In Barletta, the musical notebook and other autographed materials of the composer Costabile Ambrosano.

The ILMC Foundation is pleased to announce that it has acquired from Dr. Carlo Ambrosano of Castellabate (Salerno) the original notebook (handwritten in the drawings and musical parts, typewritten in the textual parts) and other autographed materials of the musician and composer Costabile Ambrosano (Castellabate 1915 - 2009).

In July 1943, following the Allied landing in Sicily, Ambrosano was captured by Moroccan troops serving in the British Army; he was sentenced to death by firing squad, but the order was overturned in time by the British military authorities. Transferred to Tunisia and then to Algerian territory, to the French Prisoner of War Camp No. 127 in Chanzy, Algeria, south of Oran, he took on the task of organizing a musical ensemble. Between 1943 and 1945, he wrote a songbook, which also contained songs by Ventura and Rossitto (names unknown); he returned to Italy on October 21, 1945.

Ambrosano's precious musical material will soon undergo careful conservation and cataloging checks; it will be incorporated into the immense musical, archival, and museum heritage of the Citadel of Concentrationary Music in Barletta.

In the photos: the musician Costabile Ambrosano with his wife Giovanna (they married in 1943 during the musician's leave) and the meeting between Francesco Lotoro and Dr. Carlo Ambrosano, Costabile's son.