The Contribution of Pierluigi Petrobelli to Tartini Studies

In the spring of 2012 Pierluigi Petrobelli, up to the last days of his musicological activity a dedicated researcher into the life and musical oeuvre of Giuseppe Tartini, died in Venice. Petrobelli laid the foundations for all further studies on this subject. He had both objective scholarly interests as well as subjective reasons for his unusually prolonged interest in the composer from Piran. Petrobelli left a rich private archive of personal recollections and documentary evidence. Through Petrobelli’s example, and also by reference to other cases, the author identifies the most urgent and significant goals for future research on Tartini and, more generally, for research on European music of the eighteenth century.