Nancy on 8 December 1708 to Leopold, duke of Lorraine and Bar, and his consort Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orleans, Francis Stephen was the ninth of thirteen children, of whom only four reached adulthood. Two important details have emerged of Francis Stephen's musical activity while growing up in Lorraine. First, in an undated petition (c. 1715) to duke Leopold, the horn players Johann Peter Hartmann and Daniel Gutter specifically mention their frequent performances for the young prince, whose fascination for this instrument is evident from the sources. Second, they learn from a petition of Desmarest dating from 1723 that for several years he had been giving music.