P. G. Leone

Leone, generally known as Gabriele Leone but also identified as Pietro in some sources, was a Neapolitan mandolinist, composer and teacher active in the second half of the eighteenth century. His first name and life dates remain uncertain.

One of the leading mandolinists of this period was the Neapolitan Leone, whose first name and dates have been given variously as Pietro or Gabriele and approximately 1725–1790. He performed his sonatas at Pentecost, Corpus Christi and Christmas, and was maître de mandoline to the Duke of Chartres during the 1760s. Many of his works appeared in Paris, including six duets for mandolin or violin, thirty variations (1760) and the Méthode raisonnée pour passer du Violon à la Mandoline (1768). These publications circulated widely. The method, dedicated to the Duke of Chartres, has notable affinities with the treatises of Quantz and Leopold Mozart.

Leone also played the harpsichord, as Charles Burney recorded after meeting him in Lyon during his musical travels of 1772–73. A collection of trios for two mandolins and continuo may also have been published in Berlin. Leone worked in London, where he brought a lawsuit against Giardini, the violinist and conductor at the Haymarket Opera House, on the site of the theatre subsequently known as Her Majesty’s Theatre and now His Majesty’s Theatre.