''Canti di prigionia'' (''Songs of Imprisonment'') is a setting for

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

, two pianos, two harps and percussion by the Italian composer

Luigi Dallapiccola Luigi Dallapiccola (3 February 1904 – 19 February 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d'Istria (at the time part of Austria-Hungary, current Pazin, Croati ...

. Dallapiccola sets three texts of imprisonment: a prayer of Mary Stuart, an extract from Book Three of

Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known simply as Boethius (; Latin: ''Boetius''; 480–524 AD), was a Roman Roman Senate, senator, Roman consul, consul, ''magister officiorum'', polymath, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middl ...

' ''

The Consolation of Philosophy ''On the Consolation of Philosophy'' (), often titled as ''The Consolation of Philosophy'' or simply the ''Consolation'', is a philosophical work by the Roman philosopher Boethius. Written in 523 while he was imprisoned and awaiting execution ...

'' and

Savonarola Savonarola is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), Italian Dominican friar and reformer * Michele Savonarola (1385–), Italian physician, humanist and historian {{Surname, 2=Italian-la ...

's unfinished ''Meditation on the Psalm 'My hope is in Thee, O Lord''. Composed in 1938–1941, the first song was premiered on Brussels Radio in 1940, weeks before the Nazi Invasion of Belgium. Dallapiccola himself wrote that the work was a direct response to

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

's speech introducing race laws to Italy:

I should have liked to protest, but I was not so naive as to disregard the fact that, in a
totalitarian Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public sph ...
regime, the individual is powerless. Only by means of music would I be able to express my indignation.Quoted by Francesco Lombardi (trans. Gwyn Morris), notes to ''Il Prigioniero/Canti di prigionia'', Sony Classical SK 68 323

Dallapiccola was to develop the material (and some of the musical ideas) in his 1948 opera ''

Il prigioniero ''Il prigioniero'' (''The Prisoner'') is an opera (originally a radio opera) in a prologue and one act, with music and libretto by Luigi Dallapiccola. The opera was first broadcast by the Italian radio station RAI on 1 December 1949. The work is ba ...

'', in which he further explores the ideas of personal as well as ideological imprisonment. ''Canti di liberazione'' followed in 1955.

Movements

#"Preghiera di Maria Stuarda" (Mary Stuart's Prayer) #"Invocazione di Boezio" (The Invocation of Boethius) #"Congedo di Girolamo Savonarola" (Girolamo Savonarola's Farewell)

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Luigi Dallapiccola 1938 compositions Choral compositions