| ORCHESTRA: Symphonic Piece; Orchestral Suite; Symphonic Poem. | |
| CHAMBER MUSIC: First String Quartet; Three Pieces for Flute, Clarinet and Bassoon. |
About Walter Piston:
Cowell Henry. American Composers on American Music.
ILDEBRANDO PIZZETTI, one of the principal figures in modern Italian music, was born in Parma on September 20, 1880. When he was a child of two, his family moved from Parma to Riggo, where Pizzetti lived until his sixteenth year. When he definitely decided to study music seriously, he returned to his native city and entered its Conservatory. He was, in more respects than one, an amazing student. While studying his lessons in harmony and counterpoint, he was able to compose works which possessed sureness, maturity and taste. Two operas--Sabina and Romeo and Juliet-- left his pen while he was still a student at the Conservatory, and they were both works of imposing merit. In these early operas, Pizzetti adhered rigidly to the Italian operatic ideal, but they contained sufficient originality to inspire the unqualified praise and enthusiasm of his instructors.
In 1901, Pizzetti was graduated from the Conservatory and, after a short period as orchestral conductor when he served as a substitute for Campanini at the Parma Opera House, he turned to teaching. In 1908, he directed the classes in composition at the Conservatory at Parma, and the following year he became professor of theory and composition at the Institute of Florence. Pedagogy has been one of Pizzetti's major pursuits ever since. After several years as director of the Institute of Florence, to which position he was appointed in 1918, Pizzetti became the director of the Milan Conservatory, a position which he still holds.
Composition, however, has always been the major interest in Pizzetti's life. Shortly after leaving the Conservatory, Pizzetti entered an open competition conducted by Sonzogno, the publisher. The Cid, which he composed for this competition, was not taken into consideration because of an inadequate last scene. It was probably the disappointment in having failed to win the competition that turned Pizzetti, for several years, from the composition of opera to the creation of chamber and symphonic music. Music-drama, however, remained Pizzetti's first and major love.
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Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information:
Book title: Composers of Today:A Comprehensive Biographical and Critical Guide to Modern Composers of All Nations.
Contributors: David Ewen - Editor, David Ewen - Compiler.
Publisher: H. W. Wilson.
Place of publication: New York.
Publication year: 1934.
Page number: 194.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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