Biography
Although many of his works amounted to revised editions of pieces he had already written, Leo Leonardo still qualified as a relatively prolific composer. His output encompassed serious opera, comic opera, chamber cantatas, dramas, oratorios, and overtures. Because these overtures departed from the conventional layout of instrumental concertos, they proved instrumental in the emergence of the pre-Classical symphony. The inclusion of choruses within his operas constituted a lasting innovation that shaped Neapolitan opera for decades afterward. Leonardo’s music displayed greater diversity and technical advancement than that of his contemporaries Vinci and Hasse, yet he never matched their fluency and was once confined under lock and key until he finished a commissioned opera. In his sacred works he promoted the employment of choral cantus firmi while reshaping the prevailing idiom through counterpoint and orchestral accompaniment. His operas comprised “Il Pisistrato,” “Sofonisba,” and “Caio Gracco,” and his oratorios included “S Elena al Calvario” and “La morte de Abele.”