Ildebrando Pizzetti

Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880–1968) was an Italian composer of classical music.

Related Topics:
1880 - 1968 - Italian - Composer - Classical music

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He was part of the "Generation of 1880" which also included Ottorino Respighi and Gian-Francesco Malipiero, among the first Italian composers in some time whose primary contributions were not in opera. (The instrumental and a cappella traditions had never died in Italian music, and had produced for instance the string quartets of Antonio Scontrino (1850-1922) and the works of Respighi's teacher Martucci; but with this generation it became stronger.)

Related Topics:
Ottorino Respighi - Gian-Francesco Malipiero

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He was born in Parma on September 20, the son of Odoardo Pizzetti, a pianist and piano teacher who was Ildebrando's first teacher. At first he seemed to be headed for a career as a playwright and had written several plays, two of which had been produced, before, in 1895 he decided on a career in music and entered the Conservatorium of Parma.

Related Topics:
Parma - September 20

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He was taught there from 1897 by Giovanni Tebaldini, and here gained the beginnings of his lifelong interest in the early music of Italy, reflected in his own music and his writings.

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He taught at the Conservatory in Florence (directed from 1917 to 1923, directed conservatory at Milan from 1923 onwards.) His students included Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Franco Donatoni. Also a music critic, he wrote several books on the music of Italy and of Greece and co-founded a musical journal.

Related Topics:
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Franco Donatoni

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As noted in the article linked among External links, his relations with the Fascist government of the 1940s were often positive, sometimes mixed; he received at one point high awards, and the one symphony of his mature years was the product of a commission from their Japanese allies to celebrate the "XXVI Centennial of the foundation of the Japanese Empire" (Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem was also commissioned for this event, though it was rejected on account of its finale; its original finale was rediscovered after Britten's death and only premiered then. The Pizzetti Sinfonie in la was premiered, as noted in the article, and recorded - its only recording as of 2005 - on December 7 1940.)

Related Topics:
As of 2005 - December 7 - 1940

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He died in Rome on February 13, 1968.

Related Topics:
Rome - February 13 - 1968

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