A Mauro Guiuliani guitar in London
A highly ornamented guitar, built by Pons in 1812, once belonging to Empress Marie-Louise, and then given to Mauro Giuliani, has recently come to light in a London bank. Prior to its discovery, no guitar having adirect connection with Giuliani was known to exist. This article describes the instrument and discusses the sequence of events that led to its coming into the possession of Christopher de Monte, a young English gentleman who was apparently the dedicatee of Giuliani’s Concerto, Op. 36. Giuliani gave him the guitar in 1815, but de Monte died prematurely in 1816, while returning to England. His guitar and belongings were put in a storeroom at the bank of Coutts & Co. Today, some 180 years later, this discovery presents us with a veritable time capsule of musical knowledge...
This article appeared in “Soundboard” published by the Guitar Fundation of America
a guiuliani guitar kept in london