Ermanno Picchi (7 June 1811 – 18 April 1856) was an Italian composer, pedagogue and music critic who played an active role in the musical life of Florence from 1836 until his early death in 1856.

Life and career

Picchi was born in

Impruneta Impruneta is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence, in the Italian region of Tuscany. The population is about 15,000. Name and production The name Impruneta is derived from ''inprunetis'' meaning "within the pine woods", and ...

in the

Province of Florence The province of Florence () was a Provinces of Italy, province in the northeast of Tuscany region of Italy. The city or ''comune'' of Florence was both the capital of the province of Florence, and of the Region of Tuscany. It had an area of and ...

and studied composition under Ignazio Colson. His first opera, ''Marco Visconti'' premiered at the Teatro del Cocomero in Florence in 1838. His second opera ''Il tre novembre'' premiered in 1844 at the

Teatro della Pergola The Teatro della Pergola (), sometimes known as just La Pergola, is a historic opera house in Florence, Italy. It is located in the centre of the city on the Via della Pergola, from which the theatre takes its name. It was built in 1656 under the p ...

. Over the course of his career he composed four operas, an oratorio, numerous pieces of sacred music, music for military bands, and two piano fantasias (both published by

Ricordi Ricordi may refer to: People * Giovanni Ricordi (1785–1853), Italian violinist and publishing company founder *Giulio Ricordi (1840–1912), Italian publisher and musician Music *Casa Ricordi, an Italian music publishing company established i ...

) on themes from Donizetti's ''

La fille du régiment LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

'' and Pacini's '' Saffo''. Fétis, François-Joseph (1864)
"Picchi, Ermanno"
''Biographie universelle des musiciens'', Vol. 7, p. 43. Didot He also composed ''Concerto'' for alto sax and band, on the occasion of the presentation of the sax in Italy. He was appointed secretary of the

Florence Conservatory The Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini, better known in English as the Florence Conservatory is a music conservatory in Florence, Italy. It is the only music conservatory in Tuscany with the status of a national conservatory, and is operated by the go ...

(at the time an annex of the

Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze The Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze () is an instructional art academy in Florence, in Tuscany, in central Italy. It was founded by Cosimo I de' Medici in 1563, under the influence of Giorgio Vasari. Michelangelo, Benvenuto Cellini and ...

) in 1850 and in 1852 succeeded

Giovanni Pacini Giovanni Pacini (11 February 17966 December 1867) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Pacini was born in Catania, Sicily, the son of the buffo Luigi Pacini, who was to appear in the premieres of many of Giovanni's operas. The fam ...

as its director. Picchi became the founding editor of the weekly journal ''Gazzetta musicale di Firenze'' in 1853, providing critical guidance in its first two years of publication. Each issue came in two parts. The first had essays on music theory and criticism, while the second focused on reviews of noteworthy performances in Italy and the rest of Europe as well as literary and biographical articles. He also translated the libretto of Meyerbeer's ''

L'étoile du nord ' (''The North Star'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe. The work had its first performance at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, on 16 February 1854. Much of the material, incl ...

'' for its Italian premiere in 1856 as ''La stella del nord''. Picchi died in Florence at the age of 44 from what was described at the time as "

miliary fever Miliary fever was a loose medical term used in the past to indicate a general cause of infectious disease that cause an acute fever and skin rashes similar to the cereal grain called proso millet. The term has been used for various local epidemics ...

". His daughter Elisa married the Florentine composer Giuseppe Ceccherini.Menichini, Paola Ircani (March–April 2009)
"Il musicista Giuseppe Ceccherini nel ricordo della morte (1899)"
p. 6. ''Bollettino della Basilica della Santissima Annunziata''. Retrieved 2 October 2016 .

Operas and oratorios

*''Ezechia'' (

Ezekiel Ezekiel, also spelled Ezechiel (; ; ), was an Israelite priest. The Book of Ezekiel, relating his visions and acts, is named after him. The Abrahamic religions acknowledge Ezekiel as a prophet. According to the narrative, Ezekiel prophesied ...

), oratorio in two parts, libretto by Luigi Venturi; premiered Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, Florence, 1836 *''Marco Visconti'', melodramma in three acts, libretto by Luigi Venturi; premiered Teatro del Cocomero, Florence, 1838De Angelis, Marcello (1978). ''La musica del Granduca. Vita musicale e correnti critiche a Firenze 1800-1855'', p. 119. Vallecchi *''Il tre novembre, o La sgomberatura'', melodramma giocoso in two acts, libretto by

Felice Romani Giuseppe Felice Romani (31 January 178828 January 1865) was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist betw ...

; premiered

, Florence, 1844Ambìveri, Corrado (1998)
''Operisti minori: dell'ottocento Italiano''
pp. 68; 119. Gremese Editore. *''Concerto'', premiered Accademia Filarmonica, Florence, 1848 (https://www.ilsaxofonoitaliano.it/opere/concerto-11/) *''Don Crescendo'', melodramma giocoso in three acts (co-composed with Ettore Fiori), libretto by Gaspari Pozzesi; premiered Teatro di Piazza Vecchia, Florence, 1851 *''Il domino bianco'', melodramma giocoso four acts, libretto by Giovanni Battista Canovai; premiered Teatro della Pergola, Florence, 1856

References

External links

Complete score
of Picchi's art song "Sono italiano" at the

International Music Score Library Project The International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP), also known as the Petrucci Music Library after publisher Ottaviano Petrucci, is a subscription-based digital library of public-domain music scores. The project uses MediaWiki software, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picchi, Ermanno 1811 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Italian classical composers 19th-century Italian male musicians Italian opera composers Italian Romantic composers Italian male opera composers People from Impruneta Musicians from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany