Achille Simonetti

For the Italian-Australian sculptor, see Achille Simonetti (sculptor).

Achille Simonetti (12 June 1857 – 19 November 1928) was a prominent Italian violinist and composer, mainly resident in England and Ireland. He was mainly known as a chamber musician and teacher.

Achille Simonetti
Born	(1857-06-12)12 June 1857 Turin
Died	19 November 1928(1928-11-19) (aged 71) London
Genres	Classical
Occupation(s)	Violinist and composer
Instrument	Violin
Years active	Circa 1880–1928

Life

Born in Turin on 12 June 1857,^[1] Simonetti left his family in Bologna (this can be gleaned from his letter to Mr Hill (of Hills and Sons) written in 1922,^[2]) and completed his studies under Francesco Bianchi, Eugenio Cavallini, Giuseppe Gamba, Charles Dancla (regarded as the last exponent of the classical French school of violin playing),^[3] and Camillo Sivori, the last pupil of Niccolo Paganini.^[4]

Simonetti died aged 71 in London on 19 November 1928.^[5]

Career

Simonetti came to England in 1891,^[6] embarking on a career as chamber musician. He became part of the first London Trio, an endeavour which occupied him from 1901 to 1912,^[7] along with cellist William Whitehouse and pianist Amina Goodwin.^[8]

From 1912 to 1919, he was a professor of violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music,^[6] and served as a teacher for many distinguished violinists, including Walter Starkie.

Simonetti was also an early champion of the Brahms Violin Concerto, and wrote a cadenza for the work.

Selected compositions

Orchestral

• Ronde joyeuse for string orchestra
• Sérénade for string orchestra
• Meditazione for small orchestra ^[9]

Chamber music

• Allegretto Romantico in D minor for viola and piano (published 1897)
• Andante mélancolique for violin (or cello) and piano
• Ballata in C minor for viola and piano (published 1897)
• Berceuse for violin and piano
• Canzonetta for violin and piano
• Capriccio for violin and piano
• Cavatina for cello and piano
• Elegia for cello and piano
• Furlana, Italian Dance for violin and piano
• Madrigale in D major for violin and piano (1901) - wrote text and music? - (Different?) music has been set to this by Pietro Floridia.^[10]
• Mazurka for violin and piano
• Minuetto for violin and piano
• Notturnino for violin and piano
• Rêverie for violin and piano
• Romanza for violin and piano
• Romanzetta for violin and piano
• Sonata No. 2, Op. 9, for violin and piano in C major (published 1894)^[11]
• Scènes montagnardes, Op. 12, for violin and piano
• String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 14 (published 1904)
• String Quartet No. 2 in B flat major, Op. 16 (published c.1904)

Piano

• Caprice-Mazurka for piano
• Trois Morceaux caractéristiques (3 Character Pieces) for piano