Donati was only seventeen when he invented the ocarina-(according to the only known interview)- in 1853. He was born on the 2nd of December 1836 at 2am to Giuseppina Cavazza,second wife of Giovanni Battista Donati.Their child was baptised in the St. Lorenzo of Budrio church with the name Giuseppe Luigi.
He was the thirteenth child to be born in the Donati family, and after a little time at school he had to start work as a baker to help the family.
He was a musician who played the clarinet,the piano and the organ in his free time.
Probably his first idea was to increase the number of holes in ocarinas (shaped like an egg and made of terracotta, that were traditionally sold in markets) so that he could play an octave.
The local legend has it that his first attempt was made as a joke,but he got fascinated with the craft he was pioneering,so he persevered: he attempted to make a terracotta trumpet but it was too long and broke, so he concentrated on a stronger shape, the ocarina, which with eleven holes, arranged the best position for fingering, allowed the playing of complex tunes with more range than those he could play with the prototype instruments he began with.
With ocarinas of various dimensions he got specific keys.
The first ocarina group, called `Concerto Delle Ocarine' was formed in 1863, Founded by Donati himself, they had immediate success in fairs, in tavernas , in the theatre and in all sorts of public events.
The demands for ocarinas were increasing, not just among children- even musicians were attracted to them, and the more successful the quintet became, the bigger the demand.
Donati himself started selling his ocarinas in markets and fairs in his region.
He married in 1866 and started to run a cafe-patisserie making ocarinas in his new workshop out of hours.
He was so absorbed in work that he could not allocate any time to musical composition
In 1878 he moved to Bologna where his business would expand and allow him to quit other work.
He opened a branch in Milan In 1904 and in 1907 he moved there.
The competition with the new makers of ocarinas (Cesare Vicinelli in Budrio, Antonio Canella in Ferrara) was beginning to be felt.
In Milan Otello Cavara interviews him, and he finds him somewhat depressed. He has been evicted because the house has to be demolished and it is difficult to find a new home with another kiln for the ocarinas.
He is still a kind and acomplished man, very active regardless of his age. He is 74 years; an almost charismatic figure, like a sage on some great mission, "with a great dressing robe, wrapped around his tall and bony body, with a cap on his head, and his lively face framed by the whiteness of his hair and flowing beard".
During some unfortunate episodes he had virtually become insolvent, but more than necessities, it is dedication that pushes him to excel, to make his ocarinas with his own hands, in terracotta or aluminium, always creating anew, composing appropriate music, and transposing from opera to assemble a repertoire that, with his own practical playing tutor for ocarina, he sold to an ever increasing clientelle.
All this eventually became too much too much to handle alone..
The death of his wife made his final years more and more sad and lonely.
He died at the age of 88 on the 14th February 1925. His sons did not begin in their father's business, choosing better paid employment.
But everybody that knew him remembers his goodness.
The town of Budrio, to honour the memory of his work, dedicated a street to his name in 1945 and in 1963 promoted some public celebrations to mark the centenary of the local ocarina band.