Synopsis

Ask a serious music lover to name major figures in 20th century music and it’s likely the names Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Bartók will crop up. But in addition to those Austrian, Russian, and Hungarian composers, a lively group of Italian modernists were also active throughout the 20th century  – only their names and music are not so well-known.

One of them was Goffredo Petrassi, born in 1904. Petrassi became one of the leading figures in a group of Italian composers that included Luigi Dallapiccola, Alfredo Casella, and Gian Francesco Malipiero. This group tried to compensate for Italy’s almost total preoccupation with opera by concentrating more on instrumental pieces.

Petrassi’s own musical influences range from the Italian Renaissance music he sang as a young choirboy in Rome to the works of abstract painters like Jackson Pollock that he viewed when visiting America.

Petrassi’s largest body of work was his eight Concertos for Orchestra composed between 1933 and 1972, but in his final years he turned to chamber works, such as this “Autumn Sestina” completed in 1982, scored for six instruments. When asked where the “Autumn” in the title came from, the 78-year-old Petrassi responded: “Perhaps it’s got something to do with my age.” 

Music Played in Today's Program

Goffredo Petrassi (1904 - 2003) — Sestina d'autunno (Compania; Andrea Molino, cond.) Stradivarius 33347

On This Day

Births

• 1824 - Bohemian composer Bedrich Smetana, in Leitomischl;

• 1900 - German-born American composer Kurt Weill, in Dessau;

• 1905 - American composer Marc Blitzstein, in Philadelphia;

• 1917 - British composer John Gardner, in Manchester;

• 1921 - British composer Robert Simpson, in Leamington;

Deaths

• 1959 - Finnish composer Yrjö (Henrik) Kilpinen, age 97, in Helsinki; He was the most famous Finnish composer of art songs (lieder);

• 2003 - Italian composer Goffredo Petrassi, age 98, in Rome;

• 2003 - Australian composer Malcolm Williamson, age 71, in Cambridge, England; In 1975 he became the first non-British born composer to serve as the Queen's Master of Music;

Premieres

• 1724 - Handel: opera "Giulio Cesare" in London (Julian date: Feb. 20);

• 1744 - Handel: oratorio "Joseph and his Brethren" in London at the Covent Garden Theater (Gregorian date: March 13);

• 1792 - Haydn: Symphony No. 98, conducted by the composer, at the Hanover-Square Concert Rooms in London;

• 1795 - Haydn: Symphony No. 103 ("The Drumroll"), conducted by the composer, at the King's Theater in London;

• 1874 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Symphony No. 3, in St. Petersburg, with the composer conducting; This was a benefit concert for the victims of the Volga famine, and marked Rimsky-Korsakov's debut as a conductor (Julian date: Feb. 18);

• 1887 - R. Strauss: "Aus Italien" (From Italy), in Munich;

• 1911 - Scriabin: Symphony No. 5 ("Prometheus: Poem of Fire"), in Moscow (Gregorian date: Mar. 15);

• 1961 - Copland: Nonet for Strings, at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., by members of the National Symphony conducted by the composer;

• 1977 - Benjamin Lees: "Dialogue" for cello and piano, in New York City.