| Biography | Achille Simonetti (12 June 1857 19 November 1928) was an Italian and English violinist and composer.
Born in Turin on the 12th of June 1857, Simonetti left his family in Bologna (this can be gleaned from his letter to Mr Hill (of Hills and Sons) written in 1922,) and completed his studies under Francesco Bianchi, Eugenio Cavallini, Giuseppe Gamba, Charles Dancla, regarded as the last exponent of the classical French school of violin playing, and Camillo Sivori, the only pupil of Niccolo Paganini.
Simonetti became part of the first London Trio, an endeavour which occupied him from 1901 to 1904, along with colleagues Amina Goodwin and William Whitehouse.
From 1912 to 1919, he was a professor of violin at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, and served as a teacher for many distinguished violinists, including Walter Starkie.
Simonetti was also an early champion of the Brahms Violin Concerto, and wrote a cadenza for the work.
Simonetti died aged 71 in London on 19 November 1928. |