Alfonso Ferrabosco the elder – musician

Court composer could have supplied information as well as music

Alfonso Ferrabosco, the composer who first introduced the madrigal to England, was born on this day in Bologna in 1543.

Ferrabosco was suspected of working
as a spy for Queen Elizabeth I

As well as composing music for Queen Elizabeth I of England, he was also suspected of working as a spy for her.

Ferrabosco had been born into a family of musicians and travelled about in Italy and France while he was young with his father and uncle.

He went to England in 1562 with his uncle and found employment with Elizabeth I, becoming the first composer to introduce the unaccompanied harmony of the madrigal to England, where it later became very popular. Elizabeth is said to have settled an annuity equivalent to £66 on him.

Ferrabosco’s madrigals suited English tastes and were considered very skilful. He also composed sacred music and instrumental music for lutes and viols.

He made periodic trips back to Italy, but these were frowned upon both by the Pope and the Inquisition. England was at war with several Roman Catholic countries at the time and as a result, Ferrabosco lost his Italian inheritance.

At one point he was serving Cardinal Farnese in Rome, but decided he wanted to return to England. Rather than ask permission, Ferrabosco said he had to go back to Bologna for family reasons. He then returned to England, where he got an increase in his allowance from Elizabeth.

Ferrabosco fathered two children during his time in England. The eldest, also named Alfonso, later became an important composer.

During one of Ferrabosco’s periods away in Italy he was accused, in his absence, of robbing and killing another foreigner in England.

He managed eventually to clear his name but as a result of the scandal left England in 1578 and never returned. Elizabeth attempted to get him to come back but did not succeed.

Ferrabosco died in Bologna in 1588. It was claimed after his death that he had been a secret service agent for Elizabeth. No evidence was ever produced, although it was thought he had been unusually well paid for a court musician.

The Archiginnasio in Bologna
Photo: Sailko (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Travel tip:

Bologna already had a well established university when Ferrabosco was born in the city. You can visit the oldest surviving building, the Archiginnasio, which is now a library. It is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 7 pm, and on Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm. It is just a short walk from Piazza Maggiore and the Basilica di San Petronio in the centre of the city.

Travel tip:

Palazzo Farnese in Rome had already been built by the Farnese family when Ferrabosco worked for them, in Piazza Farnese in the Campo De’ Fiori area. It was originally designed in 1517 but enlarged when Alessandro Farnese became Pope Paul III in 1534. Michelangelo, Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola and Giacomo della Porta were all involved in the design. The palace is currently being used as the French Embassy in Rome.

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Guidobaldo I – Duke of Urbino

Military leader headed a cultured court

Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, who was to become Duke of Urbino, was born on this day in Gubbio in 1472. 

He succeeded his father, Federico da Montefeltro, as Duke of Urbino in 1482.

Raphael's portrait of Guidobaldo da
Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, can be
found at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence

Guidobaldo married Elisabetta Gonzaga, the sister of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, but they never had any children.

His court at Urbino was one of the most refined and elegant in Italy where literary men were known to congregate.

The writer Baldassare Castiglione painted an idyllic picture of it in his Book of the Courtier.

Castiglione was related on his mother’s side to the Gonzaga family of Mantua and represented them diplomatically.

As a result he met Guidobaldo, Duke of Urbino, and later took up residence in his court among the many distinguished guests.

During this time Castiglione also became a friend of the painter, Raphael, who painted a portrait of him that is now in The Louvre in Paris.

Castiglione’s book, Il Libro del Cortegiano, was written in the form of an imaginary dialogue between Elisabetta Gonzaga and her guests and provides a unique picture of court life at the time. It was published in 1528, the year before he died.

Guidobaldo fought as a captain on behalf of Pope Alexander VI alongside the French troops during the invasion of southern Italy by King Charles VIII of France.

As a condottiero (mercenary military leader) he was later hired by the Republic of Venice to fight against Charles. At one point he was taken prisoner but was freed after a few months.

He had to flee from Urbino in 1502 to escape the armies of Cesare Borgia, the Pope’s son, but was able to return in 1503 after the Pope died.

Guidobaldo adopted as his heir, Francesco Maria della Rovere, his sister’s child. In 1508 Guidobaldo died, aged 36, and was succeeded as Duke of Urbino by his nephew.

Travel tip:

Urbino, which is inland from the Adriatic resort of Pesaro, in the Marche region, is a majestic city on a steep hill.  It was once a centre of learning and culture, known not just in Italy but also in its glory days throughout Europe. The Ducal Palace, a Renaissance building made famous by The Book of the Courtier, is one of the most important monuments in Italy and is listed as a Unesco World Heritage site.

The Palazzo Ducale in Gubbio
Photo: Sailko (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Travel tip:

Gubbio, where Guidobaldo was born, is a small town in Perugia in the region of Umbria that still has many of its medieval buildings. It became absorbed into the territory of the Montefeltro family in the 15th century and Federico Montefeltro, Guidobaldo’s father, had the ancient Palazzo Ducale rebuilt in a similar style to his palace in Urbino.

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Arturo Toscanini - conductor

Talented musician had unexpected career change

World famous orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini died on this day in 1957.

Arturo Toscanini

He served as music director of La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

Toscanini was a well-known musician in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, respected for his amazing musical ear and his photographic memory.

Towards the end of his career he became a household name as director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra because of the radio and television broadcasts and recordings he made.

Toscanini was born in Parma in 1867 and won a scholarship to his local music conservatory where he studied the cello.

He joined the orchestra of an opera company and while they were presenting Aida on tour in Rio de Janeiro the singers went on strike.  They were protesting against their conductor and demanded a substitute. They suggested Toscanini, who they were aware knew the whole opera from memory.

Although he had no previous conducting experience, he was eventually persuaded to take up the baton late in the evening. He led a performance of the long Verdi opera, entirely relying on his memory, and received great acclaim for it. He carried on conducting successfully for the rest of that season, at the age of just 19.

On returning to Italy, Toscanini continued to conduct but also carried on playing the cello in orchestras.

Gradually his success as a conductor began to take over his career. Even the great composer Verdi was impressed with the way Toscanini could interpret his scores.

He was also trusted to conduct at the world premieres of Puccini’s La Boheme and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.

By 1898 Toscanini was principal conductor at La Scala. He toured America with the company in 1920 and made his first recordings there.

He conducted the Metropolitan Opera in New York as well as the New York Philharmonic orchestra.

He conducted his first NBC Symphony Orchestra broadcast in 1937 and continued to tour with the orchestra and make recordings with them until he retired.

Toscanini died on 16 January 1957 at the age of 89 at his home in New York. His body was returned to Italy and he was buried in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan.

Teatro alla Scala, better known simply as La Scala

Travel tip:

La Scala in Milan, where Toscanini was musical director, has a fascinating museum that displays costumes and memorabilia from the history of opera. The entrance is in Largo Ghiringhelli, just off Piazza Scala. It is open every day except the Italian Bank Holidays and a few days in December. Opening hours are from 9.00 to 12.30 and 1.30 to 5.30 pm.

Parmigano-Reggiano cheese is one of the
culinary products for which Parma is famous

Travel tip:

Parma, the birthplace of Arturo Toscanini, is one of Italy’s great art cities with a wealth of churches and palaces full of masterpieces. The city in Emilia-Romagna is also famous for its food and culinary specialities. Parmigiano–Reggiano cheese and Prosciutto di Parma, as well as many dishes cooked alla parmigiana, all originated here.


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Giambattista De Curtis – songwriter and artist

Talented Neapolitan became captivated with the beauty of Sorrento

Writer, painter and sculptor Giambattista De Curtis died on this day in 1926 in Naples.

The bust of Giambattista de Curtis
outside the railway station in Sorrento

A talented poet and playwright, he also wrote the lyrics for many popular songs.

He is perhaps best known for the song Torna a Surriento, although the English words that have now become famous differ from the original verses for the song that he wrote in Neapolitan dialect.

De Curtis is believed to have written the words for Torna a Surriento while on the terrace of the Imperial Hotel Tramontano in 1902, gazing out at the sea whose beauty he was praising.

De Curtis lived for weeks at a time in the hotel and painted frescoes and canvases to decorate the walls for the owner, Guglielmo Tramontano, who was also Mayor of Sorrento at the time.

One theory is that De Curtis was asked to write the song to mark the stay at the hotel of Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Zanardelli.

But another school of thought is that he had already written the words to accompany the beautiful music written by his brother, Ernesto, a few years earlier and that he revived it for the occasion.

Torna a Surriento has often been performed and recorded with its original words, sung by such great performers as Giuseppe Di Stefano and Luciano Pavarotti.

The opening lines are: Vide’o mare quant’e bello. Spira tanta sentimento. Comme tu, a chi tiene mente .Ca, scetato,’ o faje sunna.

A literal translation of this is: See how beautiful the sea is. It inspires so many feelings. Like you, and he who thinks of you, dream while awake.

But to many people the song has come to mean simply: Come back to Sorrento because it is so beautiful.

De Curtis was born into a noble and talented family in Naples in 1860, the son of a painter and the grandson of a composer.

He loved Neapolitan songs and began collaborating with composer Vincenzo Valente in the 1880s. Their first song A Pacchianella was produced in 1889.

Another song he is remembered for is Duorme Carme, inspired by a girl who lived in Via Fuorimura in Sorrento who told him she liked to spend most of her time sleeping.

De Curtis went to live in the Vomero quarter of Naples in 1916 and continued to write and paint until his death. Ernesto had by then moved to America but was still writing music for his brother’s lyrics. 

A few days after Giambattista passed away on 15 January 1926, a letter from Ernesto arrived at his home. He wrote: “Dear Giambattista, I enclose for you music for the song which you sent me last month. I hope it pleases you.”

The view of Vesuvius from the Imperial Hotel
Tramontano that inspired De Curtis

Travel tip:

In Sorrento there is a bust of Giambattista in the square in front of the railway station that bears the inscription: 'To G Battista de Curtis author of the song Torna a Surriento. Placed by the commune 15 September 1982 .' The Imperial Hotel Tramontano in Via Vittorio Veneto where De Curtis used to stay is also famous as the birthplace of the poet, Torquato Tasso.

Travel tip:

When in Naples,  you can take the funicular railway up the hill to Vomero, where De Curtis lived in his last years, to see fine views over the city and the bay. It is well worth visiting the 14th century Castel Sant’Elmo up there because of the wonderful views you will get from its vantage point.

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