Allegro Spiritoso
Mauro Giuliani
This piece is the first from a set of four so called Northern Dances Op. 14 by the Italian composer Mauro Giuliani (1781 - 1829). I guess that from his point of view Northern means "North of the Swiss Alps".
Together with Fernando Sor, Giuliani was one of the most famous composers for guitar in the classical era. As Sor had his territory in the Paris guitar scene, Vienna was the place where Giuliani was most popular.
Giuliani was a quite prolific composer with opus numbers ranging up to 150. Besides virtuoso and technically quite demanding concert pieces, he wrote a great number of didactic works that were directed to the "home-music" market.
The large number of published works did not provide him with sufficient money to die rich. Due to his lifestyle and lack of thrift, he passed away in poverty.
This Allegro is a joyful piece and provides a good exercise for slur playing.