JOSEPH HECTOR FIOCCO  

The son of the Venetian musician Pietro Antonio Fiocco, who had settled in Brussels where he held important positions in the musical establishment, Joseph-Hector Fiocco was born in 1703. He served as sous-maître in the court chapel in 1729 or 1730, under his half-brother Jean-Joseph, resigning his post in Brussels in 1731 to succeed Willem De Fesch as sangmeester (choirmaster) at Antwerp Cathedral. In 1737 he returned to Brussels to become master at the collegiate church of St Michael and St Gudule, holding this position until his death in 1741. His style as a composer combines Italian, French and Flemish influences.

Keyboard Music

The name of Fiocco is known to all violinists as the composer of an Allegro, arranged by others for violin and piano, taken from his Pièces de clavecin, Op. 1, a collection of pieces suggesting the influence of Couperin and the French clavecinistes.

Church Music

Fiocco left a number of settings of the Mass, a Tenebrae setting and a number of motets. These again show French influence, coupled with Fiocco’s Italian gift for melody, and some reveal also the example of Vivaldi.