Mauro Giuseppe Sergio Pantaleo Giuliani (1781–1829) was an Italian guitarist, cellist and composer, and is considered by many to be one of the leading guitar virtuosi of the early 19th century.

Although he was a younger contemporary and colleague of Beethoven, Giuliani followed the more strictly classical principles of Mozart and Haydn. This is illustrated perfectly in his Grand Overture, which consists of a brief, slow, minor-mode introduction followed by a fully developed major-mode sonata-allegro structure. Giuliani himself was a guitar virtuoso, so this piece requires great facility and invites imaginative coloring from the player.

The introduction is quite simple; a gently throbbing ostinato bass note underlies brief passages that initially cascade downward and then rise expectantly. The movement's main matter is built upon good-natured, even bumptious, music that relies heavily on fast passagework and burbling tunes, with some sly partial scales and a couple of crescendos tossed in for humorous effect. Indeed, if this were orchestrated it would be indistinguishable from an opera overture by Giuliani's idol, Rossini.

This Grand Overture (Opus 61) was written in 1820 while Giuliani was living in Rome and although written for Guitar, I created this arrangement for solo Concert (Pedal) Harp.