Ferdinando Giorgetti
Air varié and Rondò alla polacca for solo flute, accompanied by violin, viola, and violoncello or bassoon
ed. by Claudio Paradiso 
(Musica Strumentale, 5)

XVI, 31 pp.; 4 parts: 11, 11, 11, 11 pp.; 29,7 x 21 cm
Italian / English Introduction and apparatus

Ferdinando Giorgetti (1796-1867) was a leading musical figure in 19th-century Florence. A violinist, composer, and respected teacher, he helped innovate and disseminate instrumental music through writing and transcribing, as well as having Viennese and Italian masterpieces performed. He left an oratorio, sacred music, orchestral overtures, violin and flute concertos, and, most of all, chamber music—variations and polonaises for violin and piano, violin duets, string trios, quartets, quintets, and sextets.

Over the 1820s, Giorgetti had many of his compositions printed, most of them cast in variation or dance formats, as period taste dictated. Among these, the Air varié and Rondò alla polacca for solo flute accompanied by violin, viola, and cello or bassoon (Ricordi, 1827), continues the tradition of light, humorous pieces for woodwind soloists. It opens with a tragic introduction (Agitato quasi presto) in D minor, followed by theme (Andante cantabile, in D major) and five very diverse variations. The last one (Vivace assai) ends up with a flute cadenza, leading to an amusing Polonese (Allegro moderato) finale.

Claudio Paradiso, a flautist and leader of the “Fiati di Parma” ensemble, teaches Wind Ensemble Music at Perugia Conservatory. He has been researching 18th- and 19th-century Italian instrumental music for many years. Has edited works for or with woodwinds by Giovanni Bolzoni, Benedetto Carulli, Domenico Cimarosa, Michelangelo Dotti, Jiří Družecký, Giuseppe Gariboldi, Luigi Hugues, Teodulo Mabellini, Saverio Mercadante, Francesco e Pietro Morlacchi, Luigi Pagani, Gioachino Rossini, Antonio Scontrino, Camillo Sivori, Giovanni Tadolini, and Giovanni Battista Viotti, published by Suvini-Zerboni, Ut Orpheus, L’Oca del Cairo, and Anteo. He has produced scholarly studies on Luigi Hugues (Casale Monferrato, 2001), Il flauto in Italia (Rome, 2005), Teodulo Mabellini (Pistoia, 2005), Arrigo Tassinari (Cento, 2009), and I virtuosi di Roma (in preparation). He has recently launched a projectedDizionario della musica in Italia (DMI), sponsored by Italian research centers, institutions, and foundations (2009).