“Viva VERDI!” – the cry of Italian patriots on the eve of unification.
Italy of the 1850s was but a conglomerate of individual states, many of them still under foreign rule. The slogan “Viva VERDI!” was coined in 1859, following the premiere of the composer’s politically sensitive opera “Un ballo in maschera.”
Verdi’s ongoing troubles with the censors are well-known. It’s a safe bet that when he undertook an opera about a political assassination, he had a pretty good idea what to expect. The name VERDI was taken up by firebrands of the Risorgimento as an acronym for “Vittorio Emanuele, Re D’Italia.” King Vittorio Emanuele II of Piedmont was seen by many as the best hope for a free and united Italy.
This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll refrain for delving too much into Italy’s Second War for Independence, or of Garibaldi’s struggles with the Bourbons. Instead, we’ll enjoy examples of MUSICAL unification – various composers of Italian origin coming together to attempt cohesive works of art.
There are those who believe the serenata “Andromeda Liberata” may have been composed entirely by Antonio Vivaldi – but perhaps not. The likely impetus for its creation was the return to Rome of one Cardinal Ottobone, who was also a patron of both Arcangelo Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti.
The story is that of Perseus and Andromeda. Andromeda has already been rescued from the sea serpent at the start of the piece, which mostly explores the ambiguous feelings of its characters, with a few extraneous love interests tossed into the mix to provide romantic conflict.
The two-hour entertainment contains in its second part a single aria known definitively to have been composed by Vivaldi. The authorship of the rest remains in doubt. The long-lost manuscript, dating from 1726, was rediscovered as recently as 2002.
In 1868, Verdi’s great operatic predecessor, the long-retired Gioachino Rossini, died. Rossini had completed his last opera nearly forty years before. Verdi undertook to bring together 12 of his contemporaries, now largely forgotten. The oldest, Carlo Coccia, at age 87, was actually a decade Rossini’s senior!
Within the year, a collaborative mass was compiled in Rossini’s memory, for which Verdi provided the concluding “Libera me.” In fact, the music looks forward to Verdi’s own masterful Requiem. The completed work doesn’t attain anywhere near the lofty heights of Verdi’s solo run. However, it’s an interesting compendium of contemporary styles, and even the music of lesser talents serves to cast Verdi’s genius in a new light.
Remarkably, the work lay unperformed in Verdi’s lifetime. Talk about politics! Here was Verdi, a Milanese, trying to kindle some sort of enthusiasm in Bologna (the location of Rossini’s earliest successes), for a project which was to bring together a bunch of compositional dinosaurs, to salute a figure who, for all intents and purposes, had retired from public life some four decades earlier. Bologna at the time was in the process of becoming a stronghold of the musical avant-garde.
All these factors, along with puzzling stipulations, such as the work being locked away after its first performance, to be trotted out only on special occasions, doomed the project virtually from the start. It remained unheard for another 120 years, resurrected only in 1988.
Roll over, Verdi; tell Rossini the news!
That’s “Viva VERDI!” (for Verdi’s birthday) – Italian unification through music – on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!
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Tag: Requiem
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“The Lost Chord”: Roll Over, Verdi; Tell Rossini the News!
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Rutter’s Heavenly Requiem
Maybe it’s too many lumps of sugar for some, but what can I say? I’ve a cotton candy soul. For me, John Rutter’s “Requiem” is the perfect music for autumn.
Rutter, of course, is one of England’s most successful choral composers and conductors. His music is everywhere at Christmastime, a natural melodic gift informing dozens of beloved carols. So it’s hardly surprising that his Requiem is full of good tunes.
The work is dedicated to the memory of his father. I find it a great comfort, especially as it’s performed here by the choir he built, the Cambridge Singers, founded in 1981. I was transported by it when I first heard it on the radio, back in the mid-‘80s, when the work was practically brand new. I am happy to say, I still am.
Rutter is 81 today. Many happy returns! -
Celebrating John Rutter at 80
Oh, where do the years go? It seems only yesterday that I was marking the 75th birthday of John Rutter. Now here we are, at fourscore.
Rutter, of course, is one of England’s most successful choral composers and conductors. It’s impossible to get through the Christmas season without hearing oodles of his work. The bigger pieces can be a little hit and miss (the “Gloria” gets a little too close to Walton at times, and “big” is not really Rutter’s forte), but when he hits, as in the lovely “Requiem,” he is well-nigh irresistible – at least for someone with a cotton candy soul like myself.
Perhaps his music is not your cup of tea, but the choir he built, the Cambridge Singers (founded in 1981), sounds like nobody else. For better or worse, like Ormandy’s Philadelphians, they bring their distinctive sound to everything they touch. The soft glow inspires contentment.
As a young man, Rutter collaborated with the legendary Sir David Willcocks on four volumes of the extraordinarily successful “Carols for Choirs” anthology series, now the most widely used source of carols in the British Anglican tradition, and very popular among choral societies. Willcocks went so far as to describe Rutter as the most gifted composer of his generation. Certainly, his gift for melody has proven inexhaustible.
Rutter was honored with a knighthood in February. What took so long? He’s man and an artist who’s brought a lot of beauty into the world. In today’s climate, it’s a quality that’s become even more precious. He’s the kind of person who deserves to be celebrated.
Happy birthday, Sir John Rutter, and many happy returns.
Rutter’s “Requiem” (1985), the perfect music for autumn, with the Cambridge Singers. Accept no substitutes.
“Candlelight Carol” (1984)
The composer offering insights into his “Requiem,” in 11 segments:
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Happy 75th Birthday John Rutter
Oh, where do the years go? Today is the 75th birthday of John Rutter.
Rutter, of course, is one of England’s most successful choral composers and conductors. It’s impossible to get through the Christmas season without hearing oodles of his work. The bigger pieces can be a little hit and miss (the “Gloria” gets a little too close to Walton at times, and “big” is not really Rutter’s forte), but when he hits, as in the lovely “Requiem,” he is well-nigh irresistible – at least for someone with a cotton candy soul like myself.
Perhaps his music is not your cup of tea, but the choir he built, the Cambridge Singers (founded in 1981), sounds like nobody else. For better or worse, like Ormandy’s Philadelphians, they bring their distinctive sound to everything they touch. The soft glow inspires contentment.
As a young man, Rutter collaborated with the legendary Sir David Willcocks on four volumes of the extraordinarily successful “Carols for Choirs” anthology series, now the most widely used source of carols in the British Anglican tradition, and very popular among choral societies. Willcocks went so far as to describe Rutter as the most gifted composer of his generation. Certainly, his gift for melody has proven inexhaustible.
Happy birthday, John Rutter, and many happy returns.
Rutter’s “Requiem” (1985), the perfect music for autumn, with the Cambridge Singers. Accept no substitutes.
“Candlelight Carol” (1984):
The composer offering insights into his “Requiem,” in 11 segments:
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Panufnik, Nelhýbel & Rutter: Rediscovering Masters
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Andrzej Panufnik (1914-1991) is the sleeping giant of Polish music. He’s one of those figures, like Bohuslav Martinu, who always seems perched on the verge of greatness, and yet never quite achieves the full degree of recognition he deserves.
To begin with, his particular brand of modernism was eclipsed by the avant-garde experiments of his compatriot and friend, Witold Lutoslawski. Panufnik’s relationship with Lutoslawski dated back to the war years. During the German occupation, the two formed a piano duo which played in Warsaw cafes – at the time the only way to share live music in public, since there was a ban on organized gatherings.
In the meantime, Panufnik quietly produced subversive works celebrating Polish heroism and the resistance. Following the war, he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic. However, increasing friction with Poland’s communist regime led to the composer’s defection, under hair-raising circumstances, in 1954. He was granted asylum in England, where he received a knighthood in the year of his death.
Panufnik’s “Sinfonia Rustica,” composed in 1948 and revised in 1955, as the title implies, is a work very much of the people, making use of fragmented Polish themes, meant to reflect the rustic, semi-abstract, paper-cut art of the peasantry. Not only the symphony’s framework, but also the layout of the orchestra, is meant to reflect the symmetry found in Polish folk art. Nevertheless, despite the work’s direct character, it was denounced in 1949 as “alien to the great socialist era.”
The Czech composer Václav Nelhýbel (1919-1996) was also displaced. Nelhybel left Nazi-occupied Prague for Switzerland in 1942. Later, he settled in the United States, where he taught at Lowell State College. He also served as composer-in-residence at the University of Scranton for several years until his death. During his time in America, he oversaw many bands and youth ensembles. He is remembered as an energetic and demanding though ultimately endearing taskmaster.
Nelhýbel was dizzyingly prolific, with 400 published works to his credit and an additional 200 left in manuscript. The “Etude Symphonique” of 1964 is as exacting and propulsive as the artist who created it, with a three-note motive exhaustively developed. The work’s churning rhythms and cross-rhythms lend it a sense of vitality, and new ideas are continually formulated and examined.
Of a more reflective nature is John Rutter’s Requiem. Rutter (b. 1945) is best known for his all-pervasive music for Christmas. His setting of the Requiem, composed in 1985, eschews the terror and high drama of Berlioz and Verdi to offer solace and tranquility in the manner of Gabriel Fauré’s most beloved essay in the form. I think you’ll find it the perfect restorative music for an early autumn evening.
Works by these three composers will form the loom upon which I hope to weave a compelling program for your late September satisfaction, today from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Clockwise from left: Andrzej the Giant; Vaclav the Vital; and John the Rejuvenator
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