Pierre-Jean Porro (7 December 1750 – 31 May 1831) was an influential French

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, composer and music publisher.

Life

Porro was born in Bagnols,

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, with the French surname ''Porre'', later italianising his name according to the fashion of the time. He received his early musical training in

Béziers Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hos ...

before moving to

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 ...

in 1783. There he taught guitar and worked as a music publisher. By 1786, responding to the increased demand for printed music, Porro expanded his publishing house and diversified into musical instrument sales. He was also an editor and publisher of various journals such as the weekly ''Le Journal de Guitare'' (1787–1803) in which he published his own compositions as well as French editions of the works of Italian composers such as

Francesco Durante Francesco Durante (31 March 1684 – 30 September 1755) was a Neapolitan composer. Biography He was born at Frattamaggiore, in the Kingdom of Naples, and at an early age he entered the '' Conservatorio dei poveri di Gesù Cristo'', in Naples, ...

, Jommelli,

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...

in addition to those of the composers of his time such as

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

. In all, he published 37 works for the 5- and 6-string guitars and the

lyre-guitar A musical instrument of the chordophone family, the lyre-guitar was a type of guitar shaped to look like a lyre, popular as a fad-instrument in the late 1800s. It had six single courses, with a fretboard located between two curved arms recall ...

(popular in the French salons in the late 18th century). Porro also wrote a guitar method (''Methode de guitare à six cordes'' op. 31) which included material for the lyre-guitar. Porro died on 31 May 1831 in

Montmorency, Val-d'Oise Montmorency () is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Montmorency was the fief of the Montmorency family, one of the oldest and most distinguished families of the French nobility. It is no ...

, near Paris.

Legacy

Porro lived and worked in Paris at a time (late 18th and early 19th century) when the guitar reached a peak of popularity and the city attracted many other notable guitarists such as Filippo Gragnani,

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 ...

Mauro Giuliani Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (27 July 1781 – 8 May 1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist, singer, and composer. He was a leading guitar virtuoso of the early 19th century. Biography Although born in Bisceglie, Giuliani's center ...

Dionisio Aguado Dionisio, a variant of Dionysius, may refer to: People Given name * Dionisio Lazzari (1617-1689), Italian sculptor and architect * Dionisio Aguado y García (1784-1849), Spanish classical guitarist and composer * Papa Isio (1846-1911), Dionisio Ma ...

and

Ferdinando Carulli Ferdinando Maria Meinrado Francesco Pascale Rosario Carulli (9 February 1770 – 17 February 1841) was an Italian composer for classical guitar and the author of the influential ''Méthode complète pour guitare ou lyre'', op. 27 (1810), which co ...

. His influence helped popularize the guitar as a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

instrument. Also a guitar teacher, he published a guitar method and was an editor and publisher of several musical journals. His life coincided with the evolution of the guitar from the five-course

baroque guitar The Baroque guitar (c. 1600–1750) is a string instrument with five courses of gut strings and moveable gut frets. The first (highest pitched) course sometimes used only a single string. History The Baroque guitar replaced the Renaissance lut ...

to its modern six string classical form. He published works for both types of guitar and also composed works for the lyre-guitar which was popular in France in the late 18th century.

Selected compositions

*''Nouvelles étrennes de guitarre ou recueil des plus jolies romances et couplets qui aient paru dans l'année 1784, suivis d'une sonate et de plusieurs pièces pour la guitarre seule'' op. 4 (1785) *''Collection de préludes et caprices dans tous les tons pour l'étude de la guitare'' (1789) *''A l'Amitié'' for voice and guitar (c.1790) *''Sonate ou duo'' op. 11, with violin part *''Six Romances nouvelles'' op. 34 for voice, flute or violin, guitar (c.1803). Contains: 1. ''Le Saule du malheureux''; 2. ''La Sérénade''; 3. ''L'Amour marchand de co''; 4. ''Chant d'une jeune arabe''; 5. ''Canzonetta''; 6. ''L'Adieu''. *''Instruction élémentaire de la lyre-guitare'' (c.1810); reprint, Florence: Studio per edizioni scelte (1982) *''Vive Henri quatre. Avec dix variations pour la guitare ou la lyre'' (c.1815)

Recordings

*''Pierre-Jean Porro: Romances, airs, sonate'', performed by Ensemble Adelaïde, Bruno Marlat (cond.), on
Solstice SOCD 162 (CD, 1998).
Contains the sonata op. 11 (flute, guitar), three of the ''Six Romances nouvelles'' op. 34, five songs from op. 37, and other songs with flute or violin and guitar.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porro, Pierre Jean 1750 births 1831 deaths 18th-century classical composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century French composers Composers for the classical guitar French classical guitarists French male guitarists French classical composers French male classical composers French music publishers (people) Music publishers (people) 18th-century French composers 18th-century French male musicians 19th-century French male musicians