Carlo Domeniconi (born 20 February 1947)Summerfield 2003. is an Italian

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Although his compositions include a wide variety of genres and instrumentation choices, he is best known for his works for solo guitar, and particularly the ''Koyunbaba'' suite. Domeniconi's style is characterized by his adoption of multicultural influences. His works explore and borrow from a wide variety of national traditions, including Turkish, Indian, Brazilian, and many more.

Biography

Domeniconi was born in

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

, Italy. He received his first formal guitar lessons in 1960 from Carmen Lenzi Mozzani, granddaughter of the famous guitarist and

luthier A luthier ( ; AmE also ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments that have a neck and a sound box. The word "luthier" is originally French and comes from the French word for lute. The term was originally used for makers o ...

Luigi Mozzani is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

. Making rapid progress, he won first prizes at the Ancona International Festival of Guitar in 1960 and 1962. After obtaining his diploma from the Rossini Conservatory in

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

, Domeniconi left Italy for

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

, where he studied composition at the Berliner Hochschule für Musik under Heinz Friedrich Hartig.Harries 2014, 1. Upon graduation in 1969, Domeniconi took up a teaching position in Berlin, which he held until 1992. Already in the 1960s, Domeniconi became interested in Turkish music traditions, which he studied ''in situ'' in 1977–1980, establishing and heading the first classical guitar course at the

Istanbul University State Conservatory The Istanbul University State Conservatory (Turkish language, Turkish: İstanbul Üniversitesi Devlet Konservatuarı) is a music, theatre, dance university in Istanbul. It is the oldest conservatory and the oldest continually operating music scho ...

, and on many shorter trips he took to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Works

The list of Domeniconi's published compositions includes more than 150 titles. Most of these works are scored either for solo guitar, or an ensemble that includes one or more guitars. One of the defining characteristics of Domeniconi's music is its exploration of various national styles, which include Turkish (''Koyunbaba'', ''Variations on an Anatolian Folk Song'', ''Sonatina turca'', ''Oyun''), Indian (''Gita'', ''Dhvani''), various South American styles (''Suite Sud Americana'', ''Vidala'', ''Sonido''), and many others. One of the works inspired by Turkish music, the ''Koyunbaba'' suite of 1985–86, eventually became Domeniconi's most well-known work. Throughout the 1990s it was particularly frequently programmed in concerts and recorded by numerous performers. The piece is named after a Turkish saint Koyunbaba. The liner notes to a recording made by Domeniconi in 1991 for a Turkish record label state that the work is a ''suite pastorale'', describing "the natural beauty of a little bay" overlooking the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...

, where the saint was said to live centuries ago. Educational music has been a particularly important field for Domeniconi, as numerous works he composed for young players attest, such as ''Klangbilder (Sound Pictures)'', ''24 Preludes'', and ''Eine kleine Storchsuite''.Harries 2014, 6.

Selected discography

* ''Concerto di Berlinbul'' – Koyunbaba (1991) cover program * ''Sindbad'' – Ein Märchen für Gitarre (kr 1001, Kreuzberg) * ''To Play or Not to Play'' (kr 5004, Kreuzberg) * ''Watermusic'' (Carlo Domeniconi & Silvia Ocougne) (kr 1002, Kreuzberg) * ''Movement in Circles'', Chamber Music 1989–1995 (kr 10019, Kreuzberg) * ''El Trino del Diablo'' (kr 1004, Kreuzberg) * ''Selected Works I'' (met 1001, Co-production: edition ex tempore, Berlin & HOMA dream, Japan) * ''Selected Works II'' (met 1002, Co-production: edition ex tempore, Berlin & HOMA dream, Japan) * ''Selected Works I'' – solo guitar works, 2005 (met 1001) * ''Selected Works II'' – solo guitar works, 2005 (met 1002) * ''Selected Works III'' – Music for two guitars, 2006 (met 1003) * ''Selected Works IV'' – Chamber Music, 2009 (met 1004) * ''Selected Works V –'' 25 years Koyunbaba, 2009 (met 1005) * ''Concerto Mediterraneo'' (1993) op.67 (Hänssler CD 98.347, Hänssler CLASSIC)

Publications

Carlo Domeniconi – Berlinbul Concerto – Doppelkonzert für Saz, Gitarre und Orchester, op. 29
fro
edition ex tempore, BerlinCarlo Domeniconi – Suite Pittoresca – Für Bassklarinette, Gitarre und Streichorchester
fro
edition ex tempore, Berlin

References

Bibliography

* Cumming, Danielle. 2005. ''Led Zeppelin and Carlo Domeniconi: Truth Without Authenticity?'' D.Mus. paper (McGill University. Faculty of Music) * Harries, Colin. 2014. "The Solo Guitar Music of Carlo Domeniconi: An Exploration of the Diverse Influences". Master's thesis, Waterford Institute of Technology. * Summerfield, Maurice J. 2003. ''The Classical Guitar: Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1800''. Hal Leonard Corporation, * Wade, Graham. 2010. ''A Concise History of the Classic Guitar''. Mel Bay Publications,

External links

Carlo Domeniconi official website
(English and German) with biography, photos, and complete list of compositions and current CDs

Photos of Masterclass
(Ligita 2005)
Photos of Presentation
(Ligita 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Domeniconi, Carlo Living people 1947 births 20th-century guitarists 20th-century Italian male musicians 21st-century guitarists 21st-century Italian male musicians Composers for the classical guitar Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers Italian classical guitarists Italian male guitarists Italian jazz guitarists Male jazz musicians People from Cesena