Giulio Regondi at the Royal Adelphi Theatre, London, 1831

Giulio Regondi (1822 – 6 May 1872) was a Swiss-born

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 ...

ist, concertinist and

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 ...

active in France and (mainly) the United Kingdom. Regondi was born of a German mother and an Italian father in Geneva, Switzerland. In 1831

Fernando Sor Fernando Sor (bapt. 14 Feb. 1778, died 10 July 1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the Romantic music, Early Romantic era. Best known for writing solo classical guitar music, he also composed an opera (at the age of 19), thr ...

dedicated his ''Souvenir d'amitié'' op. 46 to Regondi, a

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

, when the boy was just nine. There is a reference to his appearing in London in 1831, presented as a child prodigy of the guitar. Most of Regondi's

concertina A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It consists of expanding and contracting bellows, with buttons (or keys) usually on both ends, unlike accordion buttons, which are on the front. The ...

music was written for the English system, however, at which he was a virtuoso,''The Times'', 26 April 1837; p. 5; "GREAT CONCERT-ROOM – KING'S THEATRE ��There was also a novelty in the shape of an instrument called 'a concertina,' an improvement on the accordion, which has been such a favourite musical toy for the last two or three years. The tones of this instrument are sweet and pleasing; but far more striking than the concertina itself were the feeling and ease with which it was played by that clever little boy Giulio Regondi, who executed several intricate passages with surprising facility and precision." though his guitar music is probably better known. His works for solo guitar comprise a set of etudes, variations on a theme by Bellini and five larger works. Regondi died in London.

Selected works

*''Nocturne 'Rêverie op. 19, for guitar *''Fête villageoise 'Rondo caprice op. 20, for guitar *''Air varié No. 1'' op. 21, for guitar *''Air varié No. 2'' op. 22, for guitar *''Introduction and caprice'' op. 23, for guitar *''Ten Études'', for guitar *''Feuillet d'album'' for guitar *''Fantasie über Mozarts Don Giovanni"(Solo on Don Giovanni, partly from Thalberg's piece) for guitar (1840) rediscovered in 2007 *''Air varié de l’opera de Bellini I Capuleti e i Montecchi" for guitar (1845) rediscovered in 2007 *''Fantasia on English Airs'', for concertina and piano *''Leisure Moments'' (1-6), for concertina and piano (1857) *''Morceau de salon'', for concertina and piano *''Recollections of Home'', for concertina *''Ecce ridente il cielo'', for concertina

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regondi, Giulio 1822 births 1872 deaths 19th-century classical composers Composers for concertina Composers for the classical guitar Concertina players Swiss male classical composers Romantic composers Swiss classical composers Swiss classical guitarists 19th-century male musicians 20th-century Swiss composers 19th-century guitarists

Selected works

External links

References