Fiorillo, Federigo

1753-1812

An Italian composer and violinist, the son of Ignazio Fiorillo. He was born in Brunswick, Germany, where his father conducted the opera, and from him the son learned the rudiments of music. He appeared as a conductor in Poland about 1780 and conducted the orchestra of a theatre at Riga from 1783 until 1785, and played also in Paris, the latter year, with success at the Concert Spirituel. He made his first London appearance in 1788 and remained there until 1794. Fiorillo died in Amsterdam. He wrote symphonies; yalses; sonatas; concertos; violin-music and thirty-six caprices for the violin, which are highly valued by musicians and executants on the violin, and rank with the classical studies of Kreutzer and Rode. He also wrote a method for the violin which is a work of high authority on violin-playing. Fiorillo's compositions, while popular in their day, are not known now, although they show him to have been an earnest and talented musician. They were most recently edited by Ferdinand David.