Alessandro Rolla
Alessandro Rolla, Milan, c. 1820, on a stipple engraving byLuigi Rados (1773–1840).
Background information
Born	23 April 1757[1] Pavia, Italy
Died	14 September 1841 (aged 84)[1] Milan, Italy
Occupation	Composer

Alessandro Rolla (Italian pronunciation:[alesˈsandroˈrɔlla]; 23 April 1757 – 14 September 1841^[1]) was an Italianviola andviolinvirtuoso,composer, conductor and teacher. His son,Antonio Rolla, was also a violin virtuoso and composer.

His fame now rests mainly as "teacher of the greatPaganini", yet his role was very important in the development of violin and viola technique. Some of the technical innovations that Paganini later used largely, such as left-hand pizzicato, chromatic ascending and descending scales, the use of very high positions on violin and viola,octave passages, were first introduced by Rolla.

Rolla was born inPavia,Italy, in 1757 and after his initial studies he moved toMilan where, from 1770 to 1778, he studied withGiovanni Andrea Fioroni,Maestro di cappella atMilan Cathedral, who was the most important musician in Milan afterG. B. Sammartini.Charles Burney, in his musical tour in Italy, refers to Fioroni to acquire information about theAmbrosian Chant.

In 1772, he made his first public appearance as asoloist and composer performing "the firstviola concerto ever heard", as reported by a contemporary writer.^{[n 1]} In 1782 he was appointed principal viola and the leader of the DucaleOrchestra in Parma, playing violin and viola until 1802.^{[n 2]} In 1795 he received a visit by the father of the youngPaganini, wishing him to teach his son.^{[2][n 3]} After the death of the Duke of Parma, Rolla was offered a position as leader and orchestra director of theLa Scala Orchestra in Milan in 1802.^[3] Here the new governors, the French and later the Austrians, wanted to create the most important orchestra of Italy and therefore hired the best virtuosos of the time. Among his students during this period wereCesare Pugni,^[4] the prolific composer of ballet music, whom he taught the violin. Rolla would conduct many of Pugni's operas for La Scala, among themIl Disertore Svizzero (1831) andLa Vendetta (1832).

Rolla remained at La Scala until 1833. There he was usually identified as the "Primo violino, Capo d'orchestra" being so responsible for leading the orchestra.^[5] He conducted the first Milanese performances ofMozart'sDon Giovanni,Così fan tutte,La clemenza di Tito andThe Marriage of Figaro andBeethoven's first symphonies. During this period he also conducted about eighteen operas of the then most loved opera composer,Gioachino Rossini, as well as operas byGaetano Donizetti andBellini, whom he got to know personally. He conducted the premiere ofNorma, for example.

From 1811 he was also director of a Cultural Society where musicians would perform chamber music works byHaydn, Mozart and Beethoven, among others. In 1813 at this Cultural Society he gave private performances of Beethoven's 4th, 5th and 6th symphonies. He also frequented thearistocracy drawing rooms, meeting artists and poets, playing for them and dedicating several compositions to them. In 1808 the Conservatoire of Music in Milan was inaugurated and Rolla was appointed professor of violin and viola. In this capacity he composed many didactic works for his own pupils, graded in difficulty, many of which were published by the newly established publishing houseRicordi.^{[n 4]}

Although involved in opera conducting in a period when in Italy opera was dominating overinstrumental music, Rolla continued to compose, maintaining the Italian instrumental tradition high. He wrote about 500 works, from didactic compositions tosonatas,quartets,symphonies,concertos for violin, and at least 13 concertos and other works for viola and orchestra. Significant was his contribution to the dissemination of Beethoven's works in Italy and his familiarity with Beethoven and otherViennese composers is shown in his compositions. He continued to compose and playchamber music until few months before his death at 84.

As an example of his fame in Italy and abroad, it is worth noting that during his lifetime his compositions were published by publishers such as Le Duc and Imbault inParis,Artaria inVienna,Breitkopf & Hartel inLeipzig, Monzani & Hill inLondon,André inOffenbach, Ricordi in Milan from 1809, and many more. This information about Rolla's life and multifarious musical activity helps us interpret his work. He was a musician of European vision, an innovator in his own field who was also able to learn from the best of his contemporaries. Also being so deeply immersed in opera environment undoubtedly had an influence on his style as a composer. He often usedthemes from operas for hisvariations.

Many of his works have been published in modern times and are therefore available. His works and performances as a violin and viola player, as well as conductor at La Scala, were often reviewed and appreciated in theLeipziger Zeitung. Rolla deserves a more important position in viola repertoire. His pedagogical works, conceived especially for the viola, are of special interest for students and teachers. They are often conceived in form ofduos, lending themselves to be used also for chamber music education purposes as well.

Because of the technical innovations introduced, his work may be considered helpful for the development of viola technique. His style varies from the very melodic phrases, typically operatic in character, rich in fiorituras, to the extremely virtuoso writing, the style usually identified with Paganini. Ingredients of this technique are an ample use ofdouble stops, fast passages inthirds andsixths,octaves from the first to the eighth position, very fast ascending and descendingdiatonic andchromatic scales, flying staccato, left-handpizzicato. This intense virtuosity was a new innovation for viola technique, practically unheard of in previous times. Bertini, a historian of his time, in a dictionary of musicians reported that Rolla was prohibited from playing in public because women could not hear him without fainting or suffering attacks of nerves.

• Luigi Inzaghi and Luigi Alberto Bianchi,Alessandro Rolla – Catalogo tematico delle opere, Nuove Edizioni, 1981.
• Maurice Riley,The History of the Viola, Riley, 1980.
• Alessandro Rolla,Adagio e tema con variazioni per viola e orchestra,, edited by L. A. Bianchi, Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1979.
• Alessandro Rolla,Sonata in Do maggiore per viola e basso, edited by L. A. Bianchi, Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1982.
• Alessandro Rolla,Tre pezzi per viola sola, edited by L. A. Bianchi, Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1974.
• Scholes Percy A. (editor),Dr. Burney’s Musical Tours in Europe, vol.I and II; Oxford University Press, 1959.
• Giuseppe Bardone "Convegno su A.Rolla al Collegio Ghislieri" in Academia edu 2016

• Free scores by Alessandro Rolla at theInternational Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
• Rolla String Trio No.1-Sound-bites & Biography at Edition Silver Trust
• Gems Music Publications, a source for several Rolla scores, including the complete viola duets, viola solo works, some violin-viola duets, and viola concerti.

• 1757 births
• 1841 deaths
• Musicians from Pavia
• Italian classical violists
• Italian classical violinists
• Italian male classical composers
• Italian Classical-period composers
• Italian Romantic composers
• Composers for violin
• Italian male conductors (music)
• Academic staff of Milan Conservatory
• 19th-century Italian classical composers
• 19th-century Italian conductors (music)
• 19th-century classical violinists
• 18th-century Italian composers
• 18th-century Italian male musicians
• 18th-century Italian violinists
• Italian male classical violinists
• Italian string quartet composers
• 18th-century conductors (music)
• 19th-century violists

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