Major Italian Composers
Francesco Landini (c. 1325/1335-1397)
Late Medieval or early Renaissance composer, organist, singer, poet and instrument maker. Landini was the foremost exponent of the Italian Trecento style, called sometimes the Italian Ars Nova, earning him a reputation as the most famous and revered composer of the 14th century. He lent his name to the Landini cadence, also known as the Landino sixth.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1526-1594)
Renaissance composer. The best-known 16th century representative of the Roman School of musical composition. He had a lasting influence on the development of church music, and his work is regarded as the culmination of Renaissance polyphony. Today he is considered one of the greatest composers of all time.
Giulio Caccini (1551-1618)
Late Renaissance and early Baroque composer, teacher and singer. One of the founders of opera and one of the most influential creators of the Baroque style. Often credited as being the inventor of monody, together with Jacopo Peri, Emilio de' Cavalieri and Vincenzo Galilei. His “Le nuove musiche”, a collection of monodies and songs published in 1602, was the second collection of monodies ever published (preceded only by Domenico Melli three months earlier). His most famous composition is Ave Maria, which many today ascribe to Vladimir Vavilov, but which Vavilov himself attributed to Caccini.
Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612)
Late Renaissance and early Baroque composer. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque.
Jacopo Peri (1561-1633)
Late Renaissance and early Baroque composer. Credited by historians as the inventor of opera. Also often credited as being the inventor of monody, together with Giulio Caccini, Emilio de' Cavalieri and Vincenzo Galilei. His most significant composition, Dafne (1597),—now lost—was the first opera ever composed. His other major work, Euridice (1600), is the oldest surviving opera.
Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613)
Late Renaissance and early Baroque composer and nobleman. Widely recognized today as being ahead of his time. As a composer he is best known for writing intensely expressive madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
Late Renaissance and early Baroque composer. He was a pioneer in the development of opera and a crucial transitional figure between the Renaissance and the Baroque periods of music. He is widely considered one of the greatest composers of all time and the greatest composer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. His opera L'Orfeo (1607) is the oldest opera still widely performed.
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Late Renaissance and early Baroque composer. One of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. His work influenced Johann Jakob Froberger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Henry Purcell, and countless other major composers. Pieces from his celebrated collection of liturgical organ music, Fiori musicali (1635), were used as models of strict counterpoint as late as the 19th century.
Giovanni Battista Lulli or Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687)
Baroque composer. Credited with adapting Italian opera to the French language. Recognized as the chief master and developer of the French baroque style. He was the founder of French opera and the founder of the French modern orchestra. He is also credited with the invention of the French overture. His unique style of composition was imitated throughout Europe and influenced major composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Baroque composer and violinist. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of sonata and concerto, in establishing the preeminence of the violin, and as the first coalescing of modern tonality and functional harmony. He is remembered for inventing the sonata, for transforming the violin from an ensemble instrument to a solo instrument, and for popularizing and developing the concerto grosso. Widely regarded as the greatest violinist prior to Vivaldi. His pupils included Francesco Geminiani, Pietro Locatelli, Pietro Castrucci, Francesco Gasparini, Giovanni Battista Somis, Francesco Antonio Bonporti, Michele Mascitti and Giovanni Stefano Carbonelli.
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725)
Baroque composer. Considered the founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. Scarlatti's music forms an important link between the early Baroque Italian vocal styles of the 17th century and the classical school of the 18th century. Noted for his thematic development and chromatic harmony, which anticipated the work of later composers such as Mozart and Franz Schubert. He contributed to the development of the opera orchestra and is credited as the first to introduce horns into the orchestra. He also established the form of the Italian overture—a forerunner of the classical symphony.
Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751)
Baroque composer and violinist. His Adagio in G minor (partially reconstructed by Remo Giazotto) is one of the most frequently recorded pieces of Baroque music. He is also credited with being the first Italian to compose oboe concerti. The oboe concerti in his Op. 7 were the first of their kind to be published. Much of his work was lost during the latter years of World War II with the Allied bombing of the Saxon State Library in Dresden, where his manuscripts were stored.
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Baroque composer, violinist and Catholic priest. Recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers. He also has the distinction of being one of the greatest violinist of all time—second only to Niccolò Paganini. He composed many instrumental concerti for the violin and other instruments, as well as sacred choral works and more than forty operas. His best-known work is a series of violin concerti known as the Four Seasons. His sonata “La Follia” and his concerto “La Stravaganza” also remain extremely popular.
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Baroque composer. His music was influential in the development of the Classical style and he was one of the few Baroque composers who transitioned into the Classical period of classical music. His best-known compositions are his 555 keyboard sonatas.
Baroque composer. His music was influential in the development of the Classical style and he was one of the few Baroque composers who transitioned into the Classical period of classical music. His best-known compositions are his 555 keyboard sonatas.
Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770)
Baroque composer, violinist and music theorist. His violin school, established in 1726, attracted students from all over Europe. He is credited with the discovery of sum and difference tones (combination tone). His most famous work is the “Devil's Trill Sonata”, which remains one of the most difficult pieces to play on the violin.
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736)Baroque composer, violinist and music theorist. His violin school, established in 1726, attracted students from all over Europe. He is credited with the discovery of sum and difference tones (combination tone). His most famous work is the “Devil's Trill Sonata”, which remains one of the most difficult pieces to play on the violin.
Italian composer, violinist and organist. One of the most celebrated and influential composers of the 18th century. His works have appeared in several films. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera La serva padrona (1773), which was one of the most popular stage works of the 18th century. His career was cut short by his death of tuberculosis at the age of 26.
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
Italian composer and cellist. Boccherini is credited with popularizing the cello and with inventing the string quintet. The minuet from his String Quintet in E major—his most famous work—is one of the most recognizable and iconic pieces associated with courtly classical music.
Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801)
Italian composer. One of the last great representatives of the Neapolitan school of music and one of the most important composers of opera in the late 17th century. He wrote more than eighty operas. His masterpiece is Il matrimonio segreto (1792), which was praised by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Stendhal, Gioachino Rossini and Giuseppe Verdi.
Antonio Salieri (1750-1825)
Italian composer, conductor and teacher. Salieri was a pivotal figure in the development of late 18th century opera. He developed and shaped many of the features of operatic compositional vocabulary. His music was a powerful influence on contemporary composers. His most famous pupils were Franz Liszt, Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven. His alleged feud with Mozart—for which there is no evidence—has been the object of many fictionalized depictions, speculations and rumours.
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Italian composer, pianist and teacher. Considered one of the greatest composers of all time. One of the first men to compose music for the piano and also the first virtuoso on the piano, earning him the titles “Father of the Piano”, “Father of modern piano technique” and “Father of Romantic pianistic virtuosity”. He developed a unique style which he passed on to a generation of pianists. His pupils included John Field (who became a major influence on Frédéric Chopin), Johann Baptist Cramer, Ignaz Moscheles, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Carl Czerny, Therese Jansen Bartolozzi, Venanzio Rauzzini, August Alexander Klengel and Ludwig Berger (who went on to teach Felix Mendelssohn). He was also a notable influence on Ludwig van Beethoven, Mozart and Joseph Haydn. He was regarded by Beethoven as the greatest piano master.
Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842)
Classical and pre-Romantic composer. One of the most important composers of the early 19th century. Contributed to the development of French opera during the period of transition from Classicism to Romanticism. He was regarded as the greatest living composer by Beethoven. His works are considered a precursor to grand opera. His most popular compositions are Requiem in C minor and the opera Médée (1797).
Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829)
Italian guitarist, cellist, singer and composer. The most important guitarist and composer of guitar music of the early 19th century. Considered one of the greatest classical guitarists of all time. He is credited as being responsible for the acceptance of the guitar as a solo instrument. He also invented a notation system for guitar that is still used today.
Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840)
Italian violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. Universally recognized as the greatest violinist of all time. His 24 caprices for violin, especially his Caprice No. 24, are among the best known of his compositions and have served as an inspiration for many prominent composers.
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Italian composer. One of the leading composers of the bel canto opera style together with Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini. Recognized as one of the greatest composers of all time. By the time he retired in 1829, he had become the most popular opera composer in history, surpassing all who came before him. His overtures from The Barber of Seville (1775) and William Tell (1829) and his aria “Largo al factotum” are three of the most iconic and most recognizable pieces of classical music. The finale of the William Tell Overture is one of the most popular pieces in the history of music. His other major compositions include The Marriage Contract (1810), The Italian Girl in Algiers (1813), Tancredi (1813), Cinderella (1817), The Thieving Magpie (1817) and the tarantella “La Danza”.
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Italian composer. One of the leading composers of the bel canto opera style together with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini. Recognized as one of the greatest opera composers of all time. He had a significant influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. He composed 75 operas, 16 symphonies, 19 string quartets, 193 songs, 45 duets, 3 oratorios, 28 cantatas, instrumental concertos, sonatas, and other chamber pieces. His most famous work is Lucia di Lammermoor (1835).
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
Italian composer. One of the leading composers of the bel canto opera style together with Gioachino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti. Known for his long-flowing melodic lines which earned him the nickname “the Swan of Catania”. Admired and praised by numerous other major composers, including Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin, who were all influenced by his music. His most popular composition is “Casta diva” from the opera Norma (1831).
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Italian composer. Recognized as one of the greatest composers of all time and often regarded as the greatest Italian composer. By his 30's he had already become one of the preeminent opera composers in history. His most popular composition is “Dies Irae” from Requiem (1874), which is the most frequently performed large choral work in all of Western music. His operas remain extremely popular today, especially Rigoletto (1851), Il trovatore (1853) and La traviata (1853). His canzone “La donna è mobile”, the “Anvil Chorus” and the brindisi “Libiamo ne' lieti calici” (called “The Drinking Song”) are among the most recognized pieces of classical music. His other major compositions include “Va, pensiero” from his opera Nabucco (1842) and the “Triumphal March” from Aida (1871).
Francesco Suppé Demelli or Franz von Suppé (1819-1895)
Italian composer. Greatly influenced the development of Austrian and German light music up to the middle of the 20th century. Composed about 30 operettas and 180 farces, ballets, and other stage works. Best known for his overtures from the operettas Poet and Peasant (1846) and Light Cavalry (1866), which have been frequently used in soundtracks for films, cartoons and advertisements. His march “O Du mein Österreich” became Austria's second national anthem. Some of his operettas are still regularly performed, including The Beautiful Galatea (1865), Fatinitza (1876) and Boccaccio (1879).
Amilcare Ponchielli (1834-1886)
Italian composer and teacher. Best known for his opera La Gioconda (1876), especially the universally renowned ballet “Dance of the Hours”, which was featured in Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940), the novelty song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh”, and numerous other popular works. His music exerted great influence on the composers of the rising generation, including Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni and Umberto Giordano.
Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919)
Italian composer and librettist. Considered the greatest Italian librettist of his time after Arrigo Boito. His lasting contribution to music is his opera Pagliacci (1892), which is one of the most-performed operas in the world. “Vesti la giubba”, the most famous aria from that opera, is regarded as one of the most moving operatic arias ever written and is often used in popular culture. His other well-known works include the song “Mattinata” and the symphonic poem “La nuit de mai”.
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Italian composer. One of the leading exponents of verismo. Considered the greatest Italian composer of operas after Giuseppe Verdi, and recognized as one of the greatest opera composers of all time. Puccini ranks third (behind Verdi and Mozart) in the number of performances of his operas over all, making him the third most performed opera composer in the world. His most renowned works are La bohème (1896), Tosca (1900), Madama Butterfly (1904) and Turandot (1924), especially the aria “Nessun dorma”. His opera La bohème is third most-performed opera in the world, with Tosca and Madama Butterfly also being in the top ten.
Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)
Italian composer and conductor. His masterpiece Cavalleria Rusticana (1890) caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the verismo movement in Italian dramatic music. He wrote fifteen operas, an operetta, several orchestral and vocal works, and also songs and piano music. His most famous work is the “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana. His other major works, L'amico Fritz (1891) and Iris (1898) have remained in the operatic repertoire in Europe ever since their premieres.
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Italian composer, musicologist, pianist, violist and violinist. Widely considered one of the greatest orchestrators of all time. Best known for his trilogy of orchestral tone poems: Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924) and Roman Festivals (1928). He also wrote several operas, the most famous being La fiamma (1934).
Nino Rota (1911-1979)
Italian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. One of the most prolific cinematic composers of the 20th century. Best remembered for his 171 film scores. He also composed ten operas, five ballets and dozens of other orchestral, choral and chamber works.
Ennio Morricone (b. 1928)
Italian composer, orchestrator and conductor. One of the most prolific composers of all time. Widely regarded as the greatest film composer of all time. Composed soundtracks for more than 500 films and television series, including over 70 award-winning films, such as A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968). His best-known compositions include “The Ecstasy of Gold”, “The Trio”, “Man with a Harmonica”, “Deborah's Theme”, “Gabriel's Oboe” and “Chi Mai”. His score for Once Upon a Time in the West is one of the top 5 best-selling original instrumental scores in the world today, with about 10 million copies sold.Minor Italian Composers
Costanzo Festa (c. 1485/1490-1545)
Renaissance composer. The first Italian polyphonist of international renown and one of the first composers to write madrigals.
Vincenzo Galilei (c. 1520-1591)
Italian composer, lutenist and music theorist. He was a seminal figure in the musical life of the late Renaissance and contributed significantly to the musical revolution which demarcates the beginning of the Baroque era. Often credited as being the inventor of monody, together with Giulio Caccini, Jacopo Peri and Emilio de' Cavalieri. His study of pitch and string tension produced the first non-linear mathematical description of a natural phenomenon known to history.
Andrea Gabrieli (c. 1533-1585)
Italian composer and organist. Gabrieli composed the world's first violin composition, published after his death by his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli in 1587.
Alessandro Striggio (1540-1592)
Italian composer, instrumentalist and diplomat. He composed numerous madrigals as well as dramatic music. By combining the two, he became the inventor of madrigal comedy, which was a forerunner of opera.
Emilio de' Cavalieri (1550-1602)
Italian composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer and dancer. Credited with writing the first oratorio. Also often credited as being the inventor of monody, together with Giulio Caccini, Jacopo Peri and Vincenzo Galilei. His work was critical in defining the beginning of the Baroque era of music.
Luca Marenzio (1554-1599)
Italian composer and singer. One of the most renowned composers of madrigals. Hugely influential on composers in Italy, as well as in the rest of Europe, particularly in England. His madrigals influenced the English composers Thomas Morley, John Wilbye and Thomas Weelkes, the German composer Hans Leo Hassler and the Dutch composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck. Marenzio is one of the few Renaissance composers whose music has continued to be sung almost without interruption to the present day by madrigal groups.
Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652)
Italian composer, singer and Catholic priest. Credited with developing the first known string quartet, a century before Joseph Haydn. His best-known and most highly-regarded piece of music is the “Miserere”. It is one of the most often-recorded examples of late Renaissance music and one of the most recorded works of the sacred a cappella repertoire.
Stefano Landi (1587-1639)
Italian composer and teacher. He was an influential early composer of opera. His opera Sant'Alessio (1632) was the first opera to be written on a historical subject and was one of the most significant operas of the early Baroque.
Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
Early Baroque composer. The most influential composer in the rising genre of public opera in mid-17th century Venice. His operas provide the only example of a continuous musical development of a single composer in a single genre from the early to the late 17th century in Venice. He was the most performed opera composer of the generation after Monteverdi. He wrote forty-one operas, twenty-seven of which are still extant.
Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674)
Italian composer and music teacher. One of the most celebrated composers of the early Baroque period. The first significant composer of oratorios. Credited with further developing the recitative introduced by Monteverdi, with further developing the chamber cantata, and with developing the oratorio. He established the characteristic features of the Latin oratorio and was highly influential in the musical development of Germany and France through his numerous pupils and the wide dissemination of his music. His pupils included Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Caspar Kerll, Johann Philipp Krieger, Christoph Bernhard and Marc-Antoine Charpentier.
Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709)
Baroque composer, violinist and violist. He is most remembered for contributing to the development of the instrumental concerto, especially the concerto grosso and the solo concerto, as well as for being the most prolific Baroque composer for trumpets. His brother Felice Torelli was a noted painter.
Lodovico Giustini (1685-1743)
Italian composer and keyboard player. Remembered for being the first known composer ever to write music for the piano. His best known works are his twelve sonatas.
Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762)
Italian composer, violinist and music theorist. Geminiani was a violinist of the highest order, known for his harmony and expressive rhythms. His significance today is largely due to his 1751 treatise “The Art of Playing on the Violin”, which is the best known summation of the 18th century Italian method of violin playing and is an invaluable source for the study of late Baroque performance practice.
Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695-1764)
Italian composer and violinist. Locatelli was a master of violin technique. It is said that he never played a wrong note, except once when his finger accidentally slipped. He was the first great violinist who practiced virtuosity, earning him the title “Father of modern instrumental virtuosity”. He is best known for his “L'arte del violino”, a collection of 12 violin concerti and 24 caprices. This work had an immense influence on the development of violin technique, especially in France, and strongly influenced Paganini.
Giovanni Battista Sammartini (c. 1700-1775)
Italian composer, oboist, organist, choirmaster and teacher. Greatly contributed to the development of the Classical style of music. Widely regarded as the inventor of symphony or at least the most important and earliest developer of symphony, competing with Joseph Haydn for rights over the title “Father of the symphony”. He strongly influenced German composers such as Johann Christian Bach, Haydn and Mozart. His most famous pupil was Christoph Willibald Gluck. His compositions include four operas, 70 symphonies, ten concertos and some of the earliest chamber music known in the history of Western music.
Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785)
Italian composer. Called the “Father of comic opera”. One of the main composers whose works are emblematic of the prevailing galant style that developed in Europe throughout the 18th century. He became famous throughout Europe for his comic operas in the new dramma giocoso style. Napoleon's invasion of Venice in 1797 caused many of Galuppi's manuscripts to be destroyed or lost, resulting in his music being largely forgotten outside of Italy in the 19th century. His works were revived in the late 20th century.
Ignazio Gerusalemme (1707-1769)
Italian composer and violinist. Born in Italy, he moved to Cadiz and later to Mexico City where he developed a distinct style of music that spread throughout New Spain. Remembered as one of the most important Baroque composers in Mexico.
Francesco Araja (1709-1770)
Italian composer. He spent 25 years in Russia where he wrote at least 14 operas for the Russian Imperial Court, including Tsefal i Prokris, the first ever Russian opera.
Niccolò Jommelli (1714-1774)
Italian composer. Noted as an innovator in his use of the orchestra. Responsible also for other operatic reforms, such as reducing ornateness of style. In Stuttgart he established one of the finest orchestras in Europe. He wrote operas, cantatas, oratorios and other sacred works. The style of his overtures influenced the early symphonies of Johann Stamitz, Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Georg Christoph Wagenseil.
Niccolò Piccinni (1728-1800)
Italian composer. One of the most popular composers of opera in his day and one of the outstanding opera composers of the Neapolitan school. He produced over eighty operas, his most successful being La buona figliuola (1760).
Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816)
Italian composer. The most popular composer of the late 18th century. His operas are admired for their robust realism and dramatic power. Strongly influenced Mozart. Composed more than one hundred operas, about forty masses, and an immense number of cantatas, oratorios, concerti, string quartets, symphonies, psalms, hymns, and other musical works. Mozart's Italian opera The Marriage of Figaro (1786) is a sequel to Paisiello's opera The Barber of Seville (1782).
Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824)
Italian composer and violinist. Famed for his virtuosity and lyrical tunefulness. Considered the greatest violinist of his time. His most notable compositions are his 29 violin concerti, which were an influence on Ludwig van Beethoven. His Concerto No. 22 in A minor is still performed very frequently. The incipit of his “Tema e variazioni”, composed in 1781, was later plagiarized by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, who included the incipit in “La Marseillaise”—the national anthem of France since 1795—without crediting Viotti.
Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841)
Italian composer and guitarist. Considered one of the greatest classical guitarists of all time. Invented the 10-string guitar (called the Décacorde) with Pierre Rene Lacote. Wrote more than 400 works for the guitar. His most influential work, the “Method, op. 70”, published in 1810, includes music that is still used today by student training to be guitarists.
Gaspare Spontini (1774-1851)
Italian composer and conductor. His operas, especially his masterpiece La vestale (1807), represent the spirit of the Napoleonic era and form an operatic bridge between the works of Christoph Willibald Gluck and Richard Wagner. His works were also one of the precursors of grand opera.
Antonio Diabelli (1781-1858)
Italian composer, music publisher and editor. Best known as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his “Diabelli Variations”. Produced a number of well-known works, including an operetta, several masses, songs and numerous piano and classical guitar pieces.
Saverio Mercadante (1795–1870)
Italian composer and teacher. Considered an important reformer of Italian opera. His development of operatic structures, melodic styles and orchestration contributed significantly to the foundations upon which Giuseppe Verdi built his dramatic technique.
Giovanni Pacini (1796-1867)
Italian composer. Wrote 74 operas, making him one of the most prolific composers in the history of opera. His most successful opera was Saffo (1840). The role that Pacini played in instituting dramatic changes into Italian opera is only now beginning to be recognized.
Cesare Pugni (1802-1870)
Italian composer, pianist and violinist. The most prolific composer of ballet music in history. Composed nearly one hundred known original scores for ballet and a myriad of incidental dances. His best-known ballets are Ondine, ou La Naïade (1843), La Esmeralda (1844), Catarina, ou La Fille du Bandit (1846), The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862) and The Little Humpbacked Horse (1864). His other major works include the music for La Vivandière (1844), Pas de Quatre (1845), Le Diable amoureux (1859) and Le Roi Candaule (1868), and his additional music for Le Corsaire (1863 & 1868).
Arrigo Boito (1842-1918)
Italian poet, journalist, novelist, librettist and composer. One of the most prominent representatives of the Scapigliatura artistic movement. Best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello (1887) and Falstaff (1893), Amilcare Ponchielli's opera La Gioconda (1876), and his own opera Mefistofele (1868).
Luigi Denza (1846-1922)
Italian composer. Best remembered for composing the music for the song “Funiculì, Funiculà”, one of the most popular Italian songs in the world. Richard Strauss later incorporated it into his tone poem Aus Italien (1886); Denza filed a lawsuit against him for plagiarism and won, and Strauss was forced to pay royalty fees. Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov also used the song.
Riccardo Drigo (1846-1930)
Italian composer, conductor and pianist. Noted for his long career as kapellmeister and Director of Music of the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg, Russia. He conducted the premieres and regular performances of nearly every ballet and Italian opera performed on the Tsarist stage. Many pieces set to Drigo's music are still performed today and are considered cornerstones of the classical ballet repertory. His most important compositions include the music for Le Talisman (1889), The Magic Flute (1893), Le Réveil de Flore (1894), his revision of Swan Lake (1895), La Perle (1896) and Les Millions d'Arléquin (1900).
Alfredo Catalani (1854-1893)
Italian composer. Best remembered for his operas Loreley (1890) and La Wally (1892). His most famous aria, “Ebben? Ne andrò lontana”, has been featured on the soundtracks of a number of popular films.
Ferruccio Busoni (1866-1924)
Italian Composer, pianist and conductor. Considered one of the greatest pianists of all time. He wrote 303 original compositions, of which more than 200 were produced before the age of 20. He also produced a large number of adaptations, transcriptions, and editions of works by other composers. His “Piano Concerto” is one of the largest works ever written in the genre.
Francesco Cilea (1866-1950)
Italian composer. Known for his operas L'arlesiana (1897) and Adriana Lecouvreur (1902), which are distinguished for their melodic charm.
Vittorio Monti (1868-1922)
Italian composer, violinist, mandolinist and conductor. His most famous work is his “Csárdás”, which has appeared numerous times in popular culture and which is still played by almost every gypsy orchestra.
Lorenzo Perosi (1872-1956)
Italian composer and Catholic priest. The most prolific composer of sacred music of the 20th century. Composed between 3,000-4,000 works. Prominent member of the Giovane Scuola, a group of Italian composers who succeeded Giuseppe Verdi and flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was Director of the Sistine Chapel Choir from 1898-1956, serving five popes: Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI and Pius XII.
Franco Alfano (1875-1954)
Italian composer and pianist. Considered one of the last representatives of verismo. Best known for his opera Risurrezione (1904) and for completing Puccini's opera Turandot (1926).
Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968)
Italian composer, musicologist and music critic. Part of the Generation of 1880, a generation of composers inspired by Italian Renaissance and Baroque music who sought to revive non-operatic instrumental music in Italy. His most notable works include a trilogy of religious-themed operas: Dèbora e Jaéle (1922), Fra Gherardo (1927) and Lo straniero (1930).
Gian Carlo Menotti (1911-2007)
Italian composer and librettist. Wrote over two dozen operas, including the classic Christmas opera Amahl and the Night Visitors (1951), the first opera ever written for television in the United States. His other major works include The Consul (1950) and The Saint of Bleecker Street (1955), for which he won two prizes. He also founded the Festival of the Two Worlds, an annual summer music and opera festival held every year in Spoleto since 1958.
Alessandro Alessandroni (1925-2017)
Italian composer, conductor and musician. Composed more than 40 film scores. Best known as the whistler on the soundtracks for A Fistful of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), and for his guitar riff for the main theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).
Ludovico Einaudi (b. 1955)
Pianist and composer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest living composers of piano music. Composed scores for a number of films and trailers. His most popular compositions include “Fly”, “Nuvole Bianche”, “Oltremare”, “Una Mattina”, “Divenire”, “I Giorni” and “Love is a Mystery”.
