''Campane di Ravello (A Celebration Piece for Sir Georg Solti)'' is a short
orchestral composition by the American composer
John Corigliano
John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...
. The work was commissioned by the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra for the 75th birthday of its then music director
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-servin ...
. Its world premiere was given by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Kenneth Jean on October 9, 1987.
Composition
''Campane di Ravello'' is cast in a single
movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
and has a duration of roughly three minutes.
Background
''Campane di Ravello'' was Corigliano's first commission as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's newly appointed
composer-in-residence. His inspiration for the piece came while he vacationed in
Ravello
Ravello (Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' situated above the Amalfi Coast in the province of Salerno, Campania, Southern Italy, with approximately 2,500 inhabitants. Its scenic location makes it a popular tourist destination, and earned it a ...
,
Italy, as the composer recalled in the score program notes:
The music contains subtle melodic references to the song "
Happy Birthday to You."
Instrumentation
The work is scored for a large orchestra consisting of
piccolo
The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...
, three
flutes, three
oboes,
cor anglais
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...
, three
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
s,
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
, three
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
s,
contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences.
Differences from the bassoon
The reed is consi ...
, four
horns, four
trumpets, three
trombones,
tuba,
timpani, six percussionists,
harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...
,
piano, and
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
.
Reception
Reviewing a television broadcast of the world premiere, described the piece as "a mini-tone poem, a sly arrangement of 'Happy Birthday.'"
Lawrence A. Johnson of the ''Chicago Classical Review'' also praised the piece, writing, "Corigliano's brief curtain-raiser cleverly melds gently discordant tolling wind and brass chords into an off-center fanfare in which strains of 'Happy Birthday' gradually emerge from the hurly-burly."
However, the music was criticized by Antony Bye of ''
BBC Music Magazine
''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music.
History
The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC was the original owner and publisher toget ...
'', who remarked, "compare Stravinsky's ''Birthday Greeting'' with Corigliano's ''Campane di Ravello'' – 'A Celebration Piece for Sir Georg Solti' to discover the difference between real genius and mere talent."
John von Rhein of the ''
Chicago Tribune'' similarly remarked, "Corigliano went on to write bigger and more substantial scores than this four-minute piece d'occasion once he became the orchestra's first composer in residence shortly after the premiere of his little happy-birthday ode. That familiar tune gradually emerged from a haze of bell-like dissonances before being taken up by the full orchestra."
See also
*
List of compositions by John Corigliano
This is a list of compositions by John Corigliano
John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy ...
References
{{italic title
Compositions by John Corigliano
1987 compositions
Compositions for symphony orchestra
Music commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra