Siciliana

Italian cellist and composer Alfredo Piatti was born in Bergamo on 8.1.1822; he died in Crocetto di Mozzo near Bergamo on 18.7.1901. After studying at the Milan Conservatoire (1832-37) he embarked on concert tours across Europe, performing in Munich in 1843 with Franz Liszt, who gave Piatti an Amati cello after financial difficulties had obliged him to sell his own cello. Piatti played with Clara Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Joseph Joachim, Edvard Grieg, Anton Rubinstein and Hector Berlioz. From 1859-98 he was principal cellist at the famous ‘Popular Concerts’ held on Saturdays and Mondays in London, while also teaching at the Royal Academy of Music. His Capricci op. 25 are among the most frequently used cello studies to this day. Piatti published various character pieces and arrangements with Schott, as well as four Sonatas for cello and piano. This Siciliana was published in 1869 as plate no. 16396.