Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (December 23, 1801 – November, 1878) was a classical guitarist and composer.

He was born in Bologna

Bologna

Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

. He began on violin, but switched to guitar at 16. He moved to 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...

 in 1820 and later to Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 before settling in Belgium. He later toured in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Italy

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...

, and the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Although praised by Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...

 in 1859, as well as by Rossini and Paganini, Zani de Ferranti found the 1850s to be a period of decline and financial difficulty. He died in Pisa

Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...

. One of his sons moved to England and was the father of Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti

Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti

Sebastian Pietro Innocenzo Adhemar Ziani de Ferranti was an electrical engineer and inventor.-Personal life:...

.

Publications

• The King's guitarist: The life and times of Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti by Marcus G.S. Van de Cruys (ISBN 9090202129 , ISBN 9789090202129)
• Zani de Ferranti - a biography by Simon Wynberg (Chanterelle, ECH914)

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=1291362011107%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)=Zani+Ferranti%26vl(48924785UI0)=title%26vid=KGLRischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music] 1 Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
• George C. Krick Collection of Guitar Music Washington University