The chatty and highly informative memoirs of the musician and composer Giacomo Gotifredo Ferrari (1763-1842) have remained inaccessible to the English-reading public since their original appearance in Italian in 1830, although there were two republications in Italy in the 20th century. This is the first translation into any other language.

Ferrari was the son of a silk merchant in northern Italy, and went south to Naples to study composition withPaisiello and Latilla. From there he headed northwards, arriving first in Paris, where he met Dussek and Steibelt, and played for the unfortunate royal family, and later relocated to London, meeting Haydn and Clementi. His Anecdotes paint lively portraits of Ferrari's friends and acquaintances, with considerable space given to conversation. As a composer Ferrari produced operas, ballets, as well as both accompanied and unaccompanied sonatas for piano. As writer he also left treatises on Italian singing and on practical and theoretical music.

STEPHEN THOMSON MOORE holds degrees in music from Harvard and Stanford and studied traverso with Sandra Miller. He is presently Head of the Sound & Image Department of the Green Library, Florida International University, Miami, Florida.

Translated by: Stephen Thomson Moore