Vito Frazzi (1 August 1888 – 7 July 1975) was an Italian neo-romantic composer. He was born in

San Secondo Parmense San Secondo Parmense ( Sansecondino: or ; Parmigiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Parma in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northwest of Parma. San Secondo Parmense borders ...

, and studied at the Parma Conservatory, where he learnt composition from

Guido Alberto Fano Guido Alberto Fano (18 May 1875 in Padua – 14 August 1961 at Tauriano di Spilimbergo) was an Italian pianist and composer. From 1894 he was the favoured pupil of Giuseppe Martucci.* Fano, Vitale, "“Maestro compositore a pieni voti e c ...

. From 1912 to 1958 he taught piano, harmony, counterpoint and composition at the Florence Conservatory; there he came into contact with Ildebrando Pizzetti, who was director of the conservatory from 1917 to 1923, and who influenced Frazzi's compositional style. Frazzi also taught at the

Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Clas ...

from 1936 to 1963. His students included Bruno Bartolozzi,

Bruno Bettinelli Bruno Bettinelli (4 June 1913 – 8 November 2004) was an Italian composer and teacher. Biography Bruno Bettinelli was born in Milan where he studied at the Conservatorio "G. Verdi" in Milan, under the tutelage of Giulio Cesare Paribeni and Renz ...

Valentino Bucchi Valentino Bucchi (29 November 1916 – 8 May 1976) was an Italian composer. Biography Bucchi was born in Florence, Italy, the son of musicians. He studied at Luigi Cherubini Conservatory of Music in Florence. He died in Rome, Italy. Works T ...

Luigi Dallapiccola Luigi Dallapiccola (February 3, 1904 – February 19, 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, Cr ...

and Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. He died in Florence on 7 July 1975.

Works

Frazzi composed symphonic, choral and chamber music, and a number of operas. ''Re Lear'' was written between 1922 and 1928, but not performed until 1939; it is loosely based on Shakespeare's ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

''. ''Don Chisciotte'', to Frazzi's own libretto derived from the '' Don Quijote'' of Cervantes and the ''

Vida de Don Quijote y Sancho Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essay w ...

'' of

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essay w ...

, was composed between 1940 and 1950 and received its première at the Teatro Comunale of Florence on 28 April 1952. It consists of six scenes which may be performed either separately or together; a supplement to it, ''Le nozze di Camaccio'' ("the marriage of Camaccio"), though published, has apparently not been performed. Frazzi destroyed the score of his opera ''L’ottava moglie di Barbablù'' ("Bluebeard's eighth wife") after its première at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence in January 1940; the work is unpublished. Frazzi's compositional style is characterised by extensive use of the

octatonic scale An octatonic scale is any eight- note musical scale. However, the term most often refers to the symmetric scale composed of alternating whole and half steps, as shown at right. In classical theory (in contrast to jazz theory), this symmetrica ...

of alternating tones and semitones. He was among the first to explore the theory of this scale, and his ''Scale alternate'', "alternating scales", may be the earliest published work on the topic (an unpublished treatise by Edmond de Polignac dates from about 1879). His ''I vari sistemi del linguaggio musicale'', "the various systems of musical language", treats of the same subject.

Publications

* ''Scale alternate'' Florence: Forlivesi, 1930
''I vari sistemi del linguaggio musicale''
Siena: Accademia Musicale Chigiana, 1960

Works

Publications

References

Further reading