Enrico Martinelli (24. November 1852 – 8 April 1922) was an Italian trumpet player, teacher and composer. Enrico was born in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

, the son of to Ludovico Martinelli, a local barber, and Maria Rinaldi, a tailoress, and the first child of seven. At the age of ten he started to play the trumpet, first under Girolamo Altinieri, the conductor of the national army band in Modena and later with Gaetano Ferrari. At the age of 15 he became a member of the City Guard Band and one year later also started to play in the orchestra of the Teatro Aliprandi. In 1869 Martinelli enlists to the ''4º reggimento Granatieri di Lombardia'', an army unit stationed in Catania and took part of the Third Italian Independence War and the liberation of Rome. Martinelli left the army in 1877 and went back to his hometown and became the first trumpeter in the Municipal Band of Modena, a position he held for 27 years. He also founded three new music ensembles in Modena: In 1878 the ''Concerto della Societa di Ginnastica e Schermo 'Panaro' ''; in 1891 the ''Fanfara del Patronato pei Figli del Popolo'' and in 1893 the ''Banda dell'Instituto Provinciale S. Filippo Neri e S. Bernardino''. Beside his outstanding musical position in Modena, he had a remarkable reputation as a trumpeter throughout Italy. He played the first trumpet under the direction of renowned conductors and composers like

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, Lorenzo Perosi, Giuseppe Martucci,

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, Cleofonte Campanini, Franco Faccio,

Guido Alberto Fano Guido Alberto Fano (18 May 1875 in Padua – 14 August 1961 at Tauriano di Spilimbergo) was an Italian pianist and composer. From 1894 he was the favoured pupil of Giuseppe Martucci.* Fano, Vitale, "“Maestro compositore a pieni voti e c ...

, Pio Ferrari, Edoardo Mascheroni, Tullio Serafin and

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. His prestige as a distinguished trumpeter shows the following anecdote: In November 1899 the music director of

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, Giulio Gatti-Casazza, wrote a letter to the mayor of Modena to ask for the release of Martinelli from his work there for a few months to play the first trumpet at his house in Milan. This request was initiated by

, who was looking for an outstanding trumpeter for several performances of operas by

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. Arturo Toscanini wrote already in 1895 about the qualities of Martinelli: Similar words are known from a letter by Pietro Mascagni:

Enrico Martinelli, professor of trumpet, is a performer of the highest rank and a perfect musician.The original Italian quote says: "Io sottoscritto dichiaro per la verita che il signor Martinelli Enrico, professore di Tromba, e un esecutore di primissimo rango ed un perfetto musicista."

For many years Martinelli taught trumpet student at the ''Instituto Provinciale'' in Modena and was also requested to take part of the music exams at other conservatories throughout Italy. Beside his work as a trumpeter and teacher, Martinelli also composed music for all kinds of instrumentations from symphony to chamber, vocal and band music. Martinelli ended his career as a musician in 1920 and laid down his trumpet, which later was handed over to the ''Museo Civico Estense'' in Modena. Two years later he died in Modena of a pulmonary emphysema. The Via Enrico Martinelli in Modena is named in honour of the musician.

References

* Torelli, Armando (1954): Notizie storiche, documenti, cronache sul Liceo musicale Orazio Vecchi nel 90. della istituzione: 1864-1954, pp. 199–206. Modena: Cooperativa Tipografi. {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinelli, Enrico 1852 births 1922 deaths Musicians from Modena Italian trumpeters Male trumpeters Classical trumpeters Italian classical composers 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Italian male classical composers 20th-century Italian composers 19th-century Italian composers 20th-century trumpeters 20th-century Italian male musicians 19th-century Italian male musicians