Paolo Serrao
Paolo Serrao (11 April 1830 – 17 March 1907) was a distinguished and influential Italian teacher of musical theory and composition at Naples.
Serrao was born in Filadelfia, Calabria.[1] He studied at the Naples Conservatory (then called the Real Collegio di Musica). He studied composition and counterpoint under Carlo Conti, piano with Francesco Lanza (a student of Clementi) and received instruction in harmony from Gennaro Parisi.[2] His most significant teacher and mentor was Saverio Mercadante where their relationship lasted nearly 30 years and became almost filial.[3][4]
As professor of composition at the San Pietro a Maiella Conservatorio at Naples, over many years, he taught many famous Italian musicians, notably Giuseppe Martucci, Umberto Giordano, Leopoldo Mugnone, Michele Esposito,[5] Francesco Cilea, Franco Alfano, Luigi Denza and Alessandro Longo.[6]
He wrote five operas, of which Pergolesi was the most successful. His other compositions include both concert and sacred music. He died in Naples, aged 76.
Selected works
- Opera
- L'impostore, Opera semiseria (1850)
- Leonora dei Bardi, Opera seria (1853)
- Pergolesi, Melodramma semiserio in 3 acts (1857); libretto by Federico Quercia
- La Duchessa di Guisa, Melodramma in 4 acts (1865); libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
- Il Figliuol Prodigo, Opera in 4 acts (1868); libretto by Achille de Lauzières
- Orchestral
- Sinfonia
- Chamber music
- Andante e Fuga for string quartet
- Elegia for violin (or cello) and piano
- Minuetto for harp or piano
- Choral
- Requiem for mixed chorus and orchestra
- Gli Ortonesi in Sciò, Oratorio
Sources
- Arthur Eaglefield Hull, A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London 1924).
References
- ^ Pangallo, Caterina (2023-09-01). Essays on the History and Culture of the Unknown Calabria: Land of the Forgotten. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-5275-2927-4.
Paolo Serrao. Born in 1830 in Filadelfia, about 20 km southwest of Catanzaro, he held the post of professor of music theory and composition for many years at Naples...
- ^ Sansone, Matteo (2001). Serrao, Paolo. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.25486.
His professional life was spent at the Naples Conservatory where he was admitted as early as 1839 to study piano with Francesco Lanza, harmony with Gennaro Parisi and composition with Carlo Conti.
- ^ Caputo, Simone (2018). "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani" [Biographical Dictionary of Italians]. Treccani (in Italian). Retrieved 2026-02-26.
Nello stesso anno Saverio Mercadante, direttore del conservatorio dal 1840, nominò Serrao 'primo maestrino' (titolo riservato ai migliori allievi di composizione,...
- ^ Caruso, Francesco (2021-12-17). Paolo Serrao. Gli anni napoletani (in Italian). Youcanprint. p. 13. ISBN 979-12-203-8066-9.
...Serrao e questi, a sua volta, ricambiò il proprio maestro e direttore con una venerazione quasi filiale. Primo segno di questa stima del Mercadante fu la designazione del Serrao,...
- ^ Dibble, Jeremy (2010). Michele Esposito. Field Day Publications. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-946755-47-9.
On entering the Collegio, Esposito was assigned to Cesi for piano lessons,... He went to Paolo Serrao for training in composition and may have taken lessons in harmony and counterpoint with Carlo Conti.
- ^ Greene, David Mason (1985). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. Reproducing Piano Roll Fnd. p. 940. ISBN 978-0-385-14278-6. LCCN 79006863.
Longo, Alessandro... studied at the Naples Conservatory with Paolo Serrao (1830-1907) and Beniamino Cesi (1845-1907),...