Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti (23 December 1801 – November 1878) was an Italian classical guitarist and composer.

Biography

Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti was born in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

on 23 December 1801. He began on the violin, but switched to guitar at age 16. In 1820, he moved to Paris and later to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, before settling in Belgium. He later toured in France, England, Italy, and the United States. His range of works for solo guitar are extensive, and include a set of innovative and demanding Exercices Op. 49, and also a group of twenty-four Caprices Op.11 (probably inspired by the earlier work of his compatriot Paganini). Sets of variations were composed on themes by Weber Op.9 and Rossini Op.7, and are formally inventive as well as challengingly virtuosic. His original work Nuit de Walpurgis indicates a reference to a Faust opera on the frontispiece, but was more probably an original piece inspired by a work by Mendelssohn, which was in turn based on a poem, De Erste Walpugisnacht, by Goethe (as detailed in a Wikipedia article on the subject). His oeuvre is a testament to his originality as inspired by his contemporaries, rather than simply creating stock sets of variations for the potential market among amateur guitarists. Although praised by

Hector Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

in 1859, as well as by Rossini and Paganini, Zani de Ferranti found the 1850s to be a period of decline and financial difficulty. He died in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

in November 1878. His son, Giulio Cesare Ziani de Ferranti (who changed his family name from ''Zani'' de Ferranti to ''Ziani'' de Ferranti), moved from Belgium to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, where he became a portrait photographer, setting up a studio with his father-in-law, the portrait artist William Scott, father of his wife Juliana Szczepanowska. Giulio Cesare and Juliana's son, the inventor Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti, established the electronic engineering firm

Ferranti Ferranti International PLC or simply Ferranti was a UK-based electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century, from 1885 until its bankruptcy in 1993. At its peak, Ferranti was a significant player in power grid system ...

in the family name.

Sources

External links

Publications

The King's guitarist: The life and times of Marco Aurelio Zani de Ferranti
by Marcus G.S. Van de Cruys (, )
Zani de Ferranti – a biography
b
Simon Wynberg
(Chanterelle, ECH914)

Sheet music

Rischel & Birket-Smith's Collection of guitar music1
Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Denmark
George C. Krick Collection of Guitar Music
Washington University * 1801 births 1878 deaths Italian classical guitarists Italian male guitarists Italian male classical composers Italian Romantic composers Musicians from Bologna Composers for the classical guitar 19th-century Italian classical composers 19th-century Italian male musicians 19th-century guitarists Marco {{Italy-composer-stub