Antonio Pasculli (13 October 1842 – 23 February 1924) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

oboist An oboist (formerly hautboist) is a musician who plays the oboe or any oboe family instrument, including the oboe d'amore, cor anglais or English horn, bass oboe and piccolo oboe or oboe musette. The following is a list of notable past and pres ...

and composer, known as "the Paganini of the oboe".

Biography

Pasculli was born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

, Sicily on 13 October 1842. He lived there his whole life but travelled widely in Italy, Germany and Austria, giving oboe concerts. He directed symphonic and wind orchestra concerts, which were popular in Italy at the time. He also transcribed a large number of

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

pieces for oboe and piano/harp, including works by Bellini,

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

, and

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

. One of his well-known works is ''Etude Caractéristique for oboe and piano "Le Api"'' (The Bees) written in 1874 which resembles and precedes

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

's " Flight of the Bumblebee". He died in Palermo on 23 February 1924. Pasculli's works require extraordinary

virtuosity ''Virtuosity'' is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Brett Leonard and starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Howard W. Koch Jr. served as an executive producer for the film. The film was released in the United Sta ...

on the instrument. His pieces make constant use of

arpeggiation A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware cus ...

s, and scales, and require the oboist to use

circular breathing Circular breathing is a technique used by players of some wind instruments to produce a continuous tone without interruption. It is accomplished by breathing through the nose while simultaneously pushing air through the mouth using air stored ...

. His output was essentially forgotten early in the twentieth century, and he remained in oblivion until oboists

Heinz Holliger Heinz Robert Holliger (born 21 May 1939) is a Swiss virtuoso oboist, composer and conductor. Celebrated for his versatility and technique, Holliger is among the most prominent oboists of his generation. His repertoire includes Baroque and Classic ...

and Omar Zoboli began reviving his music. As a result, some of his works are now available in recordings.

Compositions

Chamber works

* Ricordo di napoli, scherzo brillante, for oboe and piano * Fantasy on themes from Donizetti's 'Poliuto', for oboe and piano * Fantasia on themes from Meyerbeer's 'Les Huguenots', for oboe & piano * Ommagio a Bellini on themes from 'Il Pirata' and 'La Sonnambula', for English horn and harp * Gran Sestetto concertante (after Rossini's Guillaume Tell) (arr. W. Renz)

Orchestral works and concertos

* Concerto on themes from Donizetti's 'La Favorita', for oboe and piano * Gran Concerto on themes from Verdi's 'I Vespri Siciliani', for oboe and piano

Various works

* 'Le Api' for oboe and piano

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasculli, Antonio 1842 births 1924 deaths Italian classical oboists Male oboists Italian composers Italian male composers 19th-century Italian musicians 19th-century Italian male musicians