Ferdinando Maria Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario Carulli (9 February 1770 – 17 February 1841) was an Italian
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
for
classical guitar
The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
and the author of the influential ''Méthode complète pour guitare ou lyre'', op. 27 (1810), which contains music still used by student guitarists today. He wrote a variety of works for
classical guitar
The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...
, including numerous solo and
chamber works
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
and several
concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
s. He was an extremely prolific writer, composing over 400 works for the instrument.
Biography
Carulli was born to an affluent, upper-class family in Naples. His father, Michele, was a distinguished
literator, secretary to the delegate of the Neapolitan Jurisdiction. Like many of his contemporaries, he was taught
musical theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...
by a priest, who was also an amateur musician. Carulli's first instrument was the
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...
, which he taught from the local priest, but when he was twenty he discovered the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
and devoted his life to the study and advancement of the guitar. As there were no professional guitar teachers in Naples at the time, Carulli developed his own style of playing.
Carulli was a gifted performer. His concerts in Naples were so popular that he soon began touring Europe. Around 1801 Carulli married a French woman, Marie-Josephine Boyer, and had a son with her. A few years later Carulli started to compose in
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 he contributed to local publications. After a highly successful
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
tour, Carulli moved there. At the time the city was known as the 'music-capital' of the world, and he stayed there for the rest of his life.
Carulli became highly successful as a guitar teacher in Paris. It was also here that the majority of his works were published. Later in his life he became a self-publisher and, in addition to his own music, published the works of other prominent guitarists including
Filippo Gragnani whom he befriended and who later dedicated three guitar duets to Carulli.
Carulli also began to experiment with instrument making toward the end of his life and, in collaboration with the Parisian luthier René Lacôte, developed a 10-string instrument, the ''Decacorde''.
Carulli died in Paris on 17 February 1841, eight days after his 71st birthday.
Music/style
Carulli was among the most prolific composers of his time. He wrote more than four hundred works for the guitar, and countless others for various instrumental combinations, always including the guitar. His most influential work, the "Method, op. 27", published in 1810, contains pieces still widely used today in training students of the classical guitar. Along with numerous works for two guitars, works for guitar with violin or flute, and three concertos for guitar with chamber orchestra, Carulli also composed several works for guitar and piano (in collaboration with his son,
Gustavo
Gustavo is the Latinate form of a Germanic male given name with respective prevalence in Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian. It has been a common name for Swedish monarchs since the reign of Gustav Vasa.
It is derived from Gustav /ˈɡʊstɑːv/, a ...
).
Many of the pieces now regarded as Carulli's finest were initially turned down by publishers who considered them too difficult for the average recreational guitarist. It is likely that many of his best works remained unpublished and are now lost. Nevertheless, several of Carulli's published works point at the likely quality and sophistication of his concert music, the ''Six Andantes Op. 320'' (dedicated to the guitarist Matteo Carcassi) being a good example. The great majority of Carulli's surviving works, however, were those considered marketable enough by mainstream Parisian publishers aiming at an amateur recreational market.
In addition to his highly successful ''Methode Op. 27'' (which went through four editions during his lifetime and a major revision, as Op. 241), Carulli also published several supplements to the method, along with a method without explanatory text (''L'Anti Methode Op. 272''), a method for the decacorde, a harmony treatise, a treatise dealing with guitar accompaniment of the voice, and several collections of vocalises and solfèges. The latter studies were intended to exploit the guitar's accompanying capabilities, and to be used by both singer-guitarists amateurs, and voice teachers who were not proficient figured bass readers.
Classical guitarists have recorded many of his works. Arguably his most famous work is a duet for guitar and flute, which was recorded by
Alexander Lagoya
Alexandre Lagoya (29 June 1929 – 24 August 1999) was a French classical guitarist and composer. His early career included boxing and guitar, and as he cites on the sleeve of a 1981 Columbia album, his parents hoped he would outgrow his predilect ...
and
Jean-Pierre Rampal
Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (7 January 1922 – 20 May 2000) was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the Western concert flute, flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th ce ...
, although his Duo in G Op.34 achieved a measure of indirect fame in Britain as the theme tune of cult 1980s science fiction/television game show ''
The Adventure Game
''The Adventure Game'' is a game show that was originally broadcast on UK television channels BBC1 and BBC2 between 24 May 1980 and 18 February 1986. The story in each show was that the two celebrity contestants and a member of the public ha ...
''. The Duo in G has been recorded several times, most famously by
Julian Bream and
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
.
Instruments used by Carulli
Among the guitars used by Carulli, one finds
* Guitar around 1810
photosAccording to Philip James Bone's book
The guitar and mandolin : biographies of celebrated players and composers for these instruments' (p. 70, 71), this instrument was presented by Ferdinando Carulli to his son
Gustave Carulli. The initials GC can be seen on the instrument, at either side of the bridge.
*
Pierre René Lacôte, Guitar called ''Décacorde''
[A Unique Lacôte Décacorde]
by Françoise Sinier de Ridder (harpguitars.net)René Lacote: Décacorde, Paris 1830
E.986.5.1, Museum Cité de la Musique
Carulli worked together with Lacote to create the 10-string Décacorde. There exists a patent for this instrument. It is speculated that the original "invention" and patent was aimed at amateur guitarists: in the patent configuration only the 5 lower strings are fretted. On the other hand, there also exist other configurations, where 6 or 7 strings are fretted, and it is speculated that these Décacordes were played professionally.
Compositions
* See List of compositions by Ferdinando Carulli
References
External links
;Publications
Catalogo tematico delle opere di Ferdinando Carulli
(Mario Torta, Ed. LIM)
Ferdinando Carulli (1770–1841) : profilo biografico-critico e catalogo tematico delle opere con numero (con cenni sulla formazione della chitarra esacorde ed elementi di metodologia bibliografica)
Doctoral thesis by Mario Torta; (Università degli studi di Roma, La Sapienza; 1989)
;Sheet music
Rischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music1
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
The Music Library of Sweden
Free Scores for Guitar by Ferdinando Carulli fingered by Eythor Thorlaksson
*
Free scores
Mutopia Project
The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000.Portal page at thInternet ArchiveRetrieved January 24, 20 ...
;Images of Carulli
Images
(Gallica)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carulli, Ferdinando
1770 births
1841 deaths
18th-century classical composers
18th-century Italian male musicians
19th-century classical composers
19th-century Italian male musicians
Composers for the classical guitar
Italian classical guitarists
Italian male classical composers
Italian Romantic composers
Italian male guitarists
Musicians from Naples
18th-century Italian composers