Giuseppe Acerbi

Giuseppe Acerbi.

Castel Goffredo, Gonzaga-Acerbi Building

Giuseppe Acerbi (May 3, 1773 – August 25, 1846) was an Italian naturalist, explorer and composer.

Biography

Acerbi was born in Castel Goffredo. In 1798 Acerbi travelled to Lapland, publishing his experiences in Travels through Sweden, Finland and Lapland to the North Cape in the years 1798 and 1799 (1802).

There, he collected some Finnish folk melodies, one of which he used in a Clarinet Concerto. This was the first Finnish melody to be used in serious music.^[1]

References

1. Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Eric Blom, ed.
2. IPNI.  Acerbi.