Giovanni Battista Gervasio
Giovanni Battista Gervasio (c. 1725 - c. 1785) was an Italian musician and composer. Born in Naples he was one of the first generation of virtuoso-mandolinists who left Italy and played the mandolin in Europe in the 18th century. He was a composer for the mandolin and his works can be found scattered in 18th century collections such as the Gimo music collection and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. He also wrote a mandolin method Methode facile pour apprendre a quatre cordes, instrument pour les dames (Easy method for learning four-string instruments for ladies), published in Paris in 1767. He performed in London 1768 and in Frankfurt-on-the-Main on December 10, 1777, and the Concert Spirituel in Paris on December 24, 1784 . He advertised in 1785 that he was master of singing and mandolin to Her Royal Highess, the Princess of Prussia. A work of music addressed to her exists today in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.
Gervasio advertised his teaching services in Grenoble in 1785. As the last known advertisement for him, it has been proposed that he settled and later died there.
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