talian guitar composer Benvenuto Terzi (1892-1980) considered the guitar his “second profession”, his family were Pharmacists, and he himself was an accountant for 35 years, yet it was for the legacy of his guitar compositions that is is remembered with affection today.Born into an era which was considered difficult to make a living out of playing the guitar, Terzi’s nature was humble, an overtly romantic soul, which shone through in his music from the start. A man who was shy of displays of ostentaity, Terzi prefered to immerse himself in the music and his guitar, desiring his audience to be conscious of only the music, not the performer.His compositions often made use of right hand harmonics, played against a left hand trill. This is to be found most effectively in his work “Nevicata” (Snowfall) an evocation of the countryside in winter.Listen to this phrase, which is followed by the answering phrase…The effect is charming, akin to birdsong, as though the composer is communicating his love of nature through his guitar….” Imitando L’Arpa” is a beautiful, harp like piece, with the melody over arpeggio’s. Extract.Imitations come to the fore again in “Carillon”, with the guitar assuming the role of a wind up music box. The effect here to be attained is to slow down, not as in rallentando, but the way a music box would slow down, until it finally runs out of power and dies altogether!

Many pieces he wrote were based on childhood recollections, and the melody and harmony is blessed with an innocence, almost child like wonder of discovering the beauty of the world. “Serra Di Maggio (an evening in May) makes use yet again of right hand harmonics against a left hand trill, and the piece does convey the atmosphere of a jaunty evening stroll along the promenade in late spring/early summer.

“Campane a Festa” (Holiday Chimes) Melanconie Autunnali (Autumns Melancolia) and “Nostalgie” (Nostalgias) are other poetical minatures of charm and elegence.

Terzi was in contact with prominent players of his era, and among his private papers can be found correspondence with Andres Segovia, Emilio Pujol, and Miguel Llobet, esteemed guitaristic figures who went along diverse paths to develop the guitar as a concert instrument, and to revolutionise it’s playing technique, taking over from where previous European guitar virtuoso’s like Fernando Sor and Fransisco Tarrega left off.

He died in 1980, yet even today, some of the guitars best performers have never heard his work, or not familiar with it. The legacy of his genius is left only partly discovered, perhaps as one may well expect from an modest man, but nevertheless, it’s a legacy which is deserving of more exposure.