Filippo Gragnani was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 guitarist and composer.

Gragnani was born in Livorno

Livorno

Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...

, the son of Antonio Gragnani

Antonio Gragnani

Antonio Gragnani was an Italian violin maker....

. Coming from a family of notable luthiers

Luthier

A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...

 and musicians, he studied music in his home town with Giulio Maria Lucchesi, first studying the violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

 then later devoting himself to the guitar

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

, becoming known as a virtuoso performer.

Gragnani first published works for guitar and chamber music

Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...

 in Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 around the beginning of the 19th century with the publishers Ricordi and Monzino. During these times he travelled to Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and then eventually settling in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 by 1810. There he befriended and became a pupil of Ferdinando Carulli

Ferdinando Carulli

Ferdinando Maria Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario Carulli was an Italian composer for classical guitar and the author of the first complete classical guitar method, which continues to be used today. He wrote a variety of works for classical guitar, including concertos and chamber works...

, to whom he dedicated three of his guitar duets and who in turn also dedicated some duets to Gragnani.

Little is known about Gragnani after 1812 although the "Registro dei Morti" (Register of Deaths) of the Church of St. Martino di Salviano in Livorno indicates he died on 28 July 1820.

Works

Some twenty compositions are known by Gragnani of which fifteen have opus numbers.

• Tre Sonate
• Tre Duetti
• Sinfonia
• Sonata Sentimentale
• Tre Divertimenti
• Tre Duetti
• Trois Duos, Op. 1
• Trois Duos, Op. 2
• Trois Duos, Op. 3
• Trois Duos, Op. 4
• Fantasia (solo guitar), Op. 5
• Opus 6
  • Tre Sonatine e un Tema con Variazioni, Op. 6
  • Trois Duos, Op. 6
• Trois Duos, Op. 7
• Opus 8
  • Tre Dui (for violin and guitar), Op. 8
  • Quartetto for clarinet, violin, and two guitars, Op. 8
• Sestetto (for flute, clarinet, violin, 2 guitars & cello in A major), Op. 9
• Variazioni, Op. 10
• Trois Exercices, Op. 11
• Trio (for three guitars), Op. 12
• Trio (for flute, violin and guitar), Op. 13
• Trois Duos, Op. 14
• Opus 15
  • Sonata Sentimentale (solo guitar), Op. 15
  • Divertimenti (solo guitar), Op. 15

Sheet Music

• http://rex.kb.dk/primo_library/libweb/action/preferences.do?fn=change_lang&vid=KGL&prefLang=en_US&prefBackUrl=http:%2F%2Frex.kb.dk%2Fprimo_library%2Flibweb%2Faction%2Fsearch.do?dscnt=0%26fctN=facet_tlevel%26vl(1UI0)=contains%26vl(61142532UI2)=sub%26scp.scps=scope%3A%28KGL%29%26fctV=online_resource%26vl(1UI2)=contains%26tab=default_tab%26dstmp=1291361478441%26srt=rank%26mode=Advanced%26vl(45742256UI3)=all_items%26vl(48924786UI4)=all_items%26tb=t%26indx=1%26backFromPreferences=true%26vl(freeText0)=%26fn=search%26vid=KGL%26vl(freeText2)=%26vl(45742261UI5)=all_items%26title1=1%26vl(1UI1)=contains%26frbg=%26ct=facet%26dum=true%26Submit=Search%26vl(48924784UI1)=creator%26vl(freeText1)=Gragnani%26vl(48924785UI0)=title%26vid=KGLRischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music] Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
• "Fantasia" Opus 5 at the Boije Collection, STATENS MUSIKBIBLIOTEK - The Music Library of Sweden