Francesco Corbetta

Francesco Corbetta (ca. 1615 – 1681, in French also Francisque Corbette) was an Italian guitar virtuoso, teacher and composer. Along with his compatriots Giovanni Paolo Foscarini and Angelo Michele Bartolotti, he was a pioneer and exponent of the combination of strummed and plucked textures referred to today as “mixed” style. Biography Early life and education Corbetta’s obituary, probably written by his fellow guitarist Rémy Médard, says that he showed a strong inclination for the guitar at an early age, and pursued it over the strong objections of his parents. In the Italian preface to his 1671 La Guitarre Royalle, he claims that he was self-taught on the guitar, and also that he had never played the lute (unlike most celebrated guitarists of his day). Professional career Corbetta spent his early career in Italy. He seems to have worked as a teacher in Bologna where the guitarist and composer Giovanni Battista Granata was one of his pupils. 2 He was then attached to the Court of Carlo II, Duke of Mantua in various capacities. He was however frequently granted leave of absence and traveled abroad to Spain probably between 1644-1647 where he amazed the Court in Madrid with his virt