"Rossini was certainly an exception to that, Italian music of the 19th century is dominated at the beginning by the likes of Bellini and Donizetti, giving to Italian music the lyrical melodies that have remained associated with it ever since. Then, the last fifty years of the century were dominated by Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest musical icon in Italian history. Verdi's music ""sought universality within national character""; that is, much of what he composed in terms of historical themes could be related to his pan-Italian vision. Verdi was the composer of the Italian Risorgimento, the movement to unify Italy in"
"a prolific soundtrack composer, including scores for westerns and many Joe D'Amato films. Nico Fidenco Nico Fidenco (artistic name Domenico Colarossi; born 24 January 1933 in Rome) is an Italian singer and film soundtrack composer who gained considerable popularity from 1960 onwards with the release of the song ""What a sky"" (Italian: """"Su nel cielo""""), taken from the film ""Silver Spoon Set"" by Francesco Maselli. Self-taught in music, Fidenco did a few cover versions of film title songs for the Italian market. With the song ""Legata a un granello di sabbia"", he was the first Italian singer to sell one"
"of ""Guglielmo Tell"", the third act of ""Otello"", and all of ""il Barbiere di Siviglia"" will certainly endure."" Texts, books Sheet music Performances Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (; 29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. He was a precocious composer of operas, and he made his debut at age 18 with ""La cambiale di matrimonio"". His best-known operas include the Italian comedies ""The Barber of Seville"" (""Il barbiere di Siviglia""), ""The Italian Girl in Algiers"" (""L'italiana in Algeri""), and"
"in April 1914, causing a riot. The program comprised four ""networks of noises"". Some of Russolo's instruments were destroyed in World War II; others have been lost. Replicas of the instruments have since been built. Luigi Russolo Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo (30 April 1885 – 6 February 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto ""The Art of Noises"" (1913). He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of noise music concerts in 1913–14 and then again after World War I, notably"
"Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (; 29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. He was a precocious composer of operas, and he made his debut at age 18 with ""La cambiale di matrimonio"". His best-known operas include the Italian comedies ""The Barber of Seville"" (""Il barbiere di Siviglia""), ""The Italian Girl in Algiers"" (""L'italiana in Algeri""), and ""Cinderella"" (""La Cenerentola""). He also wrote a string of serious operas in Italian, including works such as ""Tancredi"", ""Otello"", and ""Semiramide"". ""The Thieving"
"Pietro Platania Pietro Platania (5 April 1828 – 26 April 1907) was an Italian composer and teacher of music. Platania was born at Catania. Beginning in 1882, he was the ""maestro di cappella"" of Milan Cathedral, and from 1885 until 1902 he served as the director of the Naples Conservatory. As a composer, he was known for his orchestral and church music. He was considered by Gioacchino Rossini and Giuseppe Verdi, among others, to be the greatest master of counterpoint of his day; the latter invited him to contribute to the ""Messa per Rossini"", for which he wrote the ""Sanctus""."
"Carlo Grossi Carlo Grossi (c. 163414 May 1688) was an Italian composer. He is believed to have been the first composer to use the term ""divertimento"", in his 1681 composition ""Il divertimento de' grandi musiche da camera, ò per servizio di tavola."" He was the organist at the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. He is also known for setting Hebrew religious texts to recitative in the style of Claudio Monteverdi, such as in his ""Cantata Ebraica in Dialogo"", a work commissioned from Grossi (himself a Gentile) by the relatively free and well-off Jewish community of Modena. This work was"
"e concertator""e at La Scala, a position he held until 1868. He died nine years later in Milan at the age of 64. Alberto Mazzucato Alberto Mazzucato (28 July 1813 – 31 December 1877) was an Italian composer, music teacher, and writer. Mazzucato was born in Udine. Trained at the Padua Conservatory, he composed eight operas between 1834 and 1843, of which his most successful was ""Esmeralda"" (1838). He also contributed music to the pastiche ""La vergine di Kermo"" (1870) which also contained music by Carlo Pedrotti, Antonio Cagnoni, Federico Ricci, Amilcare Ponchielli, and Giovanni Pacini. Along with Luigi Felice"
"Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo (; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera ""Pagliacci"" (1892) that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success. Today he remains largely known for ""Pagliacci"", one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide in the 2013/14 season. His other well-known works include the song ""Mattinata"", popularized by Enrico Caruso, as well as the"
"was: Luigi Russolo (1885–1947) was an Italian painter and self-taught musician. In 1913 he wrote ""The Art of Noises"", which is considered to be one of the most important and influential texts in 20th-century musical aesthetics. Russolo and his brother Antonio used instruments they called ""intonarumori"", which were acoustic noise generators that permitted the performer to create and control the dynamics and pitch of several different types of noises. The ""Art of Noises"" classified ""noise-sound"" into six groups: Russolo and Marinetti gave the first concert of Futurist music, complete with ""intonarumori"", in April 1914 (causing a riot). The program comprised"
"the lyrics for several songs composed by him. Carlo Innocenzi Carlo Innocenzi (29 April 1899 – 24 March 1962) was an Italian composer. Born in Monteleone di Spoleto, Innocenzi is best known as a composer of musical scores for films; he composed over 150 film scores since 1933. From 1958 till his death, he focused on peplum film scores. Innocenzi also composed several pop songs, and some of them were not only commercial hits but also became instant classics instant classic, notably ""Mille lire al mese"" and ""Valeria ragazza poco seria"". He was married to Sonia Pearlwing, who under the"
"Lodovico Giustini Lodovico Giustini (12 December 1685 – 7 February 1743) was an Italian composer and keyboard player of the late Baroque and early Classical eras. He was the first known composer ever to write music for the piano. Giustini was born in Pistoia, of a family of musicians which can be traced back to the early 17th century; coincidentally he was born in the same year as Bach, Scarlatti, and Handel. Giustini's father was organist at the Congregazione dello Spirito Santo, a Jesuit-affiliated group, and an uncle, Domenico Giustini, was also a composer of sacred music. In 1725, on"
"Roberto Lupi Roberto Lupi (28 November 1908 – 17 April 1971) was an Italian composer, conductor, and music theorist. Born in Milan and trained at the conservatory there, he began his conducting career in 1937. His compositions of experimental music included large-scale works for chorus and orchestra, chamber music, and stage works. However, Lupi's most widely heard piece was his ""Armonie del pianeta Saturno"" for oboe, harp and orchestra which was played each night from 1954 to 1985 at the close of RAI television transmissions. He held the chair in composition at the Florence Conservatory from 1941 until his death"
"Gioseffo Zarlino Gioseffo Zarlino (31 January or 22 March 1517 – 4 February 1590) was an Italian music theorist and composer of the Renaissance. He was possibly the most famous European music theorist between Aristoxenus and Rameau, and made a large contribution to the theory of counterpoint as well as to musical tuning. Zarlino was born in Chioggia, near Venice. His early education was with the Franciscans, and he later joined the order himself. In 1536 he was a singer at Chioggia Cathedral, and by 1539 he not only became a deacon, but also principal organist. In 1540 he was"
"Nico Fidenco Nico Fidenco (artistic name Domenico Colarossi; born 24 January 1933 in Rome) is an Italian singer and film soundtrack composer who gained considerable popularity from 1960 onwards with the release of the song ""What a sky"" (Italian: """"Su nel cielo""""), taken from the film ""Silver Spoon Set"" by Francesco Maselli. Self-taught in music, Fidenco did a few cover versions of film title songs for the Italian market. With the song ""Legata a un granello di sabbia"", he was the first Italian singer to sell one million copies of a single. This interest in cinema led him to be"
"Mantua where he remained for the rest of his life, although he retained a close association with the Medici, composing music for them at least as late as 1589. Striggio wrote both sacred and secular music, and all his surviving music is vocal, although sometimes with instrumental accompaniment. He published seven books of madrigals, in addition to two versions of his most famous composition, the madrigal comedy ""Il cicalamento delle donne al bucato et la caccia..."" (""The gossip of the women at the laundry""). The madrigal comedy, either invented by Striggio or made famous by him, was long considered to"
"for violin and cello and a few individual arias and cantatas. Giuseppe Maria Buini Giuseppe Maria Buini (ca. 1690 – 13 May 1739) was an Italian composer, organist, librettist and poet. He was a prolific composer of operas, primarily in the ""opera buffa"" genre, which were performed in Venice and his native Bologna. Unusually for the period, he also wrote many of the libretti himself. Several of his comic opera libretti were subsequently re-set by other composers. According to Edward Dent, their influence can also be seen in the libretti which Carlo Goldoni later wrote for Baldassare Galuppi. Very little"
"He died in Naples. Pietro Platania Pietro Platania (5 April 1828 – 26 April 1907) was an Italian composer and teacher of music. Platania was born at Catania. Beginning in 1882, he was the ""maestro di cappella"" of Milan Cathedral, and from 1885 until 1902 he served as the director of the Naples Conservatory. As a composer, he was known for his orchestral and church music. He was considered by Gioacchino Rossini and Giuseppe Verdi, among others, to be the greatest master of counterpoint of his day; the latter invited him to contribute to the ""Messa per Rossini"", for which"
"Luigi Russolo Luigi Carlo Filippo Russolo (30 April 1885 – 6 February 1947) was an Italian Futurist painter, composer, builder of experimental musical instruments, and the author of the manifesto ""The Art of Noises"" (1913). He is often regarded as one of the first noise music experimental composers with his performances of noise music concerts in 1913–14 and then again after World War I, notably in Paris in 1921. He designed and constructed a number of noise-generating devices called Intonarumori. Luigi Russolo was perhaps the first noise artist. His 1913 manifesto, ""L'Arte dei Rumori (The Art of Noises)"", stated that"
"Domenico Alberti Domenico Alberti (c. 1710 – 14 October 1740 or 1746) was an Italian singer, harpsichordist, and composer. Alberti was born in Venice and studied music with Antonio Lotti. He wrote operas, songs, and sonatas for keyboard instruments, for which he is best known today. These sonatas frequently employ arpeggiated accompaniment in the left hand in one of several patterns that are now collectively known as ""Alberti bass"". Alberti was one of the earliest composers to use these patterns, but was not the first or only. The most well-known of these patterns consists of regular broken chords, with the"
"it ""represents a gesture of magnificent presentation to a royal musician, rather than an act of commercial promotion."" While many performances of his large-scale sacred works are documented, all of that music is lost, with the exception of fragments such as scattered arias. Giustini's fame rests on his publication of his set of piano pieces, although they seem to have attracted little interest at the time. Lodovico Giustini Lodovico Giustini (12 December 1685 – 7 February 1743) was an Italian composer and keyboard player of the late Baroque and early Classical eras. He was the first known composer ever to"
"Alessandro Longo Alessandro Longo (31 December 1864 – 3 November 1945) was an Italian composer and musicologist. Longo was born in Amantea. After studying at the Naples Conservatory under Beniamino Cesi (and composition under Paolo Serrao), he began teaching piano at his alma mater in 1887, deputizing for Cesi as pianoforte professor, and succeeded him in 1897. As a pianist, Longo often played in chamber ensemble with the Ferni Quartet, and with the Quartetto Napoletano (with Cantani, Parmiciano, Scarano and Viterbini). He founded various musical institutions in Naples, and gained a high reputation as a concert pianist. In 1914 he"
"Carlo Innocenzi Carlo Innocenzi (29 April 1899 – 24 March 1962) was an Italian composer. Born in Monteleone di Spoleto, Innocenzi is best known as a composer of musical scores for films; he composed over 150 film scores since 1933. From 1958 till his death, he focused on peplum film scores. Innocenzi also composed several pop songs, and some of them were not only commercial hits but also became instant classics instant classic, notably ""Mille lire al mese"" and ""Valeria ragazza poco seria"". He was married to Sonia Pearlwing, who under the name of Marcella Rivi was the author of"
"never composed opera. Notable examples on record include Alessandro Moreschi (the only castrato who ever recorded) singing ""Ideale"", Mattia Battistini singing ""Ancora"", Nellie Melba singing ""Mattinata"" and Enrico Caruso singing ""A vuchella"" and ""L'alba separa dalla luce l'ombra"". Paolo Tosti Francesco Paolo Tosti (9 April 18462 December 1916) was an Italian, later British, composer and music teacher. Francesco Paolo Tosti received most of his music education in his native Ortona, Italy, as well as the conservatory in Naples. Tosti began his music education at the Royal College of San Pietro a Majella at the age of eleven. He studied violin"
"but although his later work shows the influence of the French and German stage, he belongs to the conventional Italian school of the 18th century. Niccolò Piccinni Niccolò Piccinni (; 16 January 1728 – 7 May 1800) was an Italian composer of symphonies, sacred music, chamber music, and opera. Although he is somewhat obscure today, Piccinni was one of the most popular composers of opera—particularly the Neapolitan opera buffa—of his day. Piccinni was born in Bari, in the Apulia region, and educated under Leonardo Leo and Francesco Durante, at the S. Onofrio Conservatory. For this, he had to thank the"
"from then he basically semi-retired, leading a life reserved and returning rarely into the spotlight. Lelio Luttazzi Lelio Luttazzi (27 April 1923 – 8 July 2010) was an Italian composer, musician, actor, singer, conductor, writer, and television and radio presenter. Born in Trieste, Luttazzi began playing the piano at Radio Trieste and composing his first songs when he was student in law at the University of Trieste during the Second World War. After the war, he had from SIAE a gain of 350,000 lire, a considerable sum for the time, so he decided to become a full-time composer and in"
"Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian opera composer. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, and developed a musical education with the help of a local patron. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Gioachino Rossini, whose works significantly influenced him. By his 30s, he had become one of the pre-eminent opera composers in history. In his early operas, Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of"
"Nicola Vaccai Nicola Vaccai (15 March 1790 – 5 or 6 August 1848) was an Italian composer, particularly of operas, and a singing teacher. Born at Tolentino, he grew up in Pesaro, and studied music there until his parents sent him to Rome to study law. Having no intention of becoming a lawyer, he took voice lessons and eventually studied counterpoint with Giuseppe Jannaconi, an important Roman composer. When Vaccai turned twenty one, he went to Naples and became a disciple of Paisiello, whose ""Barber of Seville"" was considered a comic masterpiece until Rossini's ""Barber"" swept it from the stage"
"years away. Francesco Rovigo Francesco Rovigo (1540/1541 – 7 October 1597) was an Italian composer and organist of the late Renaissance, active in Mantua and Graz. Nothing is known of his life prior to 1570, when he went to Venice, already 29 or 30 years old, to receive a musical education with the renowned organist and composer Claudio Merulo of the Venetian School. By 1573 he was in Mantua, where he composed hymns which were used in the church of Santa Barbara, which was the ducal chapel of the Gonzaga family. He served that aristocratic family until 1582, when he"
"Goffredo Petrassi Goffredo Petrassi (16 July 1904 – 3 March 2003) was an Italian composer of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century. Petrassi was born at Zagarolo, near Rome. At the age of 15 he began to work at a music shop to supply his family's financial needs, and became fascinated by music. In 1928, he entered the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome to study organ and composition. In 1934, composer Alfredo Casella conducted Petrassi's ""Partita"" for orchestra at the ISCM festival in Amsterdam. Later, Petrassi"
"Giuseppe Pietri Giuseppe Pietri (Sant'Ilario, ""frazione"" of Marina di Campo, ""comune"" of Campo nell'Elba, 6 May 1886 – Milan, 11 August 1946) was an Italian composer, known primarily for his work in operetta. Excerpts from one of his works, the opera ""Maristella"", were widely recorded and continue to be so on CD. The aria ""Io conosco un giardino"" from that work has been popular with tenors, and has been frequently recorded separately; among the singers to record it are Luciano Pavarotti, Beniamino Gigli, Joseph Calleja and more recently, Rolando Villazón. Pietri studied composition at the Milan Conservatory at Gaetano Coronato."
"likely intended for performance by an amateur choir (the choral parts are relatively simple, suggesting deliberate tailoring to the capabilities of less advanced musicians) with professional-standard operatic soloists. Grossi died in 1688 at Venice. Carlo Grossi Carlo Grossi (c. 163414 May 1688) was an Italian composer. He is believed to have been the first composer to use the term ""divertimento"", in his 1681 composition ""Il divertimento de' grandi musiche da camera, ò per servizio di tavola."" He was the organist at the church of SS. Giovanni e Paolo. He is also known for setting Hebrew religious texts to recitative in"
"Francesco Landini Francesco degli Organi, Francesco il Cieco, or Francesco da Firenze, called by later generations Francesco Landini or Landino (c. 1325 or 1335 – September 2, 1397) was an Italian composer, organist, singer, poet and instrument maker. He was one of the most famous and revered composers of the second half of the 14th century, and by far the most famous composer in Italy. Details of Landini's life are sketchy and few facts can be established with certainty, but the general outline has begun to take shape as more research has been done, especially into Florentine records. Most of"