Unlike what was customary in those years, for the premiere of his Seventh Symphony in 1813 Beethoven was fortunate to have among the members of the improvised orchestra a good number of famous musicians. The involvement of Salieri, Hummel, Meyerbeer, Spöhr is not in doubt, but it is said that a 32-year-old Italian musician settled in Vienna since 1806, Mauro Giuliani, provided his services as well. On the occasion, the virtuoso guitarist and composer would have played the cello, an instrument that he also mastered since he had begun his musical education on it.
A guitar virtuoso
But Giuliani was essentially a guitar virtuoso. Along with Fernando Sor, he was one of the last outstanding instrumentalists of the classical era, before the fortunate rescue of the instrument at the beginning of the 20th century. Born in the town of Bisceglie in 1781, at the age of 19 he undertook a tour of Europe motivated by the interest in making a career, since the interest of the Italian public was increasingly oriented towards opera, not to mention the fact that in those years Italy abounded in talented guitarists.
Vienna
The tour was successful, and in 1806 Mauro Giuliani decided to settle in Vienna, where he was to remain until 1819. There he was recognized and acclaimed by the Viennese high society after joining their musical circles and taking part with colleagues of the stature of Hummel and Moscheles in the musical life of the capital of the empire.
His talent was also recognized by Rossini and Beethoven. The latter even referred to the Italian guitarist in very good terms on more than one occasion, and perhaps that is why Giuliani decided to repay the gesture by taking part in the premiere of the Seventh Symphony.
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| Mauro Giuliani (1781 - 1829) |
Mauro Giuliani published more than 200 works, for solo guitar and various orchestral ensembles. Not all have survived to this day. However, his Great Eroica Sonata is today an obligatory piece of the guitar repertoire.
Little is known about the circumstances surrounding its creation. The only mention Giuliani made of the work in his entire life is in a letter he sent to the publishing house Ricordi, in 1821, offering the sale of five pieces composed "in a style never seen before". One of them, which he names as Gran Sonata Eroica, is described by the author as "very extensive and never heard before", an illuminating remark because it informs us of Giuliani's concern to ensure that the work does not come from self-plagiarism, a common resource at the time. In 1840, nineteen years later, Ricordi published a work by Giuliani with that title, as opus 150. Giuliani had died in 1829.
The piece has a single movement, marked allegro maestoso. The rendition is by the Spanish guitarist Paola Requena, born in Cartagena in 1982.
