Jommelli was a prolific composer of approximately one hundred stage works and aprroximately sixty operas. Genres of his compositions included operas, serious opera, comic opera, oratorios, cantatas, and orchestral music such as concertos, sonatas, chamber works and keyboard pieces. Jommelli held important positions with the papel chapel in Rome, the Stuttgart court (as the Ober-Kapellmeister), and the court in Lisbon. He studied with Feo and Padre Martini and felt the influence of Hasse. Operas which he composed include "Fetonte," "Armida abbandonata," "Demofoonte," "Enea nel Lazio," and "Didone abbandonata." Jommelli's primary contribution to musical innovation occurs with his renovation of the opera. Skillfully he diminished the import of the individual singers and excessive dramatic segments and concentrated on and effectively increased the role of the chorus and ensemble work. The orchestra was accorded more import, particularly the wind instruments, the textual material was emphasized more proficiently and additional resources were added to the operatic performance such as ballet, prologues, and instrumental pieces. Jommelli also relaxed the strict formula of the aria and finale. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi