A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Nava, Gaetano

by Bertha Thomas

NAVA, Gaetano. A distinguished Italian teacher of singing, and writer of vocal exercises, born at Milan 1802 [App. p.728 "May 16"]. His father, Antonio, taught and composed for the French guitar, then a favourite instrument, but the son received a college education previous to entering the Milan Conservatoire under Federici. Here in 1837 Nava was appointed professor, retaining his connection with the institution where he gave instruction both in harmony and in singing for 38 years, that is up to the time of his death in 1875 [App. p.728 "March 31"]. His skill as a vocal teacher, enhanced by his cultivated intelligence and uncommon earnestness and honesty of purpose brought him a large clientèle of private pupils. Distinguished among these stands our own countryman, Charles Santley. None of Nava's scholars have achieved a more brilliant reputation than that eminent barytone; nor could a better exemplification be desired of the master's method of careful vocal development, as opposed to the forcing system. Nava's works, published at Milan, by the firms Ricordi, Lucca, and Conti, comprise numerous books of solfeggi and vocalizzi, several masses and separate pieces of vocal church music, and a Method of Singing that has appeared also in London and at Leipzig.

[ B. T. ]