Royalty Free Music - Gioacchino Rossini

Gioacchino Rossini- Biography

Gioachino Rossini was an Italian composer whose memorable melodies and sparkling string writing brought him great success.

He was born on February 29th 1792 in Pesaro, Italy into a musical family, and learned to sing and play the harpsichord, horn and piano by the age of ten. In 1806 he began studies as a cellist at the Bologna Conservatorio, and gained sufficient skill in composition and counterpoint to have his first opera produced in Venice when he was only 18.

His first great success however was an opera "Tancredi", whose lyrical melodies and passionate words immediately were a hit with his audiences and became popular songs. Rossini's next great success was "The Barber Of Seville", written in two weeks and packing Italian opera houses immediately.

All in all, Rossini wrote 39 operas, including "William Tell", first produced in 1829. The overture from this last opera is still incredibly popular today, with it's energy and gusto coming from the dynamic orchestral writing. He travelled through Italy, France and even to England, meeting King George VI. Following his appointment as Chief Composer to the King of France with its annual payment of £800, Rossini was financially comfortable and independent. In 1832, his father died and Rossini wrote his "Stabat Mater", but after this Rossini wrote very little, spending time with friends and enjoying life in Bologna, Florence and finally Paris.

He died in 1868 on November 13th, and was buried at the Pere Lachaise cemetary in Paris. Rossini's music displays verve and confidence, and its beautiful Italian melodies and soaring crescendos communicate as well now as they did to the Italian audiences of the nineteenth century. The overture from "William Tell" has since been covered by Spike Jones and the City Slickers, Mike Oldfield, Glen Campbell, Victor Borge and the Animaniacs, and used as music on countless television programmes and films including "The Lone Ranger", Stanley Kubrick's "Clockwork Orange" and "The Flintstones", and is now available as royalty free music.

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