Pierre Jean Porro

Pierre-Jean Porro (7 December 1750 – 31 May 1831) was an influential French classical guitarist, composer and music publisher.

[1] Porro was born in Bagnols,[2] Provence, France, with the French surname Porre, later italianising his name according to the fashion of the time.

He was also an editor and publisher of various journals such as the weekly Le Journal de Guitare (1787–1803) in which he published his own compositions as well as French editions of the works of Italian composers such as Francesco Durante, Jommelli, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi in addition to those of the composers of his time such as Mozart and Haydn.

In all, he published 37 works for the 5- and 6-string guitars and the lyre-guitar (popular in the French salons in the late 18th century).

Porro lived and worked in Paris at a time (late 18th and early 19th century) when the guitar reached a peak of popularity and the city attracted many other notable guitarists such as Filippo Gragnani, Fernando Sor, Mauro Giuliani, Dionisio Aguado and Ferdinando Carulli.