Filippo Gragnani

Filippo Gragnani was a guitarist-composer born in Livorno on September 3th, 1768, to a family of musicians and lute-makers. Little is known about his life and activity as a concert performer. In his home city he studied harmony and counterpoint with Giulio Maria Lucchesi, devoting himself at the same time to the guitar, which soon became his main focus; he quickly achieved success as a virtuoso performer.
His first experience as a composer for the guitar was probably in Italy, where, in the first years of the 1800's, he published some works for guitar and chamber music with the publishers Ricordi and Monzino of Milan.

After some stays in Germany, Gragnani settled in Paris at the end of 1810. Here he published his most important works and became friends with Ferdinando Carulli. The two men worked together frequently. Gagnani was also the dedicatee of some of Carulli's works, such as the Duets for two guitars.

Information about Gragnani ceases by 1812. This year was therefore considered by some scholars as being his date of death, but this was never verified, nor was the assumption that Gragnani had died in Paris.

   The finding of the "Annotazione" (note) about Filippo Gragnani's death in the "Registro dei Morti" (Register of Deaths) of the Church of St. Martino di Salviano in Livorno rectifies this date to 1820. The register from 1809 to 1874, dated 29 July 1820 (p. 80), reports in fact the following note:

Filippo del fu Antonio Gragnani e della fu
Anna M.a Bianchi di an. 59 morì ieri alle ore 7 del matt.o
munito dei SS.Sacr.i. e della raccomandazione dell'anima,
oggi fu associato a q.ta Chiesa, e sepolto in q.to Cimitero

[Filippo, son of the late Antonio Gragnani and the late Anna Maria Bianchi, 59 years old, died yesterday at 7 a.m., fortified by the last sacraments; today the remains were consecrated at this church and were buried in this churchyard]

[Source: Archivio Diocesano di Livorno]

As regards his compositions, which have not been sufficiently researched, only twenty works are known, of which fifteen have opus numbers; several are chamber music. Gragnani's style has a lively and freshly inventive melodic line; however it is always framed in formal structures of rare equilibrium and solidity, which elevates his music among that of the most important composers for guitar of his epoch. In a general overview of his works, these compositions deserve mention: the "Duets," Op.8, for violin and guitar; the "Trio" for three guitars, Op. 12; and the "Trio" for flute, violin and guitar, Op. 13. For solo guitar, these works stand out: the "Fantasie," Op. 5 and the "Sonata sentimentale," Op. 15. Many works by Gragnani, some of which were probably never published, lie today in manuscript in several Italian libraries.

Copyright © 1995-2009 Just Classical Guitar - the CG Web portal,
Just Classical Guitar - Milano - Firenze, ITALIA
Tutti i diritti riservati. Informazioni sulla privacy.