Giuseppe Antonio Rolla (18 April 1798, in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

– 19 March 1837, in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

virtuoso and composer. Antonio Rolla studied violin with his father, composer

Alessandro Rolla Alessandro Rolla (; 23 April 175714 September 1841) was an Italian viola and violin virtuoso, composer, conductor and teacher. His son, Antonio Rolla, was also a violin virtuoso and composer. His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the great ...

. In 1803 the family is moved to

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

where Antonio began to work at a young age. He became a violinist with the Teatro di

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

in the spring of 1807, but lost the post with the fall of the

Napoleonic Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Eur ...

in 1814. Having maintained contacts with the town of his birth, Rolla presented a concert at the Teatro Ducale in Parma on 11 June 1818. In a letter written in 1820,

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist 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. His 24 Caprices fo ...

praised Rolla's ability after they had played violin duets at the request of his father.Famiglia Rolla al Dizionario della musica di Parma
In 1821, Rolla became the concertmaster of the Teatro Comunale in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

and performed along with his father at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1823. The same year, he accepted the position of concertmaster at the Staatskapelle in Dresden on the recommendation of Paganini. Rolla contracted an illness in 1836 and died the following year at the age of 38. Rolla was highly regarded as an instrumentalist and composed a few works, notably for violin and viola, of which the most famous are the posthumously published ''24 Cadenzas'' for solo violin.

Selected works

* ''Sinfonia'' (1816) * ''Concerto a violino'' (1817) * ''Divertimento a flauto'' (1818) * ''12 Valzer'' (12 Waltzes) for string orchestra, Op.1 * ''Rondò alla polacca'' for violin and orchestra, Op.3 * ''Variazioni'' for violin and string trio, Op.10 * ''Variazioni brillanti'' in F for viola and orchestra, Op.13 (1822) * ''Terzo rondò alla polacca preceduto da un Adagio di introduzione'' for violin and string orchestra, Op.15 * ''Tema variato'' for violin and string quintet or string orchestra * ''Divertimento'' for 2 violins and orchestra * ''Variazioni'' for violin and orchestra * ''Introduzione e variazioni sopra un tema dell'opera "La Gazza ladra" di Rossini'' for violin and string quartet or orchestra * ''Andante con variazioni'' for viola and orchestra * ''6 Piccole pastorale'' (6 Idylles) for viola solo (1836–1837) * ''Esercizi'' (Exercises) for violin solo * ''Studi'' (Studies) for violin solo * ''24 Cadenze'' (24 Cadenzas) for violin solo

Sources

Famiglia Rolla al Dizionario della musica di Parma

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rolla, Antonio 1798 births 1837 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical violinists 19th-century Italian male musicians Composers for violin Concertmasters Italian classical composers Italian classical violinists Italian classical violists Italian male classical composers Italian Romantic composers Male classical violinists Musicians from Parma 20th-century violists