Ippolito Ragghianti
Ippolito Ragghianti was born on 17 July 1865 in Viareggio (Italy). He was the last son of his parents, born 20 years after the penultimate child and a premature infant. That caused to a valetudinary constitution of Ippolito Ragghianti from the very beginning of his life. At the age of seven he nearly died of a meningitis.
But Ippolito Ragghianti was a keen intellect and showed musical talent from an early age despite his critical health condition. He first studied violin under Giosue Meraviglia, later at the music academy in Florence under Giovacchino Giovacchini (violin) and Guido Tacchinardi (harmony, counterpoint). In his final year at the academy Ippolito Ragghianti won a prize for the best chorale composition.
In 1884 Ippolito Ragghianti attended a concert of the renowned Belgian violinist Cesar Thomson in Milan and got in touch with him. Thomson spotted the talent of the young violinist and took him as a student to Liege. Ippolito Ragghianti attended the violin class of Thomson at the Liege conservatory, won several prizes during his studies and completed as one of the most promising violinists of his age.
In 1891 Ippolito Ragghianti started his career as a concert violinist and toured through different countries with great success. But already in 1892 he had to stop his tour because he contracted with tuberculosis. Therefore Ippolito Ragghianti travelled to Nice to stabilise his health and remained there. He gave further concerts in the near area and started a large composition project: the opera "Jean Marie". But in 1894 his health condition worsened dramatically and Ippolito Ragghianti returned to Viareggio. There he died on 21 November 1894. The local newspaper reported that Giacomo Puccini and Pietro Mascagni - amongst others - attened the burial. The "Musical Times" reported in 1895 about the passing of Ippolito Ragghianti with the words: " a violinist of great talent, a pupil of M. Cesar Thomson at the Liege Conservatoire, and a composer of more than average promise."
The work catalogue of Ippolito Ragghianti is small: He composed a Symphonie thematique, "Lever du soleil" for orchestra, a Violin concerto, a piano quartet, 9 morceaux de Salon for piano, Trois pieces classique for violin and piano, Gavotte et Musette for violin and piano, the piano pieces "La Valse des Amoureux" and "Pic-Nic-Marche" as well as an incomplete opera "Jean Marie". The opera was completed shortly after the death of Ippolito Ragghianti by the Belgian composer Paul Gilson and premiered in 1895 at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels.
Violin concerto
In my possession is the autograph full score of the Violin concerto by Ippolito Ragghianti. Unfortunately not the complete full score, but only the first 20 pages. But the condition of the manuscript makes it likely that the work was completed and only the manuscript divided. The fact that a Violin concerto is mentioned in the work list of Ippolito Ragghianti in the article about him in the "Musical Times" in 1895 seconds this suggestion.
According to the manuscript the work was composed in 1889 and is dedicated to Cesar Thomson. I have no information about a possible premiere of the work. Even worse I have no information about the whereabouts of the other part of the manuscript. The Violin concerto was never published and therefore I have the hope that lost second part of the autograph will come up somewhere sometime.
