In 1842, Giovanni Ricordi launched the first Italian magazine about music, the Gazzetta Musicale di Milano (The Gazette of the Music of Milan). This is probably a first example of the influence of his son, Tito I, who considered this magazine also as a way to promote the copyright of musical works acquired by Casa Ricordi (Ricordi Music Publishing House).

The Gazzetta was a newsletter that didn’t deal only with publication copyright, but also with the cultural life of Milan, featuring reviews of performances, and was a means for discussing questions of the aesthetics of music. The magazine – based on French and German models – was the first of its kind in Italy. Once a month, a work of music was attached to it. At the end of the year, these twelve compositions were gathered in an anthology, the Antologia classica musicale (A Classic Anthology of Music).

The “Five Days of Milan” – the revolt in March 1848 during Italy’s Risorgimento* – set the stage for the first interruption of the magazine’s publication. It started up, again, shortly thereafter, first under a heavily politicized title, Gazzetta Musicale di Milano ed Eco delle notizie politiche (The Gazette of the Music of Milan and Echo of Political News), and by July once again under the purely music-related title.

(*Translator’s note: The eventually successful bid for independence on the Italian peninsula and the creation of the modern Italian state in the 19^th century is called the Risorgimento, “the resurgence.”)

Title: Gazzetta Musicale di Milano
Subtitle: in 1848 from n.12, it is: ed eco delle notizie politiche (…and Echo of Political News); from n.15, it becomes e di italiana armonia (…and of Italian Harmony); from n.23 to n.30, it becomes L’Italiana Armonia e Gazzetta Musicale di Milano (Italian Harmony and the Gazette of the Music of Milan), then the subtitle disappears, and it returns to the original Gazzetta Musicale di Milano (The Gazette of the Music of Milan)
Bibliographic level: periodical
Type of document: text
Frequency: weekly
Publication: 1842-1902; not published, 1849, 1863-1865
Numbering: year 1, n.1 (2 Jan 1842) – year 57, n.52 (25 Dec 1902)
Place of publication: Milan
Editor: Giovanni Ricordi; Tito di Gio. Ricordi; G. Ricordi & Co.
Physical description: 71 vols.; illus.; 37/32 cm. (about 14 ½ / 12 ½ in.)
General notes: it appeared every Sunday until the 50^th year, n.45-46 (28 Nov 1895), then every Thursday. Only in 1848 did it appear on Wednesdays.
Language of publication: Italian

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