GM. LBC.01(22) Marcia Funebre
Un Mesto Pensiero alla Tomba
dell'Illustre Italiano,
Camillo Benso di Cavour di
Napoleone Redaelli [? - 1897]
pianoforte
F[rancesco] Lucca, Milano [1802-1872]
s.d. [1861]
lit. Corbella
3pp
The aristocratic Camillo di Cavour, was one of the leading figures in the movement towards the Unification of Italy. He died in 1861, just when Italy was declared a united nation state under the Sardinian King Vittorio Emanuele II. There were Maltese families who supported his cause. This commemorative music would have been played in the late-nineteenth century salons of such Maltese families.
Michael Buhagiar kindly shared the following relevant information on this subject - He came across a letter in the Maltese newspaper Il-Hmar, 1920, in which a correspondent lamented that local bands were unashamedly playing very unseemly marches during Good Friday processions. He specifically mentioned among these a march dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele, Primo Re d'Italia, and others to Catarina Seconda, or to Alessandro Manzoni. Though these marches were praiseworthy he complained that they were totally unsuitable. It would not be surprising if the Cavour funeral March was likewise adapted.
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