Tartini, Giuseppe, << tahr TEE nee, joo ZEHP peh >> (1692-1770), was a great Italian violinist, composer, and teacher. He influenced violin playing by introducing a system of violin bowing and fingering. He also started the use of thicker strings and lighter bows. In 1728, he founded a school of violin playing at Padua. Tartini’s best-known composition for violin is the Devil’s Trill Sonata. He also composed about 140 concertos, 40 trios, 150 violin sonatas, and wrote essays on violin playing methods and the theory of acoustics. Tartini was born on April 8, 1692, in Pirano, Italy (now Piran, Slovenia). He died on Feb. 26, 1770.
