François de Fossa was an eminent guitarist and traveller from Perpignan, France.
Born in 1775, he was the son of an eminent jurist and historian ennobled shortly before his death in 1789.
At the age of seventeen, he fled the revolution and joined the legion of the Pyrenees which was fighting for Spain.
A soldier by necessity for fifty years, François de Fossa experienced the ravages of war and the political turmoil of his time up close, while remaining a musician at heart.
He had hoped to make a career in music but events prevented him from doing so; he always played and composed.
Nicknamed Haydn of the guitar for the people of Madrid, he wanted to be innovative so he created guitar versions of compositions by Haydn, Beethoven, and Mozart.
Forgotten until his rediscovery in the 1980s, his music now gets played all over the world.
Damien explains how “In the fall of 2022, after discovering my work on ‘Fly me to Volos,’ offical anthem of World Guitar Day.
An international event created the year before by Yorgos Foudoulis and supported by Unesco).
Les Amis de François de Fossa entrusted me with the task of creating an anthem dedicated to this illustrious composer for the 250th anniversary of his birth in 2025.
So I wrote a march (often, moreover, the anthems are built on the rhythms of military marches).
Because the military men all aspire to peace, and because unfortunately there are still, in the 21st century, wars all over the world.”
Damien titled the piece ‘Marche pour la paix (March for Peace),’ which is a real delight to the ears thanks to his outstanding arrangement.
The Lviv Guitar Orchestra perform the piece magnificently as they bring Damien’s creative vision to life.
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