Virgilio Savona

Antonio Virgilio Savona was an Italian composer, arranger, and singer in the Italian vocal group, the Quartetto Cetra. After high-school, Savona enrolled at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome to study piano. In 1941, he replaced Iacopo Jacomelli in a vocal quartet called Quartetto Egie. The group changed name to Quartetto Ritmo at first, then to Quartetto Cetra one year later. On 19 August 1944 Virgilio Savona married the singer Lucia Mannucci, who later joined Quartetto Cetra to replace Enrico De Angelis, who left the group in 1947. Besides singing, Savona composed and arranged for the group. He wrote the music while Tata Giacobetti, also a member of the quartet, wrote the lyrics. They collaborated for four decades and produced hundreds of songs which made up Quartetto Cetra's vast repertoire. Savona composed music and wrote scripts for radio and TV programs, stage shows and films. During the 1970s, he was active as pianist, orchestra conductor, arranger and producer. He extensively researched on folk songs.