Carlo Munier

[1] He wanted "great masters" to consider the instrument and raise it above the level of "dilettantes and street players" where it had been stuck for centuries.

Growing up in the Vinaccia atelier, where he learned his first musical rudiments, Munier began to study the mandolin and the guitar with Carmine de Laurentiis, Neapolitan maestro of both instruments and author of the 1869 "Metodo per mandolino" published by Ricordi editions.

In this period he performed at several concerts in Naples and published his first compositions, arrangements of La Traviata and I Puritani for two mandolins, mandola and piano, dedicating the last one to the Queen of Italy.

He quickly gained a reputation as a virtuoso, becoming a guiding figure of the Florentine mandolin and guitar school, which also included such illustrious students as Queen Margherita.

In the same competition Munier won the gold medal as mandolin player and composer performing his "Concerto in Sol maggiore".

In October 1909 he performed for King Vittorio Emanuele III, in the historical castle of Sommariva-Perno in Cuneo province, playing the "Prelude in Re maggiore" and the Mazurka-Concert "A Lei!".

In Marseilles, he met his mandolinist friend Laurent Fantauzzi to whom he told of his plan to organize an impressive concert in Florence.

In fact, many people dedicate themselves to studying it with constant passion, therefore the need for a "Complete Method" for a guide to lead one without difficulties to perfect execution" In the Etude magazine, January 1941, George C. Krick selected a group of Munier's works as "his most important compositions.