Giuseppe Martucci

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Giuseppe Martucci (January 6, 1856, near Capua, Campania – June 1, 1909, Naples) was an Italian composer, conductor, pianist and teacher. As a conductor he helped to introduce Richard Wagner's operas to Italy, and also gave important early concerts of English music there.

Contents

[edit] Career

Martucci learned the basics of music from his father, Gaetano, who played the trumpet. He was a child prodigy, performing on the piano at the age of 8[1]. From the age of 11, he was a student at the Naples conservatory, on the recommendation of professor Beniamino Cesi[2], the latter being a former student of Sigismond Thalberg. Martucci became a student in composition with Paolo Serrao. Martucci subsequently (from 1880 onwards) held a professorship and became director in 1902. Among his students was Ottorino Respighi.

His son Paolo, born in Naples in 1883, also became a pianist of note, briefly teaching at the Cincinnati Conservatory.[1][2]

[edit] Pianist

Martucci's career as an international pianist commenced with a tour through Germany, France and England in 1875, at the age of 19[3]. He was appointed pianoforte professor at the Naples Conservatory in 1880[2], and moved to Bologna in 1886, replacing Luigi Mancinelli there; in 1902 he returned for the last time to Naples, as director of the Royal Conservatory of Music.[3][1]

[edit] Conductor

His career as conductor started in 1881. As a conductor he helped introduce Richard Wagner's operas to Italy, conducting the first Italian performance of Tristan und Isolde in 1888[4] in 1888 in Bologna. As well as performing Charles Villiers Stanford's 3rd ("Irish") Symphony in Bologna in 1898[5], he also conducted perhaps the only concert of all-British orchestral music on the European continent in the whole period 1851–1900[2], and included music by Brahms, Lalo, Goldmark and others in his programs.

[edit] Composer

Martucci began as a composer at the age of 16, with short piano works. He wrote no operas, making him rare among Italian composers of his generation, but instead concentrated on instrumental music and songs, producing also an oratorio, Samuel.[6]

His music is influenced primarily but not entirely by that of Brahms and Schumann, and was championed by Arturo Toscanini during much of the latter's career. G.F. Malipiero said of Martucci's second symphony that it was "the beginning of the rebirth of non-operatic Italian music." Martucci was an instrumentalist pur sang, taking 'absolute music' as his highest goal.

[edit] Works

[edit] General

  • sonatas for organ Op. 36?, violin, piano and violoncello
  • Song-cycles including La Canzone dei Ricordi (with piano or orchestra; perhaps his major work)
  • Many chamber works, most with piano (piano quintet, two piano trios, for example).
  • Miniatures for piano solo or with other instruments, some of which have an independent concert life in orchestral arrangements.

[edit] By opus number

  • Piano concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 40
  • Piano quintet in C major, Op. 45
  • Canzonetta for orchestra, Op. 55, No. 1
  • Gavotta, for piano, Op. 55, No. 2
  • Serenata for piano (or orchestra), Op. 57, No. 1
  • Minuetto for orchestra, Op. 57, No. 2
  • Momento musicale for orchestra, Op. 57, No. 3
  • Prelude, Toccata and Gigue for small orchestra, Op. 61
  • Piano concerto No. 2 in B-flat minor Op. 66
  • Symphony No. 1 in D minor, Op. 75 (1888-95)[6]
  • Symphony No. 2 in F major, Op. 81

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Greene, David Mason (1985). Greene's Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 830-1. ISBN 0-385-14278-1. Retrieved on 2007-12-29. 
  2. ^ a b c d Gatti, Guido M. (1954). in Blom, Eric: Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Fifth Edition, New York: St. Martin's Press Inc., V (L-M): 602-603. OCLC 6085892. 
  3. ^ a b Martucci Biography. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
  4. ^ Ewen, David [1937] (1977, more recent 2007 reprint available online). Composers of yesterday : a biographical and critical guide to the most important composers of the past. St. Clair Shores, Mich.: Scholarly Press, 278. ISBN 0-403-01551-0. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. 
  5. ^ Dibble, Jeremy (2002). Charles Villiers Stanford: man and musician. London; New York: Oxford University Press, 299. ISBN 0-19-816383-5. Retrieved on 2007-12-22. 
  6. ^ a b Schlüren, Christoph (2003). Preface to Score of Martucci First Symphony. Musikproduktion Juergen Hoeflich. Retrieved on 2007-12-22.

[edit] Further reading

  • Perrino, Folco [1992] (1996). Giuseppe Martucci (in Italian). Novara: Centro studi martucciani. OCLC 39797377. 

[edit] External links

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