Giorgio Valensin

Giorgio Valensin (Francized Georges Valensin; ; ; 1850 – December 1889) was an Italian composer of the Romantic era. A banker by profession, he was elected to serve on the municipal council of Florence. He wrote the opera La Capricciosa in 1874, followed by two symphonic works later in the decade.

He is best known for the minuet from the third movement of his Symphony No. 1, composed in 1879 and dedicated to Jules Danbé. Transcriptions of the minuet became a popular salon and concert piece for piano, and an arrangement by Paul Bazelaire brought the minuet into the cello repertoire.

Biography Valensin was born in Livorno, then part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, in 1850. He was born into an aristocratic family of Italian Jews (according to his appearance in the necrology of Il Corriere Israelitico) and studied in France. He was appointed a knight of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1883 and given the title of cavaliere. His opera semiseria La Capricciosa was performed during the carnival at the Teatro delle Logge in Florence on 28 February 1874. The lyrics of the opera were based on a book of the same name by the Livornese author Angelo Consigli (1835–1908).

By the late 1870s, Valensin was active in Paris, where the minuet from his First Symphony was published in score and parts by around 1879. and a four-hand arrangement by Renaud de Vilbac followed in 1880. Both were published as part of the "Répertoire des concerts Danbé", and another piano transcription by Georges Pfeiffer appeared in 1885. After Paul Bazelaire arranged the symphony's minuet for cello, it entered the cello repertoire. Bazelaire also transcribed the music for three cellos. In 1913, Ross Jungnickel arranged the Célèbre Menuet for piano trio.

The minuet for solo cello was recorded by Hungarian cellist Judith Bokor in 1924. The Boston Symphony Orchestra played the Symphony No. 1: Minuet for strings on 16 and 19 June 1928 under the baton of Alfredo Casella. A rendition by Emanuel Feuermann accompanied by was recorded in April 1927, and another rendition was released by Pathé Records in 1929 on a vinyl record that included music by Jean-Philippe Rameau and (1709–1799).

Valensin died in December 1889, aged 39. He was buried on 2 January 1890. His funeral was widely attended by members of Florentine high society and included Alessandro d'Ancona.