Giorgio Federico Ghedini (1948) - Archivio Storico Ricordi FOTO001865

Giorgio Federico Ghedini (11 July 189225 March 1965) was an Italian

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 ...

. In addition to orchestral works, in 1949 he premiered a one-act opera based on the American novella '' Billy Budd'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American people, American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his bes ...

Life

Ghedini was born in

Cuneo Cuneo (; pms, Coni ; oc, Coni/Couni ; french: Coni ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Northern Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in ...

in 1892. He studied organ, piano and composition in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, then graduated in composition from the

Bologna Conservatory The Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini (previously known as the Liceo Musicale di Bologna, and sometimes referred to in English as the Bologna Conservatory) is a college of music in Bologna, Italy. The conservatory opened on 3 December 1804 ...

under

Marco Enrico Bossi Marco Enrico Bossi (25 April 1861 – 20 February 1925) was an Italian organist, composer, improviser and teacher. Life Bossi was born in Salò, a town in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, into a family of musicians. His father, Pietro, was ...

in 1911. He worked as conductor for a certain time, then he gave up to devote himself to teaching. He worked as a teacher of composition in Turin (1918–1937),

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

(1937–1941), and finally

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, where he directed the local Conservatory (1951–1962). Among his pupils, the most eminent were

Marcello Marcello is a common masculine Italian given name. It is a variant of Marcellus. The Spanish and Portuguese version of the name is Marcelo, differing in having only one "l", while the Greek form is Markellos. Etymology The name originally means ...

and

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the London Symphony ...

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled '' Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

Guido Cantelli Guido Cantelli (; 27 April 192024 November 1956) was an Italian orchestral conducting, conductor. Toscanini elected him his "spiritual heir" since the beginnings of his career. He was named Musical Director of La Scala, La Scala, Milan in November ...

Niccolò Castiglioni Niccolò Castiglioni (17 July 1932 – 7 September 1996) was an Italian composer, pianist, and writer on music. Castiglioni was born and raised in Milan, where he began studying piano at the age of 7. He received his performer's diploma from th ...

, Carlo Pinelli, and

Fiorenzo Carpi Fiorenzo Carpi (19 October 1918 – 21 May 1997) was an Italian composer and pianist, probably best known for the "Pinocchio" theme. Biography Born in Milan as Fiorenzo Carpi De Resmini, in 1945 he graduated at the Milan Conservatory, pupil of ...

conducted the

NBC Symphony Orchestra The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...

in a 2 February 1952 broadcast concert of Ghedini's ''Pezzo concertante for two violins, viola, and orchestra''. He died in

Nervi Nervi is a former fishing village 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Portofino on the Riviera di Levante, now a seaside resort in Liguria, in northwest Italy. Once an independent '' comune'', it is now a ''quartiere'' of Genoa. Nervi is 4 miles ...

, near

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, in 1965.

Style

The composer was a deep lover of ancient music; he transcribed many works by such composers as

Girolamo Frescobaldi Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of k ...

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

, and Andrea and

Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1554/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift f ...

. Ghedini's works are often inspired by music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras, but combined with a very personal language which combines ancient and modern styles. Among his masterworks are a ''Concerto for orchestra'' (in memory of

), two violin concertos ''Il Belprato'' and ''Concentus Basiliensis'', and a concerto for two cellos ''L'Olmeneta (The Elm Grove)'' and ''Musica Notturna'' (''Night Music''). Ghedini's most celebrated concert piece is ''Concerto dell'Albatro'' (''Albatross Concerto'') for violin, cello, piano, narrator and orchestra, which includes fragments from

's novel ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler, whaling ship ''Pequod (Moby- ...

'' in its final movement. He wrote a large number of chamber, vocal and choral works. He also wrote a one-act opera based on Melville's novella '' Billy Budd'', which was first performed in 1949.

Works

Orchestral * ''Partita'' (1926) * ''Pezzo Concertante'', for two violins, viola and orchestra (1931) * ''Marinaresca e bacchanale'' for orchestra (1933) * ''Concerto for Orchestra "Architetture"'' (1939–40) * ''Invenzione'', concerto for cello, timpani, cymbals and orchestra (1940) * ''Concertato'', for flute, viola and harp (1941) * ''Concerto dell'albatro'', for violin, cello, piano, narrator and orchestra (1943) * ''Il belprato'', violin concerto'' ''(1947) * ''L'olmeneta'' ''(The Elm Grove)'', concerto for two cellos and orchestra (1951) * Concerto for viola, viola d'amore, and string orchestra (1953) * ''Musica da Concerto'', for Viola and String Orchestra (1953) * ''Studio da concerto'', for guitar (1959) * ''Contrappunti'', for violin, viola, cello and orchestra (1962) * ''Musica concertante'', for cello and orchestra (1962) Piano * ''Mazurka'' (1908) * ''29 Canoni'' (1910) * ''Tema con variazioni sulla parola "Fede"'' (1911) * ''La ballerina del circo equestre che salta sulla corda'' (1912) * ''Minuetto del galletto nano'' (1912) * ''Gavotta ''(1912) * Sonatina in D major (1913) * ''Nove pezzi ''(1914) * ''Minuettocaricatura'' (1916) * ''Puerilia. 4 little pieces on 5 notes'' (1922) * Sonata in A flat major (1922) * ''Fantasia'' (1927) * ''Divertimento contrappuntistico'' (1940) * ''Capriccio'' (1943) * ''Ricercare super “Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum”'' (1944, rev. 1956) Operas * ''Gringoire'' (1915) * ''Maria d'Alessandria'' (1937) * ''Re Hassan'' (1939) * ''La pulce d'oro'' (1940) * ''Le baccanti'' (1948) * ''Billy Budd'' (1949), one act * ''Lord Inferno'' (1952) * ''Girotondo'' (1959) * ''La via della croce'' (1961) Film scores * ''

Don Bosco John Melchior Bosco ( it, Giovanni Melchiorre Bosco; pms, Gioann Melchior Bòsch; 16 August 181531 January 1888), popularly known as Don Bosco , was an Italian Catholic priest, educator, writer and saint of the 19th century. While working ...

'' (1935) * ''

Pietro Micca Pietro Micca (6 March 1677 – 30 August 1706), also known as Pierre Micha, was an Italian soldier who became a national hero of the Duchy of Savoy for his sacrifice in the defence of Turin against the French troops. Early life Micca was born ...

'' (1938) * '' The Widow'' (1939)

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Biographical sketch at Operone.De
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghedini, Giorgio Federico 1892 births 1965 deaths Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini alumni Italian classical composers Italian male classical composers People from Cuneo Italian opera composers Male opera composers Academic staff of Milan Conservatory Italian male conductors (music) Pupils of Marco Enrico Bossi 20th-century Italian conductors (music) 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century Italian male musicians