For his day job, Galli was a wealthy banker. However, he was also a fine musician and at night became a flute fanatic, at the same time turning his hand to composition.

Not much more is known about this man. Most of his compositions (in excess of 400 titles) were based on operatic themes and his wife had little interest in music. They had no children, just 25 cats!

There was a time when most of his works were published by Ricordi, but nowadays, I believe the only two books of his music still in print with that publishing house, are ‘30 Esercizi’ and ‘Indispensabile Metodo Pratico’. However, even a catalogue search for Galli on the Ricordi site itself hits a dead end!

The question therefore arises as to how or why did so many of his compositions (and those of other Italian composers from that period) disappear off the face of the earth? If the works had been inherently poor from the start, it is highly unlikely that a prestigious house such as Ricordi would have considered their initial publication. They weren’t in business to lose money.

In ‘A perfect moment for restoration, rejuvenation and rejoicing’ (Chapter 3 in the ‘Travels’ section of Simply Flute), I have attempted to go at least some of the way towards answering this question. I hope that you find my thoughts on this interesting to read as I found the research that I made into this particular topic most intriguing, compelling and engaging. Yet again, the results highlight the importance of history and how it shapes the future.

If you have the time, please do read this article, as I feel that it might well shape your approach to Fiori Melodici, A Selection of Operatic Melodies, No. 2 from Verdi’s La Traviata, making it even more enjoyable to play/perform.

With its famous aria melodies and tingling and vibrant allegro sections, there is so much for us to both enjoy and work on in this delightful piece.

For utmost expression and nuance, articulation will need to be light, agile and nimble, whereas slow sweeping melodies provide ample opportunity to explore sound and dynamics. The allegro sections will most definitely get us to focus on better finger and tongue co-ordination, in particular during the electrifying two and a half page ‘stampede’ towards the end of the work.

Although time consuming to put together, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable journey!

On the website, subscribers can find a complete performance played by myself on two different flutes, download files for both the parts and the score and two play along versions, where you will be able to select which flute part you wish to play and play along to my recording of the other part.

I very much hope that Fiori Melodici, will be satisfyingly challenging and highly rewarding for you too!

In this ‘bubbling’ work it is impossible not to smile at the sheer joy and passion coming from within. To this extent, in the complete video performance, we have decided to embrace the Italian passion for ‘La Dolce Vita’ and interspersed various nostalgic snap shots and videos from this glorious country, alongside shots of the flute players (me!) and a scrolling score. As the music builds, so does the frenzy of visual activity. If you have the time, please do make yourself comfortable and watch the video in its entirety. It will hopefully bring a smile to your face too.

To whet your appetite, apart from the complete performance by myself, we are giving away (yes, FREE!) the 1^st flute sheet music and the play along 2^nd flute audio track for one of the more famous arias. 

Fiori Melodici in its entirety is the perfect flute entertainment at home for a winter evening. For those of a legal age, to accompany proceedings, perhaps cooking a lasagne and pouring a glass or perhaps two of Brunello di Montalcino might move things along with even more gusto!