Malipiero, Gian Francesco

views updated Jun 08 2018

Malipiero, Gian Francesco

Malipiero, Gian Francesco, eminent Italian composer and teacher, uncle of Riccardo Malipiero; b. Venice, March 18, 1882; d. Treviso, near Venice, Aug. 1, 1973. His grandfather, Francesco Malipiero, was a composer, and his father, Luigi Malipiero, was a pianist and conductor. In 1898 Malipiero enrolled at the Vienna Cons, as a violin student; in 1899 he returned to Venice, where he studied at the Liceo Musicale Benedetto Marcello with Marco Bossi, whom he followed to Bologna in 1904, and took a diploma in composition at the Liceo Musicale G.B. Martini that same year; subsequently worked as amanuensis to Smareglia, gaining valuable experience in orchestration. He studied briefly with Bruch in Berlin (1908); later went to Paris (1913), where he absorbed the techniques of musical Impressionism, cultivating parallel chord formations and amplified tonal harmonies with characteristic added sixths, ninths, and elevenths. However, his own style of composition was determined by the polyphonic practices of the Italian Baroque. Malipiero was prof. of composition at the Parma Cons. (1921–23); afterwards lived mostly in Asolo, near Venice. He was made prof. of composition at the Liceo Musicale Benedetto Marcello in Venice (1932), continuing there when it became the Cons. (1940); was its director (1939–52). He ed. a complete edition of the works of Monteverdi (16 vols., Bologna and Vienna, 1926–42) and many works by Vivaldi, as well as works by other Italian composers. He was made a member of the National Inst. of Arts and Letters in N.Y. in 1949, the Royal Flemish Academy in Brussels in 1952, the Institut de France in 1954, and the Akademie der Künste in West Berlin in 1967.

Works

dramatic: Opera: Canossa (1911–12; Rome, Jan. 24, 1914); Sogno d’un tramonto d’autunno (1913–14; concert perf., RAI, Milan, Oct. 4, 1963); L’Orfeide, in 3 parts: La morte della maschere, 7 canzoni, and Orfeo (1918–22; I^st complete perf., Düsseldorf, Nov. 5,1925; 7 canzoni[Paris, July 10,1920] is often perf. separately); 3 commedie goldoniane: La bottega da caffè, Sior Todaro Brontolon, and Le baruffe chiozzotte (1920–22; I^stcomplete perf., Darmstadt, March 24,1926); Filomela e l’Infatuato (1924–25; Prague, March 31, 1928); II mistero di Venezia, in 3 parts: Le aquile di aquileia, II finto Arlecchino, and I corvi di San Marco (1925–28; I^st complete perf., Coburg, Dee. 15, 1932); Merlino, Maestro d’organi (1926–27; Rome Radio, Aug. 1, 1934); Torneo notturno (1929; Munich, May 15, 1931); II festino (1930; Turin Radio, Nov. 6,1937); La favola del figlio cambiato (1932–33; in German, Braunschweig, Jan. 13,1934); Giulio Cesare (1934–35; Genoa, Feb. 8, 1936); Antonio e Cleopatra (1936–37; Florence, May 4, 1938); Ecuba (1938; Rome, Jan. 11, 1941); La vita è sogno (1940–41; Breslau, June 30, 1943); I capricci di Callot (1941–42; Rome, Oct. 24,1942); L’allegra brigata (1943; Milan, May 4,1950); Mondi celesti e infernali (1948–49; RAI, Turin, Jan. 12, 1950; 1^ststage perf., Venice, Feb. 2, 1961); II Figliuol prodigo (1952; RAI, Jan. 25, 1953; I^st stage perf., Florence May Festival, May 14, 1957); Donna Urraca (1953–54; Bergamo, Oct. 2,1954); II capitanSpavento (1954–55; Naples, March 16, 1963); Venere prigioniera (1955; Florence May Festival, May 14, 1957); II marescalco (1960–68; Treviso, Oct. 22, 1969); Rappresentazione e festa del Carnasciale e della Quaresima (1961; concert perf., Venice, April 20, 1962; I^st stage perf., Venice, Jan. 20, 1970); Don Giovanni (1962; Naples, Oct. 22, 1963); Le metamorfosi di Bonaventura (1963–65; Venice, Sept. 4, 1966); Don Tartufo bacchettone (1966; Venice, Jan. 20, 1970); Gli Eroi di Bonaventura (1968; Milan, Feb. 7, 1969); L’Iscariota (1970; Siena, Aug. 28, 1971); Uno dei dieci (1970; Siena, Aug. 28, 1971). ballet:Pantea (1917–19; Venice, Sept. 6,1932); La mascherata delle principesse prigioniere (1919; Brussels, Oct. 19, 1924); Stradivario (1947–48; Florence, June 20, 1949); II mondo novo (1950–51; Rome, Dec. 16, 1951; rev. as La lanterna magica, 1955). orch.: dialoghi: No. 1, con M. de Falla, for Orch., No. 2 for 2 Pianos, No. 3, con Jacopone da Todi, for Voice and 2 Pianos, No. 4 for Wind Quintet, No. 5 for Viola and Orch., No. 6 for Harpsichord and Orch., No. 7 for 2 Pianos and Orch., and No. 8, La morte di Socrate, for Baritone and Small Orch. (all 1956–57). other:Sinfonia degli eroi (1905); Sinfonia del mare (1906); Sinfonie del silenzio e della morte (1909–11); Impressioni dal vero in 3 parts (1910–11; 1^st part, Milan, May 15, 1913; 2^nd part, Rome, March 11,1917; 3^rd part, Amsterdam, Oct. 25, 1923); Armenia, on Armenian folk songs (1917); Ditirambo tragico (1917; London, Oct. 11,1919); Pause del silenzio in 2 parts (1^st part, 1917; Rome, Jan. 27,1918; 2^nd part, 1925–26; Philadelphia, April 1,1927); Per una favola cavalieresca (1920; Rome, Feb. 13,1921); Oriente immaginario for Chamber Orch. (Paris, Dec. 23, 1920); Variazioni senza tema for Piano and Orch. (1923; Prague, May 19, 1925); L’esilo dell’eroe, symphonic suite (1930); Concerti per orchestra (1931; Philadelphia, Jan. 29, 1932); Inni (1932; Rome, April 6, 1933; rev. 1934); 2 violin concertos: No. 1 (1932; Amsterdam, March 5, 1933) and No. 2 (1963; Venice, Sept. 14, 1965); 7 invenzioni (1932; Rome, Dec. 24, 1933); 4 invenzioni (1932; Dresden, Nov. 11, 1936); 11 numbered syms.: No. 1 (1933–34; Florence, April 2, 1934), No. 2, Elegiaca (1936; Seattle, Jan. 25, 1937), No. 3, Delle campane (1944–45; Florence, Nov. 4, 1945), No. 4, In Memoriam (1946; Boston, Feb. 27, 1948; in memory of Natalie Koussevitzky), No. 5, Concertante, in eco, for

2 Pianos and Orch. (London, Nov. 3,1947), No. 6, Degli archi, for Strings (1947; Basel, Feb. 11, 1949), No. 7, Delle canzoni (1948; Milan, Nov. 3, 1949), No. 8, Symphonia brevis (1964), No. 9, Dell’ahimè (Warsaw, Sept. 21, 1966), No. 10, Atropo (1967), and No. 11, Delle cornamuse (1969); 6 piano concertos: No. 1 (1934; Rome, April 3,1935), No. 2 (1937; Duisburg, March 6,1939), No.

3 (1948; Louisville, March 8,1949), No. 4 (1950; RAI, Turin, Jan. 28, 1951), No. 5 (1957–58), and No. 6, Delle macchine (1964; Rome, Feb. 5, 1966); Cello Concerto (1937; Belgrade, Jan. 31, 1939); Concerto a 3 for Violin, Cello, Piano, and Orch. (1938; Florence, April 9,1939); Sinfonia in un tempo (1950; Rome, March

21, 1951); Sinfonia dello zodiaco (1951; Lausanne, Jan. 23, 1952); Passacaglie (1952); Fantasie di ogni giorni (1953; Louisville, Nov. 17, 1954); Elegy-Capriccio (1953); 4 Fantasie concertanti (ali 1954): No. 1 for Strings, No. 2 for Violin and Orch., No. 3 for Cello and Orch., and No. 4 for Piano and Orch.; Notturno di canti e balli (1956–57); Concerto for 2 Pianos and Orch. (Besançon, Sept. Il, 1957); Serenissima for Saxophone and Orch. (1961); Sinfonia per Antigenida (1962); Flute Concerto (1967–68); San Zanipolo (1969); Undicesima Sinfonia, delle cornamuse (1969); Omaggio a Belmonte (1971). chamber: 8 string quartets: No. 1, Rispetti e Strom-botti (1920), No. 2, Stornelli e Ballate (1923), No. 3, Cantari alla madrigalesca (1930; also for String Orch.), No. 4 (1934), No. 5, Dei capricci (1940), No. 6, L’arca di Noè (1947), No. 7 (1949–50), and No. 8, Per Elisabetta (1964); Ricercari for 11 Instruments (Washington, D.C., Oct. 7, 1926); Ritrovari for 11 Instruments (1926; Gardone, Oct. 26, 1929); Sonata a 3 for Piano Trio (1926–27); Epodi e giambi for Violin, Viola, Oboe, and Bassoon (1932); Sonata a 5 for Flute, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Harp (1934); Cello Sonatina (1942); Sonata a 4 for 4 Winds (1954); Serenata mattutini for 10 Instruments (1959); Serenata for Bassoon and 10 Instruments (1961); Macchine for 14 Instruments (1963); Endecatode, chamber sym. for 14 Instruments and Percussion (1966; Hanover, N.H., July 2,1967). p i a n o :6 morceaux (1905); Bizzarrie luminose dell’ alba, del meriggio e della notte (1908); Poemetti lunari (1909–10); Preludi autunnali (1914); Poemi asolani (1916); Barlumi (1917); Risonanze (1918); Maschere che passano (1918); 3 omaggi (1920); Omaggio a Claude Debussy (1920); Cavalcate (1921); La siesta (1921); II tarlo (1921–22); Pasqua di Resurrezione (1924); Preludi a una fuga (1926); Epitaffio (1931); Omaggio a Bach (1932); Preludi, ritmi e canti gregoriani (1937); Preludio e fuga (1940); Hortus conclusus (1946); 5 studi per domani (1959); Variazione sulla “Pantomima” dell’Amor brujo di Manuel de Falla (1960); Bianchi e neri (1964).vocal:San Francesco d’Assisi, mystery for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1920–21; N.Y., March 29, 1922); La Principessa Ulalia, cantata (1924; N.Y., Feb. 19, 1927); La cena for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1927; Rochester, N.Y., April 25, 1929); II commiato for Baritone and Orch. (1934); La Passione for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (Rome, Dec. 15,1935); De Profundis for Voice, Viola, Bass Drum, and Piano (1937); Missa pro mortuis for Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (Rome, Dec. 18,1938); 4 vecchie canzoni for Voice and 7 Instruments (1940; Washington, D.C., April 12, 1941); Santa Eufrosina, mystery for Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (Rome, Dec. 6, 1942); Universa Universis for Men’s Chorus and Chamber Orch. (1942; Liviano, April 11, 1943); Vergilii Aeneis, heroic sym. for 7 Soloists, Chorus, and Orch. (1943–44; Turin, June 21, 1946; scenic version, Venice, Jan. 6, 1958); Le 7 allegrezze d’amore for Voice and 14 Instruments (1944–45; Milan, Dec. 4, 1945); La Terra for Chorus and Orch. (1946; Cambridge, Mass., May 2, 1947, with Organ); I 7 peccati mortali for Chorus and Orch. (1946; Monteceneri, Nov. 20,1949); Mondi celesti for Voice and 10 Instruments (1948; Capri, Feb. 3, 1949); La festa de la Sensa for Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1949–50; Brussels Radio, July 2, 1954); 5 favole for Voice and Small Orch. (Washington, D.C., Oct. 30,1950); Passer mortuus est for Chorus (Pittsburgh, Nov. 24, 1952); Magister Josephus for 4 Voices and Small Orch. (1957); Preludio e Morte di Macbeth for Baritone and Orch. (1958); L’asino d’oro for Baritone and Orch., after Apuleius (1959); Concerto di concerti ovvero Dell’uom malcontento for Baritone, Concertante Violin, and Orch. (1960); Abracadabra for Baritone and Orch. (1962); Ave Phoebe, dum queror for Chorus and 20 Instruments (1964); L’Aredodese for Reciter, Chorus, and Orch. (1967).

Writings

L’orchestra (Bologna, 1920; Eng. tr., 1920); Teatro (Bologna, 1920; 2^nd ed., 1927); Oreste e Pilade, ovvero “Le sorprese dell’amicizia” (Parma, 1922); I profeti di Babilonia (Milan, 1924); Claudio Monteverdi (Milan, 1929); Strawinsky (Venice, 1945; new ed., 1982); La pietra del bando (Venice, 1945; new ed., 1990); Anton Francesco Doni, musico (Venice, 1946); Cossi va lo mondo (Milan, 1946); L’armonioso labirinto (da Tarlino a Padre Martini, 1558–1774) (Milan, 1946); Antonio Vivaldi, il prete rosso (Milan, 1958); II filo d’Arianna (saggi e fantasie) (Turin, 1966); Ti co mi e mi co ti (soliloqui di un veneziano) (Milan, 1966); Così parlò Claudio Monteverdi (Milan, 1967); Di palo infrasca (Milan, 1967); Da Venezia lontan (Milan, 1968); Maschere della commedia dell’arte (Bologna, 1969).

Bibliography

F. Aliano, A. Casella, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco et al, M. e le sue “Sette canzoni” (Rome, 1929); F. Ballo, “I ’Capricci’ di Callot” di G.F M.(Milan, 1942); M. Bontempelli and R. Cumar, G.F. M.(Milan, 1942); G. Scarpa, ed., L’opera di G.F. M.(Treviso, 1952); M. Labroca, M., musicista veneziano (Venice, 1957; 2^nd ed., 1967); A. Gianuario, G.F. M. e l’arte monteverdiana (Florence, 1973); M. Messinis, ed., Omaggio a M.(Florence, 1977); J. Waterhouse, La musica G.F. M.(Turin, 1990); C. Palandri, ed., G.F. M., il carteggio con Guido M. Gatti, 1914–1972 (Florence, 1997).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians

Malipiero, Gian Francesco

views updated May 21 2018

Malipiero, Gian Francesco (b Venice, 1882; d Treviso, 1973). It. composer. Settled in Venice 1904–15, but spent some months in Berlin in 1908–10 attending lectures by Bruch. In this period, in the Marciana Library, Venice, he discovered and transcr. the almost forgotten works of Monteverdi, Galuppi, Tartini, Stradella, etc. This determined him to rebel against the ‘operatic tyranny’ of It. mus. life. In 1913 he met Casella, who became his colleague in the struggle. Became prof. of comp., Parma, 1921–3. Then settled at Asolo. Taught comp. at Liceo B. Marcello, Venice, from 1932, becoming dir. 1939–52. Pubd. complete edn. in 16 vols. of Monteverdi 1926–42 which stimulated present revival of interest. Also ed. many vols. of Vivaldi's complete works. Author of books on Vivaldi, Monteverdi, and Stravinsky. He destroyed most of his mus. written before 1914, but thereafter he was a prolific composer and wrote many operas. His mus., naturally influenced by the early It. composers, also shows traces of Debussy's impressionism and, in the 1920s, the angularity of a Janáček. The later works border on atonality, but he rejected serialism. Prin. works:OPERAS: L'Orfeide (triptych: La Morte delle maschera, 1921–2, Sette canzoni (1918–19), Orfeo, 1919–20); S. Francesco d'Assisi (1920–1); Tre Commedie Goldoniane (triptych: La bottega da caffè, 1922, Sior Todero Brontolon, 1922, Le baruffe chiozzote, 1920); Filomela e L'infatuato (1925); Merlino mastro d'organi (1926–7); Il Mistero di Venezia (triptych: Le Aquile di Aquileia, 1928, Il finto Arlecchino, 1925, I Corvi di S. Marco, 1928); Torneo Notturno (1929); I Trionfi d'amore (triptych: Castel smeraldo, Mascherate, Giochi olimpici, comp. 1930–1. No.2 perf. 1937 as Il festino); La Favola del figlio cambiato (1932–3); Giulio Cesare (1934–5); Antonio e Cleopatra (1936–7); Ecuba (1940); La Vita sogno (1940–1); I Capricci di Callot (1941–2); L'Allegra brigata (1943); Vergilii Aeneis (1943–4); Mondi celesti e infernali (1948–9); Il Figliuol prodigo (1952); Donna Urraca (1953–4); Il Capitan Spavento (1954–5); Venere prigioniera (1955); Rappresentazione e festa di Carnasciale e della Quaresima (1961); Don Giovanni (1962); Le Metamorfosi di Bonaventura (1963–5); Don Tartufo Bacchettone (1966); Il Marescalco (1960–8); Gli eroi di Bonaventura (1968); Uno dei dieci (1970); L'Iscariota (1970).BALLETS, etc.: Pantea (1917–19); Stradivario (1947–8); Il Mondo Novo (1950–1).ORCH.: syms.: No.1 (‘in 4 movements like the 4 seasons’, 1933), No.2 (Elegiaca, 1936), No.3 (delle Campane, 1944–5), No.4 (In Memoriam, 1946), No.5 (Concertante, in Eco, 1947), No.6, for str. (1947), No.7 ( delle Canzoni, 1948), No.8 ( Sinfonia brevis, 1964), No.9 (dell’ ahimè, 1966), No.10 (Atropo, 1967), No.11 (delle cornamuse, 1970); Sinfonia in un tempo (1950); Sinfonia dello Zodiaco (1951); Impressioni dal Vero I (1910–11), II (1915), III (1921–2); Pause del Silenzio I (1917), II (1925–6); Concerti (1931); 4 Invenzioni (1933), Vivaldiana (1952).INSTR. & ORCH.: Variazioni senza Tema, pf., orch. (1923); vn. conc. No.1 (1932), No.2 (1963); pf. conc. No.1 (1934), No.2 (1937), No.3 (1948), No.4 (1950), No.5 (1958), No.6 (1964); vc. conc. (1937); Triple Conc. (1938); Dialogo, 2 pf. (1956); fl. conc. (1968).VOICES & ORCH.: La Principessa Ulalia, cantata (1924); La Cena, soloists., ch., orch. (1927); La Passione, soloists., ch., orch. (1935); Missa pro mortuis, bar., ch., orch. (1938); Vergilii Aeneis, heroic sym., 7 soloists., ch., orch. (1943–4); La festa della Sensa, bar., ch., orch. (1948); Magister Josephus, 4 vv., small orch. (1957).VOICES & CHAMBER ENS.: De profundis, v., va., bass drum, pf. (1937); Universa Universis, male ch., chamber orch. (1942); Mondi celesti, v., 10 instrs. (1948); Ave Phoebe dum queror, ch., 20 instrs. (1964).CHAMBER MUSIC: str. qt. No.1 (1920), No.2 (1923), No.3 (1931), No.4 (1934), No.5 (1950), No.6 (1947), No.7 (1950), No.8 (1963–4) (No.5 based on material from opera I Capricci di Callot, 1941–2); Sonata, vn., vc., pf. (1927); vc. sonatina (1942); wind quintet (1956).

Also songs and pf. pieces.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE

Gian Francesco Malipiero

views updated May 14 2018

Gian Francesco Malipiero

Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973) was one of Italy's most respected and prolific composers. Aside from his own symphonic, operatic, vocal and chamber music compositions, he was a musicologist and music educator who edited Monteverdi and Vivaldi—for which he was well-known. He was said to write brilliantly for the orchestra, but on the whole his works found little popular acceptance. Stylistically, he fell between Puccini and Respighi.

Gian Francesco Malipiero was born Aug. 3, 1882, in Venice, and spent much of his life there. The grandson and son of musicians, he studied the violin as a boy in Venice and in Vienna. Upon returning to his native city, he entered the Liceo Musicale Benedetto Marcello as a composition student and transferred to the conservatory in Bologna.

Stravinsky Was an Early Influence

In 1913 Malipiero went to Paris, where he met Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky and heard the first performance of the latter's Rite of Spring. This was a turning point in Malipiero's life. He repudiated all of his earlier compositions and set about achieving an individual style of music that would be freed from the clichés of the overwhelmingly popular 19th-century opera—a problem faced by several Italian composers of his generation.

He Edited Monteverdi, Vivaldi

Malipiero found elements of his mature style in the works of 17th-and 18th-century Italian composers, such as Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli, Giuseppe Tartini, and Antonio Vivaldi. Almost none of the music of these masters was available; when Malipiero found the manuscripts and original editions in the library of the Liceo Musicale in Venice, he started the lifelong project of transcribing and publishing them.

One of the results of these efforts was Vivaldiana, for which Malipiero was well-known. With his original Inventions (two sets, the latter titled The Feast of the Indolents), he combined a wide range of orchestral and operatic compositions. A portion of the work was used in the Walter Ruttmann film Steel.

Taught and Popularized Italian Music

Malipiero was a composer but he was also an academic. In 1921 he became a professor at the Parma Conservatory, and in 1924 he cofounded (with Alfredo Casella) an association for the popularization of modern Italian music. Malipiero's Antonio e Cleopatra was first performed on May 4, 1938, in Florence. For this opera, he wrote his own libretto. From 1939 to 1952 Malipiero would direct music institutes at Padua and Venice.

Music Didn't Survive Initial Performances

Malipiero wrote more than 25 operas, 4 ballets, 15 symphonic poems, 9 symphonies, 4 piano concertos, a violin concerto, large works for choir and orchestra, chamber music, and piano music. Most of this music was performed at the Festival of Contemporary Music held biannually in Venice, but little of it survived the premieres. This was probably because Malipiero's style was unpopular with the general public, the critics, and his fellow professional musicians.

Malipiero's style was highly intellectual and based upon his desire to return to the foundations of Italian music. He carefully avoided spectacular or exciting effects. For his librettos he frequently chose fantastic or metaphysical tales whose elusive meaning left the general audience more bewildered than satisfied.

Gian Francesco Malipiero died Jan. 8, 1973, in Venice.