Joseph Bernard Merchi

Joseph Bernard Merchi was an Italian instrumentalist and composer, born in Naples around 1730 and died in Paris on 22 May 1793. He built his career in France and is an important figure for the guitar in the period before the Revolution. His name is often confused with that of his brother Giacomo, known as "di Brescia", because almost all the works the two published together appear under the surname Merchi alone.

The earliest documented reference to the two brothers comes from Rennes, in 1751, where they were presented as musicians of the chamber of the King of Sardinia, and played the mandolin, lute, calissoncini and theorbo. That same year they performed in Dijon. In 1752 five concerts were announced in Frankfurt, one of them alongside the violinist Carlo Tessarini, and in May 1753 the Mercure de France reported a performance of a calissoncini concerto of his own composition at the Concert Spirituel in Paris. They also gave concerts in London. After 1760, it seems that only one of the brothers, probably Joseph Bernard, remained in Paris, where he enjoyed a great reputation both as a composer and as a teacher of guitar, mandolin and violin.

As publishers, the Merchi brothers obtained general privileges to publish their music in 1755, 1766, 1771 and 1777, and between 1760 and 1780 one or two books for guitar appeared almost every year. They also published pieces by other authors such as Albanese, Gluck, Grétry, Monsigny, Philidor and Piccinni, which gives an idea of the variety of the Parisian musical market of the time. Joseph Bernard also published two guitar methods: Le guide des écoliers de guitarre, op. 7, around 1761, and Traité des agréments, op. 35, of 1777, which complements the earlier one.

As adherents of the Enlightenment, the Merchi brothers sought to offer guitarists a repertoire of higher quality and to contribute to the evolution of the instrument. Their vocal accompaniments incorporate melodic lines that enrich simple arpeggios, and in the duets both parts are of equal importance. They abandoned tablature after op. 6 and, in op. 35, replaced double strings with single ones in pursuit of a better sound. Their work also reflects ideas of Rousseau. Through his tireless labour, Merchi is regarded as the most important figure in his field in the pre-revolutionary period, when the baroque guitar was evolving towards the classical instrument.