Quirino Principe (born 19 November 1935 in

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

) is an Italian philosopher of music, poet, dramatist, Germanist, translator, actor.

Teaching activity

Principe holds a degree in Philosophy from the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

.
He taught on the musicology courses of the "G. Verdi" Conservatory of Milan.
Further teaching engagements have included those at the

University of Trieste The University of Trieste (, or UniTS, Formerly Regia Università degli Studi or The Royal University of Studies) is a public research university in Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region in northeast Italy. The university consists of 10 ...

(lecturer in history of modern and contemporary music), at Roma Tre "Ostiense" University (lecturer in philosophy of music) and at Verona Accademia per l'Opera Italiana (where he has taught librettology, history of theatre, dramaturgy, and stylistics of poetry since 2007).

Works

Considered by music critic

Paolo Isotta Paolo Isotta (18 October 1950 – 12 February 2021) was an Italian musicologist and writer. Life Isotta graduated from the University of Naples, where he studied classic Letters and law. He also studied piano with Vincenzo Vitale and compositi ...

as "the greatest living expert on Mahler", Principe wrote two extensive monographs on

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

which are regarded as "fundamental" by

Enciclopedia Treccani Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani a ...

: *''Mahler'', Rusconi 1983, 2nd edition Bompiani 2002, 3rd edition Bompiani 2011 *''Strauss'', Rusconi 1989, 2nd edition Bompiani 2004 Other books he authored in the fields of musicology, literary analysis, and music pedagogy are: *''Vita e morte della scuola'', Rusconi 1970 *''I potenti della letteratura'', Rusconi 1971 *''La rivelazione incompiuta'', 1974 *''Il rombo del motore'', Vallecchi 1974 *''Manuale di idee per la scuola'', Rusconi 1977 ibari Prize 1978ref name=50milacorriere /> *''La “Sonnambula” di Vincenzo Bellini'', Mursia 1991 *''I quartetti per archi di Beethoven'', Anabasi – Società del Quartetto di Milano 1993 *''La musica a Milano nel Novecento'', UTET 1996 *''Gianandrea Gavazzeni alla Scala'',

Teatro alla Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was a church). The premiere performance was Antonio Salieri's ''Europa r ...

2001 *''Il teatro d’opera tedesco 1830-1918'', L’Epos 2004 *''Musica'', Electa-Mondadori 2010 *''Wagner e noi: "Lohengrin"'' Jaca Book 2012 *''L’umano atterrito dal soprannaturale: "Tannhäuser"'' Jaca Book 2013. Many poems of his have been published in monographic collections, such as *''Il libro dei Cinque Sentieri'' ebeto Prize 1974 Scheiwiller-All’Insegna del Pesce d’Oro, 1973. *Other poetic cycles have been published in "Poesia e spiritualità" (year II, no. 4, Passagem Sem Guarda Edizioni, Madeira 2010). In addition there are some theatrical works by Principe, such as: *''Turbativa'' (1992) *''La saracena'' (1998) *''... poudre d'Ophélia'' (2002) * text for the ''Pantomime'' K446 by W. A. Mozart (2007) * ''Speculum mundi'' (2008). Various poems of Principe's have been set to music by composers such as Bruno Bettinelli, Sonia Bo, Massimo Di Gesu.

Translations

Principe has translated many works from German (including books by

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomology, entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir ''Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful busin ...

and the complete Cantatas by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

).
Principe has been an advocate of writer

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

: he contributed to Italian knowledge of

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book ''The Hobbit'' but eventually d ...

by editing the Italian translation of the book from its second edition (1970) onwards. He has contributed since 1992 to the Sunday cultural supplement of

Il Sole 24 Ore (; English: "The Sun 24 Hours") is the Italian financial newspaper of record, owned by Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation. is the leading financial daily in Italy. History and profile was first published on 9 November 1965 as ...

Honours

In 1996 the President of the Austrian Republic awarded Principe the 1st Class Cross of Honour for Science and Art.
In 2006 he was elected a member of the

Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia () is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prominent in Western musical history: Gre ...

in Rome.
In 2009 the President of the Italian Republic bestowed on him the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Principe, Quirino Italian musicologists People from Gorizia 1935 births University of Padua alumni Living people Members of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia