Charles Michael Alexis Sola (born as Carlo Michele Alessio Sola, mostly known as "C.M. Sola") (6 June 1786 – 21 January 1857) was an Italian guitarist, flutist and composer, active in England after 1817.

Biography

Sola was born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, where he studied the violin with

Gaetano Pugnani Gaetano Pugnani (27 November 1731 – 15 July 1798, full name: Giulio Gaetano Gerolamo Pugnani) was an Italian composer and violinist. Biography Gaetano Pugnani was born in 1731 in Turin, the city where he spent most of his life, son of Giova ...

, also the guitar (with Pipino) and flute (with Vondano), and played flute in the orchestra of the local Teatro Regio. His date of birth has recently been put into doubt; he may also have been born in either 1781 or in 1789. According to

Bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

, "he served four years on the band of the 73rd Regiment of French Infantry and tiring of a military life settled in 1809 in Geneva", where he also received tuition in composition from Dominique Bideau, a local cellist. 1816 saw the production of his opera ''Le Tribunal'' in Geneva. After having published some of his music in Geneva and Paris, Sola moved to London in 1817, where he "numbered among his pupils members of the royal family". Sola was the author of a method for the guitar, ''Sola's Instructions for the Spanish Guitar'', and published numerous works for guitar solo, duos for guitar and piano, songs with guitar accompaniment and also works for the flute. Many of his songs were arrangements of popular songs and opera arias of the time, often originally by English and Irish composers. Apparently, Sola has never left England and died there in 1857 from "heart and liver exhaustion" in his home at Gardener's Lane,

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

Hill.McCartney website, as above.

Selected compositions

*''Sola's Instructions for the Spanish Guitar'' (London: Chappell, c.1827)

Bibliography

* Philip J. Bone: ''The Guitar and Mandolin: Biographies of Celebrated Players and Composers for These Instruments'' (London: Schott and Augener, 1914) *Stewart W. Button: ''The Guitar in England, 1800–1924'' (New York: Garland Publishing, 1989); i.e. Ph.D. dissertation of University of Surrey, 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sola, Charles Michael Alexis 1786 births 1857 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Italian composers 19th-century Italian male musicians Composers for the classical guitar Italian classical composers Italian classical guitarists Italian emigrants to the United Kingdom Italian male classical composers Italian male guitarists Musicians from Turin 19th-century guitarists