Goffredo Petrassi (16 July 1904 – 3 March 2003) was an Italian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

of modern classical music, conductor, and teacher. He is considered one of the most influential Italian composers of the twentieth century.Petrassi, Goffredo. (2008). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved March 14, 2008, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9059491

Life

Petrassi was born at Zagarolo, near

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. At the age of 15 he began to work at a music shop to supply his family's financial needs, and became fascinated by music. In 1928, he entered the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome to study

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

and

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

for five years under Vincenzo di Donato. In 1933, composer

Alfredo Casella Alfredo Casella (25 July 18835 March 1947) was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor. Life and career Casella was born in Turin, the son of Maria (née Bordino) and Carlo Casella. His family included many musicians: his grandfather, a f ...

conducted Petrassi's ''Partita'' for orchestra at the ISCM festival in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. From 1940 to 1960 Petrassi was professor of composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory; later, he also became musical director of the opera house

La Fenice Teatro La Fenice (; "The Phoenix Theatre") is a historic opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of "the most famous and renowned landmarks in the history of Italian theatre" and in the history of opera as a whole. Especially in the 19th cen ...

, and from 1960 to 1978 he taught in the master courses in composition at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia.Restagno, Enzo (ed.) (1992). ''Petrassi''. Turin: EDT, pp. 41–42. He was also a teacher at the Salzburg Mozarteum. Petrassi had many famous students, including Franco Donatoni, Aldo Clementi,

Cornelius Cardew Cornelius Cardew (7 May 193613 December 1981) was an English experimental music composer, and founder (with Howard Skempton and Michael Parsons) of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected experimental mu ...

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, Karl Korte, Boris Porena, Norma Beecroft, Mario Bertoncini, Ernesto Rubin de Cervin, Eric Salzman, Kenneth Leighton,

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

, Michael Dellaira, Armando Santiago, and

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. Petrassi died in

at the age of 98.

Music

Petrassi's early work was part of an attempt by several

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

composers to create a national "Italian" revival in classical music, corresponding to the romantic work of Germans such as

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

. During this time, his work was characteristically neoclassical in style, influenced by Bartók, Hindemith and

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

. In later years, Petrassi's open musical mind and acute personality led him to experiment with different post- Webernian influences and a wide range of

poetic Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

materials, from Latin hymns to

Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...

's ''La follia d'Orlando'' and ''Ritratto di Don Chisciotte'' (''Portrait of

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

''), based on the

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

literary character. All these influences are present in a remarkable series of eight Concerti for Orchestra which he composed between 1934 and 1972. His music appears on the CD labels Chandos,

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

, and Capriccio. Petrassi stopped composing in 1986 due to progressive loss of eyesight.

Works

* Sinfonia, Siciliana e Fuga per Quartetto d'Archi (1929) * Partita for Orchestra (1932) * Preludio, Aria, e Finale for Cello and Piano (1933) * Concerto for Orchestra (1934) * Psalm IX (1934–36) * Piano Concerto (1936–39) * Magnificat (1939–40) * Coro di Morti (1941) * Quatro inni Sacri (1942–50) * La follia di Orlando (1942–43) (also as a symphonic suite) * Ritratto di Don Chisciotte (1945) * Il Cordovano (1948) * Morte dell'aria (1950) * Noche Oscura (1950–51) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 2 (1951) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 3 (1953) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 4 (1954) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 5 (1955) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 6 (1956–57)Porena, Boris. (1978). ''Goffredo Petrassi: Trio E Quartetto Per Archi''. Italia TL 70033 Fonit Cetra spa. Retrieved 2021-09-05

/ref> * Quartetto per Archi (String Quartet) (1957) * Serenata (1957) * Trio per Archi (String Trio) (1959) * Flute Concerto (1960) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 7 (1963–64) * Concerto for Orchestra No. 8 (1970–72) * Orationes Christi (1975) * Kyrie (1990)

References

External links

The Goffredo Petrassi Institute

Guardian obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrassi, Goffredo 1904 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Italian classical composers 20th-century male composers 20th-century Italian male musicians Italian male classical composers Academic staff of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Conservatorio Santa Cecilia alumni Academic staff of Conservatorio Santa Cecilia People from the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital