Giovanni Battista Vitali (1644–1692) is the first great master of the violin sonata; after him, Torelli (1657–1716) added a new and important kind of violin composition,—the Concerto. He called his compositions, _Concerti da Camera_ and _Concerti Grossi_, which names and form were used by Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel and Bach. This _Concerto Grosso_ was a _sonata da chiesa_ accompanied not by a single instrument as was the habit with the _sonata da chiesa_ and the _sonata da camera_, but by a group of bowed instruments to which a lute, organ and, later, a harpsichord were added. At this time, all musicians were, as a matter of course, violinists, just as today all great composers can play the piano. One of the greatest of these composer-violinists was Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), whose works are often played by violinists of our own time, and have served as models for composers. He was one of the first to try to write music that should show off the beauty and possibilities of the violin. The “Golden Age” of the Italian violin composers dated from 1720 to 1750, and was the time of Locatelli, Pugnani, Nardini, Veracini, Tartini and Vivaldi who added oboes and horns to the orchestral accompaniment of the _Concerti Grossi_. Corelli and Vivaldi were the models used by the German school of violinists who appeared about this time. Tartini was the musical authority of his century, and no violinist felt sure of his place as an artist until he had been heard and approved by Tartini. He was the composer of the famous piece called _The Devil’s Trill_. Although Vivaldi was not looked upon with great esteem in his own time, he was used as a model by Johann Sebastian Bach. Padre Martini, recognized by all Europe as the greatest authority on musical subjects, lived in Bologna where he was visited by such musicians as Grétry, Gluck, Mozart and one of the sons of Bach. Padre, or Father, Martini was a Franciscan monk, a fine composer, a learned historian, a master of counterpoint, and the owner of a musical library of 17,000 volumes! He helped everyone who sought him, and was loved by the entire musical world. Once a year a great music festival was held in Bologna by the Philharmonic Society and new works by the Bolognese composers were performed. One hundred musicians took part in the orchestra and the choruses, and each composer conducted his own work. It was an honor to be present at this annual festival, and Italian and foreign musicians came from all over Europe to attend it. Young composers sometimes became famous over night here, for the critics were all invited and serious decisions were made as to the value of new music. Dr. Burney, a famous English musical historian of the 18th century, tells of meeting Leopold Mozart and his young son, Wolfgang Amadeus, at one of these festivals. Through the kind scheming of Padre Martini were they admitted!