Alois Luigi Tomasini

At the age of sixteen Tomasini was in service to the Esterhazy court as a manservant. He never left the service of the Esterhazy family. It is possible that he was a student of Leopold Mozart while he was in Vienna and most certainly had lessons in composition from Haydn as they served the same patron. By 1761 Tomasini had already become first violinist and Konzertmeister later. This position he held until his death. When Haydn's premiere performance of "Il ritorno di Tobia" was given in 1775, Tomasini performed a violin concerto during the "intermission." Early quartets composed by Tomasini are in the typical Viennese style of three movements. Only in his later quartets did Tomasini venture into four movement structures. Haydn's influence, however, is apparent in all of Tomasini's works. ~ Keith Johnson