b. Milan 1749, d. Dublin 1816
Italian who settled in Edinburgh in 1784, after making appearances in Glasgow singing Scots songs. He published six volumes of Scots songs and included original songs of his own composition. He set up a music shop and publishing house with Edward Liston in Princes Street, Edinburgh. After losing much money as an impressario, he died in Dublin, penniless. Burns is known to have heard Urbani sing and although admiring his voice, he felt his arrangements of traditional Scots folksongs to be inappropriate.
Many of Urbani’s works appear to have been lost.