He was born at Frattamaggiore, in the kingdom of Naples, and at an early age he entered the Conservatorio dei poveri di Gesu' Cristo, at Naples, where he received lessons from Gaetano Greco. Later he became a pupil of Alessandro Scarlatti at the Conservatorio di Sant' Onofrio. He is also supposed to have studied under Bernardo Pasquini and Giuseppe Ottavio Pitoni in Rome, but there is no documentary evidence. He is said to have succeeded Scarlatti in 1725 at Sant' Onofrio, and to have remained there until 1742, when he succeeded Porpora as head of the Conservatorio di Santa Maria di Loreto, also at Naples. This post he held for thirteen years, till his death at Naples. He was married three times.
His fame as a teacher was considerable, and Niccola Jommelli, Paesiello, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Piccini and Leonardo Vinci were amongst his pupils. As a teacher, he insisted on the unreasoning observance of rules, differing thus from Scarlatti, who treated all his pupils as individuals. A complete collection of Durante's works, consisting almost exclusively of sacred music, was presented by Selvaggi, a Neapolitan art collector, to the Paris library. A catalogue may be found in Fétis's Biographie universelle. The imperial library of Vienna also preserves a valuable collection of Durante's manuscripts. Two requiems, several masses (one of which, a most original work, is the Pastoral Mass for four voices) and the Lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah are amongst his most important settings.
The fact that Durante never composed for the stage brought him an exaggerated reputation as a composer of sacred music. Although one of the best church composers of his style and period, he is now considered inferior to both Leonardo Leo and Alessandro Scarlatti, and seems to have founded the sentimental school of Italian church music. This type of music is characteristic of Durante as a man; intellectually uncultured, but sincerely devout. Hasse protested against Durante's being described as the greatest harmonist of Italy, a title which he ascribed to Alessandro Scarlatti.
This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.