Giacomo Antonio Perti was taught counterpoint by Franceschini, harpsichord by Laurenti and his musical compositions were influenced by Rossi, Carissimi, Cesti, and Corso in Parma. He became the master of the chapel (choir master) at Bologna cathedral in 1690, but held the position at S Petronio, S Domenico (1704) and S Maria in Galliera (1706) simultaneously. Perti was elected director of the Accademia Filharmonica on five different occasions and he had a great influence as a teacher instructing such students as Torelli and Martini.

Perti was a productive composer who wrote in diverse genres including opera, of which he scored about twenty, sacred works, over three hundred, twenty oratorios, and a number of masses, psalms, motets, secular cantatas, and instrumental pieces for the church service. His music is characterized ripe with melodic invention, the use of diverse structures and colorful instrumentation. Most of his music was scored with festive orchestration -- felicitous strings and trumpets -- and his works demonstrated a lucid command of his art, elastic adaptability and a penchant for dialogues between instruments and between instruments and voices. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi