goffredo petrassi

[billkilpatrick]

here's some contemporary music for ensemble (mandolin, guitar, viola, cello, bass and percussion) that sounds like ... music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2jg-spxCYA

... played by the "ensemble dissonanzen" - great name, no?

here's another, less jarring piece for trio with avi avital, mandolin - parts one and two:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bYk7ZH59bA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ValPzchHcQA

[vkioulaphides]

Yes, Petrassi has written some GLORIOUS music, including no less than 14 Concerti per orchestra (which I gladly admit inspired my own Concerto per orchestra a pizzico that I wrote for Het Consort a while back.)

I had wished to meet Petrassi while in Rome in the '80s, but he has already a recluse --I believe he was effectively blind from glaucoma-- and colleagues of mine who had studied with him told dark tales of chronic depression. Our meeting never happened, despite some fleeting contacts through the "Santa Cecilia Connection" of my own late teacher.

Still, he is one of my favorite composers of his generation. No less a figure than our own Elliott Carter has professed to ADORE Petrassi's music, and never ~quite~ understood why and how it has been so neglected vis-a-vis the concert repertoire of our days. (Post-war politics may have played a part in this, as is also the case with many Italian composers of his age.)

In short: Petrassi, good. Have a listen!

Cheers,

Victor

[margora]

I agree with Victor. Petrassi was a great modernist composer. "Nunc" is one of my favorite contemporary pieces for guitar. "Alias" for guitar and harpsichord is another very fine work. I certainly would love to play mandolin or guitar in one of his chamber pieces (but have never had the opportunity).

[vkioulaphides]

I suspect that, amongst us, Joe Brent must have played some of Petrassi's chamber music involving mandolin; as a bass player, I have played (and enjoyed immensely) his quartet for flute, viola, harpsichord and bass. I performed that masterwork many moons ago, with a (long defunct) chamber group led by Italian composers, based in New York. It was a gem!

[brunello97]

Bill, I enjoyed these pieces very much. Victor or Robert, do you have any recommendations for recorded works by Sig. Petrassi?

Mick

[vkioulaphides]

Robert may be more up-to-date. I, dinosaur that I am, still have LPs of Petrassi's Concerti, issued on albums along with works from my extaordinarily oscrure compositorial lineage, i.e. those of Virgilio Mortari (my teacher's teacher), Alfredo Casella (his predecessor; Mortari revised and edited Casella's La tecnica dell'orchestra, one of my prized possessions), Ildebrando Pizzetti (proto-dinosaur), and SO many others whose names wouldn't ring even the most delicately attuned bells.

Beyond that, a search online might serve you best, Mick. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Victor

[margora]

An outstanding performance of the two solo works by Petrassi for classical guitar (Nunc, Suouni Notturno) is on Franz Halasz, "Canzone", a recording on the BIS label. Halasz is one of my favorite contemporary guitarists. Amazon US carries the recording. The guitarist John Williams frequently performed Nunc back in the day but I don't know if he ever recorded it.

[vkioulaphides]

Having just gotten home (where there is audio capability), I have listened to the first item Bill was kind enough to post. BRILLIANT! A sort of theme-and-variations on the medieval chant ("Veni creator spiritus"), but with Igor (Stravinsky) interjected, as the formative principles behind said variations are akin to his. Nice playing, too!

As soon as time allows, I will listen to the rest. For now, my own practice is beckoning...

Cheers,

Victor

[joebrent]

Did this piece with ICE last year, it's a bear to get together but totally worth it. Great on a program alongside the Henze and the Nicolau.

[vkioulaphides]

Oh, I would LOVE to play that bass-part! That said, even if I were hypothetically called to, it would be hard to fit this amidst all my Saints and all my Italians in Algiers... A VERY nice, dynamic, spectacular tour-de-force for the bass-- and, in fact, for ALL instruments involved.

Cheers,

Victor

[Neil Gladd]

I have the Petrassi Sestina d'autunno on CD - Stradivarius STR33347, but I note that it is from 1994. (I bought it new off the shelf around then at Tower.) The recording posted on YouTube is available from Amazon as a digital download for 99 cents. I suspect that someone just bought the MP3 and stuck it on YouTube.

[mandobuzz]

Regarding Bill's original post. I believe--if I am not mistaken--that Avi Avital is the mandolinist also for the "ensemble dissonanzen" pieces. I know he has recorded with them, as evidenced here:

http://www.dramonline.org/performers...le-dissonanzen

And yes, I agree with everyone else, Petrassi's music is fantastic.

[John Goodin]

Thank you Bill for the original post of these pieces and to everyone else for your learned discussion about them. I have just paid Amazon a whopping $1.98 to download mp3s of both the Igor and the Serenata. That's 28 minutes of wonderful music for $2. Who could have imagined 20 years ago?

John G.

[vkioulaphides]

Hmm... Wikipedia lists 8 Concertos for orchestra by Petrassi, which doesn't jibe with what I wrote above. OK, I must not be remembering correctly what one of my Italian colleagues once told me-- either that, or the Wiki is incomplete. Or, speculating based on some of the stories I heard, Petrassi had in fact composed fourteen, but only eight are extant. Saturn-like, many composers devour their own children...

The far more important point is that the ones I have heard have been SPECTACULAR pieces, and I recommend them enthusiastically to all.

Cheers,

Victor