Remo Lauricella

Who was Remo Lauricella?

Remo Lauricella was a British composer and concert violinist.

He was born in London in 1912, his parents hailing from Catania in Sicily. Lauricella’s father Pietro, a successful tailor with a fashionable clientele, gave him his first violin lessons. He obtained a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. He became a friend of Benjamin Britten who was a fellow student of composition under John Ireland. Later he studied at conservatoires in Siena and Santiago de Compostela.

Much of his career was spent as first violinist for the London Philharmonic, although he also played chamber music in many of the world’s important music venues.

Benjamin Britten wrote a Fantasy Scherzo for piano trio, retitled "Introduction and Allegro" dedicated to Remo Lauricella and Bernard Richards. It was first performed on 22 November 1986 by Marcia Crayford, Christopher Van Kampen and Ian Brown at Wigmore Hall.

Lauricella died on 19 January 2003 in London. Upon his death, his antique Vesuvio Stradivarius violin, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1727, was left to the Italian town of Cremona. Cremona is both the birthplace of Stradivari as well as the place where the Vesuvio was created. Lauricella owned the Vesuvio since 1968.