Luigi Dallapiccola was born in 1904 in Pisino d’Istria, at the time a small town in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and defined by the composer himself as “a crossroads between three frontiers. While studying he deepened his knowledge of composers like Ravel, Debussy, Bartok, Stravinsky and Hindemith. In 1924, a performance of Pierrot lunaire  conducted by Schoenberg himself in Florence left a deep impression on the young musician. In the years following World War II Dallapiccola’s fame began to spread both in Europe and the United States, where he held advanced courses at Tanglewood, attended by amongst others Luciano Berio, and in New York.

Partita for orchestra, composed in 1933, was the first to enjoy success with a wider audience. His adoption of dodecaphony came about in a gradual and original manner, through the transformation of the chromatic elements of his initial diatonic-modal style into full-fledged 12-note series. Chromatic passages are present, for example, in the Divertimento in quattro esercizi for soprano and 5 instruments (1935), in which Dallapiccola, in search of a formal balance, uses pre-classical forms, while in the Coro degli zitti (for mixed voices and large orchestra, the first of the third series of the Cori di Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane), Bach-like contrapuntal artifices stand alongside 12-tone series of an expressive nature.

The Tre laudi (1937) for voice and 13 instruments presents for the first time melodic lines that make use of all twelve sounds of the chromatic scale. The Canti di prigionia (1938-1941), for voices and instruments, represents his most important work in the years leading up to World War II. The origin of this work was the speech in which Mussolini, in September 1938, announced his campaign against the Jews, a policy that directly struck the composer’s wife. Canti di prigionia is divided into three parts, but it has a unitary character, both on account of its extensive use of a single 12-note series and for the connecting thread that unites the three songs or, to be precise, the use of fragments of the Dies irae.

Of the works composed during World War II two in particular stand out: the Piccolo concerto per Muriel Couvreux for piano and small orchestra (1941), and the dramatic ballet Marsia (1942-43), written in collaboration with the choreographer Aurel M. Milloss. Divided into three parts, which follow on from each other without interruption, Marsia alternates lyrical moments with moments marked by a relentless rhythm, while diatonic elements contrast with 12-tone elements. As the years went by Dallapiccola’s 12-tone style became more and more essential and characterised by a profound lyricism. This can be seen in his numerous vocal works. Commiato for soprano and chamber group, written in 1972, was the composer’s last composition. Dallapiccola died in Florence on February 19, 1975.

SELECTED WORKS

Canti di prigionia (1939-1942)
for voices and instruments
2pf, 2hp, perc(3), timp(2), xyl, vibr, bell
Duration: three movements each 10'
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Marsia. Frammenti sinfonici dal Balletto (1943)
for orchestra
Instrumentation: 3.3.4.2sax.3 – 4.3.3.1 – timp.perc.xyl – cel.pf.2hp – strings
Duration: 23’
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Partita (1933)
for orchestra
1) Passacaglia (Duration: 9’)
2) Burlesca (Duration: 7’)
3) Recitativo e fanfara (Duration: 5’)
4) Nenia (with solo soprano) (Duration: 8’)
Instrumentation: 4.3.3.2sax.3 – 4.3.3.1 – timp.perc.xyl – cel.pf.2hp.org – strings
Duration (complete): 29’
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Piccolo concerto per Muriel Couvreux (1941)
for piano and orchestra
1) Pastorale, Girotondo e Ripresa
2) Cadenza, Notturno e Finale
Instrumentation: 2.1.2.1 – 2.1.0.0 – timp.xyl – hp – strings – solo piano
Duration: 20’        
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Sei cori di Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane (1936-1937)
- SECONDA SERIE - Invenzione e capriccio for 2 sopranos and 2 altos (or chorus of 6 sopranos and 6 altos) with 17 instruments obbligati
1) I Balconi della Rosa (Italian and German text)
2) II Papavero (Italian and German text)
Instrumentation: 2.1.2.1 – 2.2.1.1 – pf – strings (1.1.1.1)
Duration: 9’
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Tre laudi (1937)
for voice and 13 instruments
1) Altissima luce
2) Ciascun s'allegri
3) Madonna Sancta Maria
Instrumentation: 1.1.1.sax.1 – 1.1.0.0 – pf.hp – strings (1.1.1.1)
Duration: 14’
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Luigi Dallapiccola: full work list