Giovanni Gioviale was a famous Italian mandolin player during the beginning of the 20th century. A detailed biography of Giovanni Gioviale can be found on the site of the Federazione Mandolinistica Italiana.
Between 1926 and 1929 Gioviale stayed in New York, and during this stay he recorded many of his pieces. David Grisman has compiled a CD with recordings by Giovani Gioviale, mostly his own compositions, played on the mandolin and also on the banjo.
Gioviales compositions are popular until today, especially in Italy.
In the next video another trio plays the nice waltz “Ritorno da Vienna” by Giovanni Gioviale:
“Ritornando da Vienna”-Trio 18 Corde-Live
Another great waltz – L’ultimo Amore – played by the Trio Gioviale:
L’ultimo Amore- trio Gioviale
There are also some arrangements of pieces by Giovanni Gioviale for guitar, here is a great example played by Giuseppe Torisi who offers some free sheet music by Giovanni Giovali on his homepage (see below).
Biancuccia-Mazurka ( G. Gioviale )-Giuseppe Torrisi, guitarist
I have compiled many more videos with pieces by Giovanni Gioviale played with mandolin and guitar in my playlist:
Playlist Giovanni Gioviale
Additional Information
Information about Giovanni Gioviale: http://www.federmandolino.it/gioviale.htm
Free sheet music for mandolin by Giovanni Gioviale (homepage of Giuseppe Torrisi): http://www.guitarfreescores.com/
Free examples from the Giovanni Gioviale CD: http://acousticoasis.com/rooms/library/gioviale/gioviale.html
(there is a free download from Acoustic Oasis every day – and from time to time you can download a complete piece by Giovanni Gioviale!)
Homepage for the novel “A Mandolin of Gold” about an Italian mandolin player in the USA – with informations about G. Gioviale (watch the two movies!): http://www.themtstudio.com/AMOG/A_Mandolin_of_Gold/Home.html
Italian Old Time Trio: http://www.italianoldtime.com