Filippo Gragnani (3 September 1768 – 28 July 1820) was an Italian guitarist and composer.
Gragnani was born in
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
, the son of
Antonio Gragnani. From a family of notable
luthier
A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments.
Etymology
The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...
s and musicians, Gragnani studied music in his home town with
Giulio Maria Lucchesi. He began with the violin but later devoted himself to the
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
, becoming known as a virtuoso performer.
Gragnani first published works for guitar and
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
in Milan around the beginning of the 19th century with the publishers Ricordi and Monzino. During these times he travelled to Germany and settled in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
by 1810, a center of performance and music publishing. There he befriended and became a pupil of
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 ...
, another Italian virtuoso. Gragnani dedicated three of his guitar duets to him,
Dolmetsch Online
/ref> and in turn Carulli dedicated some duets to Gragnani.
Works
Some twenty compositions are known by Gragnani, of which fifteen have opus numbers.
*Tre Sonate
*Tre Duetti
*Sinfonia
*Sonata Sentimentale
*Tre Divertimenti
*Tre Duetti
*Trois Duos, Op. 1
*Trois Duos, Op. 2
*Trois Duos, Op. 3
*Trois Duos, Op. 4
*Fantasia (solo guitar), Op. 5
*Opus 6
**Tre Sonatine e un Tema con Variazioni, Op. 6
**Trois Duos, Op. 6
*Trois Duos, Op. 7
*Opus 8
**Tre Dui (for violin and guitar), Op. 8
**Quartetto for clarinet, violin, and two guitars, Op. 8
*Sestetto (for flute, clarinet, violin, 2 guitars & cello in A major), Op. 9
*Variazioni, Op. 10
*Trois Exercices, Op. 11
*Trio (for three guitars), Op. 12
*Trio (for flute, violin and guitar), Op. 13
*Trois Duos, Op. 14
*Opus 15
**Sonata Sentimentale (solo guitar), Op. 15
**Divertimenti (solo guitar), Op. 15
Sources
Sheet Music
Rischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gragnani, Filippo
1768 births
1820 deaths
Musicians from the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
18th-century Italian composers
18th-century Italian male musicians
19th-century Italian composers
Composers for the classical guitar
Italian classical composers
Italian male classical composers
19th-century Italian male musicians