Raffaele Caravaglios

Raffaele Caravaglios (Castelvetrano, 28 December 1864 – Naples, 29 November 1941) was an Italian bandmaster.

He was born in Castelvetrano (in the province of Trapani) from Giuseppa Margiotta, a housewife and Francesco Caravaglios, a violin and trumpet teacher and bandmaster. The Caravaglios were native of Spain: in 1856 Raffaele’s grandfather, who was a composer for bands and orchestras, was called from Castelvetrano to substitute the master, and later appointed as local band master.

As a young boy he made concerts, accompanied by his father, in various towns in Sicily: when he was fourteen he was orphaned and admitted to the Royal College of music in Palermo, where he studied and got the diploma in violin and composition when 18 years old. While he was conducting one of Wagner’s pieces during the rehearsal for an exhibition, he received the congratulations by the author himself who was in Palermo at that time and visiting the Conservatory.

In 1884 he was appointed as the director of the School of Music in Camporeale, where he met his future wife, Maria Antonietta Cipolla.

Two years later, in 1886, as he wanted to go back to his town, he accepted the entrusting of the direction of the Band of Castelvetrano, and simultaneously the bands of Alcamo and Trapani. In 1892, together with the band of Alcamo, took part in the National Exposition of Bands which took place in Palermo every year.

On this occasion, the execution of the pieces performed by the musicians, under the conduct of maestro Caravaglios, let the band win the first prize (Diploma of Honour) and the Gold Medal during a competition among the 38 music bands of Sicily. Since then it is honoured to have the privilege to be called “Premiato Complesso Bandistico città di Alcamo".

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