Paolo Giorza

Paolo Giorza
Paolo Giorza 1870
Background information
Born	(1832-11-11)November 11, 1832 Milan
Died	March 4, 1914(1914-03-04) (aged 81)
Occupation(s)	Composer, Conductor, Teacher
Years active	1850-1900

Paolo Giorza (11 November 1832 – 4 March 1914) was an Italian-Australian composer of classical music and Romantic music.

He was born in Milan, son of Luigi Giorza, a painter and singer. His father prompted his musical interest. He is revered in Milan, where he wrote the song "La bella Gigogin" in 1858, performed at the Milan Carcano Theatre. The song became symbolic of Italian culture.

During his lifetime, he produced and wrote many scores including various waltzes. Giorza travelled much of the world working in Venice, Vienna, London and Paris. In the late 1860s he worked in America, directing the orchestra at the Academy of Music in New York City. He composed the music for the cancan dance, introduced to America by his friend and fellow Milanese artist, ballerina Giuseppina Morlacchi. In 1871 he went to Australia where he succeeded as a composer. In 1884, he became unwell and returned to Europe and success at La Scala. He died on 4 May 1914.

1859 Polka

Works

Magazzino, set design for I Bianchi ed i Negri act 5 (1863).

Luogo alpestre nell'interno d'una foresta, set design for Gazelda prologue scene 1 (1864).

L'isola delle antille abitata dai corsari, set design for Leonilda act 1 scene 1 (1865).

Piazza di Leutschau, set design for Nostradamus act 1 (1862).

Ricco gabinetto, set design for Anello infernale (1862).

• Olympia Valse
• 1852 Cleopatra (dance)
• 1856 Tarantella nel ballo La giocoliera
• 1862 Ondina Polka, Op. 116
• Blumen aus Italien, Op. 217
• 1870 Messe Solennelle No.3
• 1871 Trickett Galop (celebrating Edward Trickett, a champion Australian rower)
• 1877 Giulia Valse
• 1879 The Old Corporal Quadrille, dedicated to Eduardo Majeroni
• 1883 Adieu Waltz (for his departure from Australia)
• 1877 The Geelong Skating Rink Galop
• 1890 Cardellino Polka, Op. 123
• Land of the Sunny South, All Hail, an Australian National anthem
• Scottisch, Op. 117
• 1879 Sydney Exhibition Cantata, with words by Henry Kendall
• 1882 The Bay of Sydney Waltz (La Baja di Sydney Valse)

Recordings

• Belles of Australia Waltz (Sydney Conservatorium)
• The Trickett Galop
• 2013 Regina Coeli (Choir of St Magnus-the-Martyr)
• 2015 Inexplicable Splendour (Choir of St Magnus-the-Martyr)

Scores

• Free scores by Paolo Giorza at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

Students

Giorza taught Australian composer Maude FitzStubbs (Mrs Harry Woods) while in Australia