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Goffredo Petrassi (1904-2003)

Although a late bloomer, Goffredo Petrassi developed into one of Italy's most significant composers of the mid- to late twentieth century. Launching his career in the 1930s with music on par with contemporary works by Hindemith and Stravinsky, Petrassi eventually became interested in certain twelve-tone techniques without casting his lot with the serialists. His music is dynamic and colorful, although emotionally reserved by the standards of his countrymen. Petrassi enrolled in choir school once his family moved to Rome in 1911. There, his studies revolved almost entirely around Renaissance polyphony. He quit school at 15, though, to take a job in a music shop, where he was heard practicing piano by an important teacher named Alessandro Bustini, who took the young Petrassi under his wing and tutored him until he was able to enter the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in 1928. Petrassi obtained diplomas there in composition (1932) and organ (1933). He first gained notice as a composer in 1932 with his prize winning Partita for orchestra. He focused on orchestral music through most of the 1930s, in 1934 completing the first of his signature works, the eight Concertos for Orchestra. This first essay in the form drew on Petrassi's early study of polyphony while borrowing the rhythmic vigor and polytonal tensions of Stravinsky and Casella. Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 also displayed Petrassi's brilliant mastery of orchestration, something equaled then only by Respighi. Around this time, Petrassi also turned his attention to choral music, melding polyphony with modern harmony in such works as Salmo IX (1936) and his 1940 Magnificat. He slid from sacred subjects to philosophy in 1941 with his "dramatic madrigal" Coro dei morti, a setting of part of Leopardi's Operette morali. Here, Petrassi began to contrast tonal passages with less-tonal contrapuntal sections, generating a fairly austere sort of drama rather than indulging in the lavish, emotional effects of Respighi. Unlike most Italian composers up to that time, Petrassi had little interest in theater music, aside from four minor incidental scores and nine film scores.From the 1950s on Petrassi flirted with twelve-tone techniques, but used dodecaphonic patterns only to organize and vary either small motifs or longer thematic rows that broke the twelve-tone rules by repeating notes. This can be heard as early as his Concerto for Orchestra No. 3 "Récréation concertante" (1953), and in his No. 4 through No. 6 concertos (1954-57), which strongly evoke the hedonistic dodecaphony of Alban Berg. After that point, perhaps beginning with his Serenata and String Quartet (both from 1958), Petrassi's music became increasingly athematic, concentrating on timbral effects using short patterns of intervals, particularly in a series of solo and chamber works from 1969 through 1981. Petrassi also spent much of his time teaching composition, at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Venice's Teatro La Fenice, and the Santa Cecilia Conservatory.

COMPOSITIONS                                                            Petrassi Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre
Egloga, piano (1926) [unpublished?]
Partita, piano (1926)
Salvezza, voice and piano (1926) [text: G. Gozzano]
Sonata in tre brevi movimenti continui, cello and piano (1927) [unpublished?]
Canti delia campagna romana, voice and piano (1927) [folksong arrangements; collab. w/G. Nataletti]
La morte del cardellino, voice and piano (1927) [text: Gozzano] [unpublished?]
Due 1iriche su temi delia campagna romana, voice and piano (1927) [unpublished?]
Per organa di Barberia, voice and piano (1927) [text: Corazzini] [unpublished?]
Preludio e fuga, string orchestra (1929) [unpublished?]
Sinfonia, siciliana e fuga, string quartet (1929)
Campane, voice and piano (1929) [text: V. Breccia] [unpublished?]
Tre liriche antiche italiane, voice and piano (1929) [text: G. Cavalcanti, 13th century]
Pioggia dai peschi, voice and piano (1929) [text: M. Saint Cyr] [unpublished?]
Divertimento, C, orchestra (1930)
Sarabanda, flute and piano (1930) [unpublished?]
Siciliana e marcetta, piano 4-hands (1930)
Concerto for Orchestra (1931)
Ouverture da concerto, orchestra (1931; rev. 1933)
Passacaglia, orchestra (1931)
Colori del tempo, voice and piano (1931) [text: V. Cardarelli]
Partita, orchestra (1932)
Tre cori, chorus and orchestra (1932)
Introduzione e allegro, violin and piano (1933) [arr. for violin and 11 insts, 1934]
Preludio, aria e finale, cello and piano (1933) [arr. for cello and chamber orchestra, 1939, destroyed]
Toccata, piano (1933)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 (1933-34)
Benedizione, voice and piano (1934) [text: Bible - Genesis]
O sonni, sonni, voice and piano (1934) [folk lullaby]
Vocalizzo per addormentare una bambina, voice and piano (1934) [arr. for solo voice?, 1938]
Lamento d'Arianna, voice and piano (1936) [text: L. de Libera] [arr. for voice, wind qnt, tpt, hp, str qt, 1938]
Psalm IX, chorus, brass, percussion, 2 pianos and string orchestra (1934-36)
Piano Concerto (1936-39)
Magnificat, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1939-40)
Coro dei morti, madrigale drammatico), male chorus, brass, 3 pianos, 5 double basses and perc (1940-41) [text: G. Leopardi]
Piccola invenzione, piano (1941)
Due liriche di Saffo Rome, voice and piano (1941) [text: trans. S. Quasimodo] [arr. for voice, wind qnt, tpt, hp, str qt, 1945]
Divertimento scarlattiano, piano (1942) [unpublished?]
Quattro inni sacri, tenor, baritone and piano (1942) [text: latin texts] [arr. w/orch, 1950]
La follia di Orlando, ballet (1942-43; fp. 1947) [w/narrative recitatives from L. Ariosto, choreog. A.M. /vlilloss]
    - La follia di Orlando, suite, orchestra (1942-43) [from ballet]
Fanfare, 3 trumpets (1944; rev. 1976)
Invenzione, 2 flutes (1944) [rev. as "Dialogo angelico", 1948]
Invenzioni, piano (1944)
Tre liriche, baritone and piano (1944) [text: Leopardi; U. Foscolo; Montale]
Miracolo, baritone and piano (1944) [text: F. de Pisis]
Ritratto di Don Chisciotte, ballet (1945; fp. 1947)
    - Ritratto di Don Chisciotte, suite, orchestra (1945) [from ballet]
Il cordovano, opera (1944-48; rev. 1958; fp. 1949) [libretto: E. Montale, after /vI. de Cervantes: Entremes del viejo celoso]
Sonata da camera, harpsichord and 10 instruments (1948)
Bitter Rice, film score (1949)
Morte dell'aria, opera (1949-50) [libretto: L. T. Scialoja]
Petite piece, piano (1950; rev. 1976)
Under the Olive Tree, film score (1950)
Noche oscura, cantata, chorus and orchestra (1950-51) [St. John of the Cross]
Concerto for Orchestra No. 2 (1951)
Nonsense, chorus (1952) [text: Lear, trans. Izzo]
Cinque duetti, 2 cellos (1952)
Gloria in excelsis Deo, soprano, flute and organ (1952)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 3, "Recreation concertante" (1952-53)
Serenata, flute, harpsichord, viola, double bass and percusion (1953)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 4, string orchestra (1954)
La pattuglia sperduta, film score (1954)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 5 (1955)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 6, "Invenzione concertata", brass, percussion and string orchestra (1956-57)
Saluto augurale, orchestra (1958)
String Quartet (1958)
String Trio (1959)
Suoni notturni, guitar (1959)
Flute Concerto (1960)
Propos d'Alain, baritone and 12 instruments (1960) [text: E. A. Chartier]
Prologo e 5 invenzioni, orchestra (1961-62)
Seconda  serenata-trio, harp, guitar and mandoline (1962)
Family Portrait, film score (1962)
Musica di ottoni, brass [4 hn, 4 tpt, 3 trom, tuba] & timp (1961-63 [from "Prologo e 5 invenzioni", 1962; basis of Conc for Orch #7]
Concerto for Orchestra No. 7 (1964) [includes material from "Prologo e 5 invenzioni" and chamber work "Musica di ottoni"]
Sesto non-sensa, chorus (1964) [text: Lear, trans, Izzo]
Tre per sette, flute/picc/alto fl, oboe/Eng hn, clarinet/Eb cl (1964)
Motetti per la Passione, chorus (1965) [text: liturgical texts]
Estri, 15 players (1966-67)
Ottetto di ottoni, brass [4 tpt, 4 trom] (1968)
Beatitudines: "testimonianza per Martin Luther King", bass (or baritone), cl, hn, va, db and timp (1968-69) [text: Bible-Matthew]
Souffle, piccolo/flute/alto flute (1969)
Elogio per un'ombra, violin (1971)
Nunc, guitar (1971)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 8 (1970-72)
Ala, flute/picc and harpsichord (1972)
Odi, string quartet (1973-75)
Orationes Christi, chorus, brass and strings [violas and cellos only] (1974-75)
Oh les beaux jours!, piano (1976) [includes material from "Piccola invenzione", 1941 and "Divertimento scarlattiano", 1942]
Alias, guitar and harpsichord (1977)
Grand septuor avec clarinette concertante, cl, tpt, trom, vln, va, gtr, perc (1977-78)
Violasola (1978)
Poema, trumpet and string orchestra (1977-80)
Romanzetta, flute and piano (1980)
Flou, harp (1980)
Sestina d'autunno, "Veni, creator Igor", viola, cello, double bass, guitar, mandoline and perc (1981-82)
Laudes creaturarum, 3 clarinets, 2 trombones and cello (1982)
Tre cori sacri, chorus (1980-83)
Frammento, orchestra (1983)
Inno, 12 brass (1984)
Après la nuit, short film score (1984)
Duetto, violin and viola (1985)
Kyrie, chorus and strings (1986)


WORKS BY GENRE                                                            Petrassi Links     ~ top of page ~
Dramatic/Theater
La follia di Orlando, ballet (1942-43; fp. 1947) [w/narrative recitatives from L. Ariosto, choreog. A.M. /vlilloss]
Ritratto di Don Chisciotte, ballet (1945; fp. 1947)
Il cordovano, opera (1944-48; rev. 1958; fp. 1949) [libretto: E. Montale, after /vI. de Cervantes: Entremes del viejo celoso]
Morte dell'aria, opera (1949-50) [libretto: L. T. Scialoja]

Orchestra
Preludio e fuga, string orchestra (1929) [unpublished?]
Divertimento, C, orchestra (1930)
Concerto for Orchestra (1931)
Ouverture da concerto, orchestra (1931; rev. 1933)
Passacaglia, orchestra (1931)
Partita, orchestra (1932)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 1 (1933-34)
La follia di Orlando, suite, orchestra (1942-43) [from ballet]
Ritratto di Don Chisciotte, suite, orchestra (1945) [from ballet]
Concerto for Orchestra No. 2 (1951)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 3, "Recreation concertante" (1952-53)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 4, string orchestra (1954)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 5 (1955)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 6, "Invenzione concertata", brass, percussion and string orchestra (1956-57)
Saluto augurale, orchestra (1958)
Prologo e 5 invenzioni, orchestra (1961-62)
Concerto for Orchestra No. 7 (1964) [includes material from "Prologo e 5 invenzioni" and chamber work "Musica di ottoni"]
Concerto for Orchestra No. 8 (1970-72)
Frammento, orchestra (1983)

Soloist(s) w/Orchestra or Ensemble
Introduzione e allegro, violin and piano (1933) [arr. for violin and 11 insts, 1934]
Piano Concerto (1936-39)
Sonata da camera, harpsichord and 10 instruments (1948)
Flute Concerto (1960)
Poema, trumpet and string orchestra (1977-80)

Chorus w/Orchestra
Tre cori, chorus and orchestra (1932)
Psalm IX, chorus, brass, percussion, 2 pianos and string orchestra (1934-36)
Magnificat, soprano, chorus and orchestra (1939-40)
Noche oscura, cantata, chorus and orchestra (1950-51) [St. John of the Cross]
Orationes Christi, chorus, brass and strings [violas and cellos only] (1974-75)
Kyrie, chorus and strings (1986)

Choral
Coro dei morti, madrigale drammatico), male chorus, brass, 3 pianos, 5 double basses and perc (1940-41) [text: G. Leopardi]
Nonsense, chorus (1952) [text: Lear, trans. Izzo]
Sesto non-sensa, chorus (1964) [text: Lear, trans, Izzo]
Motetti per la Passione, chorus (1965) [text: liturgical texts]
Tre cori sacri, chorus (1980-83)

Chamber
Sinfonia, siciliana e fuga, string quartet (1929)
Introduzione e allegro, violin and piano (1933) [arr. for violin and 11 insts, 1934]
Fanfare, 3 trumpets (1944; rev. 1976)
Invenzione, 2 flutes (1944) [rev. as "Dialogo angelico", 1948]
Sonata da camera, harpsichord and 10 instruments (1948)
Cinque duetti, 2 cellos (1952)
Serenata, flute, harpsichord, viola, double bass and percusion (1953)
String Quartet (1958)
String Trio (1959)
Seconda  serenata-trio, harp, guitar and mandoline (1962)
Musica di ottoni, brass [4 hn, 4 tpt, 3 trom, tuba] & timp (1961-63 [from "Prologo e 5 invenzioni", 1962; basis of Conc for Orch #7]
Tre per sette, flute/picc/alto fl, oboe/Eng hn, clarinet/Eb cl (1964)
Estri, 15 players (1966-67)
Ottetto di ottoni, brass [4 tpt, 4 trom] (1968)
Odi, string quartet (1973-75)
Grand septuor avec clarinette concertante, cl, tpt, trom, vln, va, gtr, perc (1977-78)
Sestina d'autunno, "Veni, creator Igor", viola, cello, double bass, guitar, mandoline and perc (1981-82)
Laudes creaturarum, 3 clarinets, 2 trombones and cello (1982)
Inno, 12 brass (1984)
Duetto, violin and viola (1985)

Instrument and Piano or Harpsichord
Sonata in tre brevi movimenti continui, cello and piano (1927) [unpublished?]
Sarabanda, flute and piano (1930) [unpublished?]
Introduzione e allegro, violin and piano (1933) [arr. for violin and 11 insts, 1934]
Preludio, aria e finale, cello and piano (1933) [arr. for cello and chamber orchestra, 1939, destroyed]
Ala, flute/picc and harpsichord (1972)
Alias, guitar and harpsichord (1977)
Romanzetta, flute and piano (1980)

Solo Instrument
Suoni notturni, guitar (1959)
Souffle, piccolo/flute/alto flute (1969)
Elogio per un'ombra, violin (1971)
Nunc, guitar (1971)
Violasola (1978)
Flou, harp (1980)

Piano
Egloga, piano (1926) [unpublished?]
Partita, piano (1926)
Siciliana e marcetta, piano 4-hands (1930)
Toccata, piano (1933)
Piccola invenzione, piano (1941)
Divertimento scarlattiano, piano (1942) [unpublished?]
Invenzioni, piano (1944)
Petite piece, piano (1950; rev. 1976)
Oh les beaux jours!, piano (1976) [includes material from "Piccola invenzione", 1941 and "Divertimento scarlattiano", 1942]

Vocal
Salvezza, voice and piano (1926) [text: G. Gozzano]
Canti delia campagna romana, voice and piano (1927) [folksong arrangements; collab. w/G. Nataletti]
La morte del cardellino, voice and piano (1927) [text: Gozzano] [unpublished?]
Due 1iriche su temi delia campagna romana, voice and piano (1927) [unpublished?]
Per organa di Barberia, voice and piano (1927) [text: Corazzini] [unpublished?]
Campane, voice and piano (1929) [text: V. Breccia] [unpublished?]
Tre liriche antiche italiane, voice and piano (1929) [text: G. Cavalcanti, 13th century]
Pioggia dai peschi, voice and piano (1929) [text: M. Saint Cyr] [unpublished?]
Colori del tempo, voice and piano (1931) [text: V. Cardarelli]
Benedizione, voice and piano (1934) [text: Bible - Genesis]
O sonni, sonni, voice and piano (1934) [folk lullaby]
Vocalizzo per addormentare una bambina, voice and piano (1934) [arr. for solo voice?, 1938]
Lamento d'Arianna, voice and piano (1936) [text: L. de Libera] [arr. for voice, wind qnt, tpt, hp, str qt, 1938]
Due liriche di Saffo Rome, voice and piano (1941) [text: trans. S. Quasimodo] [arr. for voice, wind qnt, tpt, hp, str qt, 1945]
Quattro inni sacri, tenor, baritone and piano (1942) [text: latin texts] [arr. w/orch, 1950]
Tre liriche, baritone and piano (1944) [text: Leopardi; U. Foscolo; Montale]
Miracolo, baritone and piano (1944) [text: F. de Pisis]
Gloria in excelsis Deo, soprano, flute and organ (1952)
Propos d'Alain, baritone and 12 instruments (1960) [text: E. A. Chartier]
Beatitudines: "testimonianza per Martin Luther King", bass (or baritone), cl, hn, va, db and timp (1968-69) [text: Bible-Matthew]

Incidental/Film
9 film scores, 1948-65:
Bitter Rice, film score (1949)
Under the Olive Tree, film score (1950)
La pattuglia sperduta, film score (1954)
Family Portrait, film score (1962)
Après la nuit, short film score (1984)
4 incidental scores, 1930-54 [unpublished]


PETRASSI  LINKS                                                            Works by Genre      ~ top of page ~
Goffredo Petrassi - Il "barocco romanno" (Renzo Cresti)
Goffredo Petrassi, Italian Modernist Composer, Dies at 98 (Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times)
Goffredo Petrassi - Obituary (The Guardian)
Goffredo Petrassi - Obituary (The Telegraph)

Composer website (Associazione Culturale Goffredo Petrassi)  . . .   inquire about Goffredo Petrassi:  here  or  here  or  here

Petrassi @ Wikipedia
Petrassi @ Wikipedia.it (in Italian)
Petrassi @ Wikipedia.fr (in French)
Petrassi @ Answers.com
Petrassi @ Associazione Culturale Goffredo Petrassi
Petrassi @ Classical.com
Petrassi @ Classical Archives
Petrassi @ Classical Composers Database
Petrassi @ ClassicsToday (via Google Advanced Search)
Petrassi @ Edizioni Suvini Zerboni
Petrassi @ Facebook
Petrassi @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Petrassi @ InstantEncore
Petrassi @ IRCAM
Petrassi @ Italica
Petrassi @ Karadar Classical Music
Petrassi @ Klassika
Petrassi @ Magazzini-sonori.it
Petrassi @ Milano Musica
Petrassi @ Minima Musicalia
Petrassi @ Mode Records
Petrassi @ Modern Classical
Petrassi @ Music & Vision
Petrassi @ MusicWeb International
Petrassi @ Naxos
Petrassi @ The New York Times
Petrassi @ Silvio Pastore-Stocchi
Petrassi @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Petrassi @ Paul Sacher Foundation
Petrassi @ Silvio
Petrassi @ Treccani.it
Petrassi @ universalium.academic.ru

Publisher
Petrassi @ Nuova Carisch
Petrassi @ Ricordi
Petrassi @ Edizioni Suvini Zerboni
Petrassi @ Universal Edition

Streaming Audio
Petrassi @ Classical Archives
Petrassi @ Internet Archive: Avant Garde Project #33
Petrassi @ last.fm
Petrassi @ Magazzini-sonori.it
Petrassi @ MySpaceMusic    also    here    and    here
Petrassi @ Rhapsody.com

Recordings
Petrassi @ Amazon.com
Petrassi @ ArkivMusic
Petrassi @ CD Universe
Petrassi @ ClassicsOnline
Petrassi @ Discogs
Petrassi @ itunes
Petrassi @ Mode Records

Video
Petrassi @ YouTube
Petrassi @ Google Video
Petrassi @ Vimeo (via Google Advanced Search)