Giulio Ricordi - letter received from Paolo Giorza, 24 April 1880

MLMSS 7282

fonds

24 Apr. 1880

431206

1 folder - 0.01 Meters
Textual Records - (manuscript)

Paolo Giorza, composer, conductor and organist, was born in Milan, Italy in 1832. He came to Sydney in 1871, conducting and arranging for the Italian Opera companies of Lyster, Cagli and Pompei, and for J.C. Williamson's first performances of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was organist and choirmaster at St Francis', Melbourne in 1872-74, and conducted and stage-directed for touring artistes Adelaide Ristori and Ilma de Murska in Sydney in 1875. By 1884, Giorza had returned to Milan and he died in Seattle, USA, in 1914.
Giorza was the most significant 19th century Italian composer to visit Australia. As musical director of the 1879 Sydney International Exhibition, Giorza's 'Cantata' (with words by Henry Kendall) was performed at the opening ceremony on 17 Sept. 1879, and his 'Exhibition Album' includes 'The Belles of Australia Waltzes', 'Australia March', 'Manly Beach Polka' and 'Sydney International Exhibition March'.
Giulio Ricordi, of the Milan firm of music publishers, published more than 150 of Giorza's compositions.
(Source: Oxford Companion to Australian Music. Melbourne: OUP, 1997)

24 Apr. 1880; Letter sent by Paolo Giorza to his friend, Giulio Ricordi, with letterhead 'Sydney International Exhibition, 1879 - Office of the Commission', enclosing a copy of his Exhibition Cantata [not included here]. Most of the letter concerns Giorza's feelings on music in general, with a passionate defence of the superiority of Italian composers over German composers.

Two copies of Giorza's Cantata are available in the Mitchell Library's Printed Books Collection at F782.8/G and Q782.8/G, and his Exhibition Album is at F786.2182/1.