Domenico Brescia (1866–1939) 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 ...

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 ...

who taught in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

, then became known in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for writing chamber music as well as musical accompaniment for dramatic performances.Music Library Association, Northern California Chapter. MLA NCC Newsletter, Vol. 16, no. 2 (Spring 2002). John L. Walker
''Bringing the Masses to the Music: Ulderico Marcelli and the Silent Film in San Francisco''
Retrieved on June 30, 2009. Brescia led the

Music Theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

department at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

. Brescia was born in

Pirano Piran (; it, Pirano ) is a town in southwestern Slovenia on the Gulf of Piran on the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the three major towns of Slovenian Istria. The town is known for its medieval architecture, with narrow streets and compact houses. P ...

, near

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

in 1866, at a time when the area was part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

. After studying at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

he became a member of the Royal Academy of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

as well the Royal Academy of

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. Brescia went to

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

to teach harmony at the national conservatory, and eventually became the assistant director of the school. There, he met

Ulderico Marcelli Ulderico Marcelli, also known as Rico Marcelli (October 3, 1882 – August 17, 1962), was a 20th-century Italy, Italian composer who became known in the United States for writing operas and musical accompaniment for dramatic performances, and for h ...

who was studying violin, brass and composition. In 1903, Brescia followed Marcelli to

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, Ecuador to become the director of the conservatory there, picking up some of sour-tempered Marcelli's unhappy students. Brescia was the first Western composer to utilize native Ecuadorean elements in his works, including the successful ''Sinfonia Ecuatoriana''.Apel, Willi
''Harvard Dictionary of Music''
Harvard University Press, 1969, p. 253. Brescia influenced two students who would later make names for themselves in Ecuadorian contemporary music: Segundo Luis Moreno and Luis H. Salgado. Marcelli left for

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1910 and, due to Ecuador's increasing political unrest, Brescia left the country in 1911. By 1914, he had settled in San Francisco teaching voice and composing music. In 1919, Brescia wrote the musical accompaniment to ''Life'', a Grove Play performed at the

Bohemian Grove Bohemian Grove is a restricted 2,700-acre (1,100 ha) campground at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, United States, belonging to a private San Francisco–based gentlemen's club known as the Bohemian Club. In mid-July each year, ...

. Ecuadorian Indian moods were used in two musical numbers. Brescia wrote in the notes to the score that he thought it was the first time that a

chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair, ...

set of

cowbells The cowbell is an idiophone hand percussion instrument used in various styles of music, such as Latin and rock. It is named after the similar bell used by herdsmen to keep track of the whereabouts of cows. The instrument initially and traditio ...

, spanning an octave and a half, had been used as a symphony instrument. Brescia brought Marcelli into the

Bohemian Club The Bohemian Club is a private club with two locations: a city clubhouse in the Nob Hill district of San Francisco, California and the Bohemian Grove, a retreat north of the city in Sonoma County. Founded in 1872 from a regular meeting of journal ...

where Marcelli wrote the music for the next year's Grove Play. In 1926, Brescia worked with writer

George Sterling George Sterling (December 1, 1869 – November 17, 1926) was an American writer based in the San Francisco, California Bay Area and Carmel-by-the-Sea. He was considered a prominent poet and playwright and proponent of Bohemianism during the f ...

to compose the music for Sterling's Grove Play entitled ''Truth''. In 1921, Brescia's ''Dithyrambic Suite'' for woodwind quintet premiered at

Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge aka Liz Coolidge (30 October 1864 – 4 November 1953), born Elizabeth Penn Sprague, was an American pianist and patron of music, especially of chamber music. Biography Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge's father was a we ...

's Berkshire Chamber Music Festival, with the performance featuring flautist

Georges Barrère Georges Barrère (Bordeaux, October 31, 1876 - New York, June 14, 1944) was a French flutist.Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001) Early life Georges Barrère was the son of a cabinetmaker, Gabriel Barrère, and Marie Périne Courtet, ...

. Reviewer Carl H. Tollefsen commented on the name ''Dithyrambic'', writing "After hearing the music and in order to link my recollections of it with the title, I decided that the words 'Did he ramble' would bring back both. I'll say he did." In 1925, Brescia moved to

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

as professor of music composition at Mills College. He headed the music theory department as well.Emory Libraries
''Emma Brescia Gardner papers, 1898-1996''
. Retrieved on June 30, 2009. In 1928, Mills completed a new music building which was dedicated with a premier performance of Brescia's suite for piano and woodwinds. Brescia brought with him the favor of Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge, patron to modern chamber music, who subsequently subsidized various music department activities at Mills. Brescia held his professorship until his death in 1939. Brescia had one daughter, Emma (1902–1968), who was married to American poet

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the liter ...

during the period 1930–1951, then earned a Ph.D. from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1957 and began teaching foreign language at

Mitchell College Mitchell College is a private college in New London, Connecticut. In Fall 2020 it had an enrollment of 572 students and a faculty of 68. Admission rate was 70%. The college offers associate and bachelor's degrees in fourteen subjects. Academ ...

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, in 1963.

Works

*1900s - ''Sinfonia Ecuatoriana'' *1919 - ''Life'', a Grove Play *1921 - ''Dithyrambic Suite'' for woodwind quintet *1922 - ''Second Suite for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon'' *1926 - ''Truth'', a Grove Play *1928 - ''Suite for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon and Piano''Library of Congress. Cyrilla Barr
''The Coolidge Legacy''
Retrieved on June 30, 2009. *1931 - ''Ricercare (quasi Fantasia) e Fuga per Organo'' *1937 - ''String quartet no. 6'' (copyright June 15, 1937)Library of Congress, 1938
Catalog of Copyright Entries, p. 885.
Retrieved on June 30, 2009. *''Twelve Two Part Inventions for the Pianoforte in Retrograde Inverse Canon''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brescia, Domenico 1866 births 1939 deaths University of Bologna alumni Italian composers Italian male composers Italian emigrants to the United States