Arnoldo Sartorio


Arnold Gabriel Holland Sartorio was a German composer, choral conductor, and piano teacher of the Romantic period. His musical output lay almost entirely in the genre of salon music pioneered by Sigismond Thalberg among others and transcended by Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt.
Exceptionally prolific, Sartorio composed works for over 1,200 opus numbers, his reaching of Opus 1,000 being documented in the magazine The Etude. While virtually unknown today, he was remembered by past audiences chiefly for pedagogical pieces written for his piano students to play. Many of these were issued under pseudonyms, known ones being Felix Durand, T. Devrient, Arthur Dana, Carlotta Bocca, Christian Schäfer, and Victor Abelle.

Life

Early years

Of Italian descent, Sartorio was born in Frankfurt to Joseph Sartorio and Charlotte Wilhelmine Marie Sophie Katharine Ruegemer. His siblings included Gaetans Carl Alexander, Clara Felicie Octavia, and Adolphine Josephine Felicie. Sartorio's teachers were August Buhl and Eduard Mertke.

Career

According to Cooke, Sartorio was "a choir conductor in Strassburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne. He also taught many successful pupils."
Sartorio moved at some point to the United States.

Music

Among Sartorio's most popular compositions were the Drei Jagdszenen , Op. 173 ; Vierzehn Melodische Etüden , Op. 214 ; Bilder aus der Märchenwelt , Op. 205 ; and Bilder aus der Jugendzeit , Op. 233.

Reception

Contemporaneous critical opinions of Sartorio's music were that it was attractive and cleverly written.

Citations