Franco Sciannameo | Carnegie Mellon University (original) (raw)
Carnegie Mellon University - School of Music
CFA Distinguished Scholar & Teaching Professor of Music
Bio
Born in Maglie (Lecce), violinist, musicologist, and cultural historian Franco Sciannameo graduated from Rome’s Conservatorio di Musica “Santa Cecilia.” He pursued further studies at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, the University of Hartford, and the University of Pittsburgh.
Sciannameo writes and lectures extensively on contemporary music and its relation to politics, cinema, and the arts. He has worked with celebrated composers, including Giacinto Scelsi, Vieri Tosatti, Nino Rota, Franco Donatoni, Ennio Morricone, Franco Evangelisti, and Paul Chihara with whom he has collaborated on performances and recordings. His books include Nino Rota’s The Godfather Trilogy (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010); Phil Trajetta (1777-1854), Patriot, Musician, Immigrant (Hillsdale: Pendragon Press, 2010); Music as Dream: Essays on Giacinto Scelsi, edited with Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013); Experiencing the Violin Concerto: A Listener’s Companion (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016); Musicians’ Migratory Patterns: The Adriatic Coasts (New York: Routledge, 2018. First issued in paperback 2020); Reflections on the Music of Ennio Morricone: Fame and Legacy (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2020. First issued in paperback 2022); The Aesthetical Writings of Giacinto Scelsi, edited with Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2023); At the Dawn of Italian Opera in America: Phil Trajetta in Charleston (1803) and New York City (1810) (Lucca: Libreria Musicale Italiana, 2023); Italian Film Music, 1950-1970s: Between Tradition, Innovation, and Internationalisation, edited by Franco Sciannameo (Turnhout: Brepols, 2023); The Journey of Phil Trajetta: From Italian Political Prisoner to Free American Citizen (Turnhout: Brepols, 2024); Luigi Dallapiccola, America, and the Unlocking of Visionary Creativity, with Mario Ruffini (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2024).
Franco Sciannameo is Series Editor of Cultural Expressions in Music published by the College Music Society and Routledge
Phone: +1 4122255572
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Papers by Franco Sciannameo
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2012
In this book’s opening essay, Richard Howells argues that works of art are not inherently controv... more In this book’s opening essay, Richard Howells argues that works of art are not inherently controversial. He writes: “What we see at work is more typically a power dynamic being played out by interested parties. The art work is usually—and sometimes only—the catalyst.” I concur with Howells’s assessment in the case of musical controversies. Indeed, they are provoked by the inner-working forces of interest groups. Take, for example, the diabolus in musica (the devil in music) controversy. It plunged medieval music theorists into a vortex that involved Satanism, Catholicism, and the menace of excommunication. Why, though? The interval (space) between four notes, say E flat and A natural, was filled by three ascending (in pitch) whole tones, or steps, that formed a “tritone.” It seems that in the Middle Ages the level of emotion triggered by the sound of such a “Satanic” leap was assumed to stimulate in the performer/listener a host of lascivious, unholy feelings. Therefore, the use of the tritone, known as diabolus in musica, became strictly controversial if not outright forbidden.2
Archival Notes No. 8, 2023
This article traces the genesis of the Sonata for viola and piano composed by 23-year-old Nino Ro... more This article traces the genesis of the Sonata for viola and piano composed by 23-year-old Nino Rota in 1934-35 for the Terza Rassegna Nazionale di Musica Contemporanea which took place in Rome in the spring of 1935. Rota's work was selected by a jury chaired by Giuseppe Mulè and including Ottorino Respighi, Bernardino Molinari, Alfredo Casella and Vincenzo Tommasini. The young composer viewed this opportunity with apprehension as his stylistic orientation had begun to veer away from the then fashionable neo-classical movement. So, the gestation of this sonata for viola and piano chronicled in this article bears witness to Rota's gradual evolutionary process that did not stop at the premiere of the work on 4 April 1935 but continued until the composer's death in 1979. The considerable number of sketches pertaining to the 1935 version of the sonata, and the numerous revisions apported to it during the following decades, warranted the present study. In it, the author establishes a chronological order of Rota's creative process vis-à-vis this work while engaging violists to consider some performing alternatives added to those provided by the currently available Edition Schott published posthumously in 2000. This article includes a singular audio-video digital document consisting of the original 1934-35 version performed in 1953 by William Primrose, viola and David Stimer, piano.
Springer eBooks, Dec 31, 2022
The Palgrave Handbook of Music in Comedy Cinema. E. Audissino, E. Wennekes (eds.), 2023
This essay focuses on comedic traits detected in the music composed by Ennio Morricone for the 19... more This essay focuses on comedic traits detected in the music composed by Ennio Morricone for the 1978 French-Italian film La cage aux folles released in Italy as Il vizietto.
Based upon the highly successful 1973 eponymous farce by French actor/ playwright Jean Poiret, La cage aux folles, interpreted by Michel Serrault as Albin and Poiret as George (Renato played by Ugo Tognazzi in the 1978 film adaptation) portray the gay owners of La Cage aux folles, a drag night club in Saint-Tropez. Their hilarious, sentimental, and profoundly human contretemps keep a well-balanced act between public respectability, homoeroticism, and quirky sense of humour.
Ennio Morricone’s subtle ‘queering’ of some instrumental choices and melodic turns of phrase underscores the film’s message with refined sensitivity that provides the necessary bond to steadily hold the viewers’ empathy for Albin and Renato, their story, and the social issues they raise.
The author’s reading of Morricone’s soundtrack wishes to pay homage to Gary C. Thomas’ “Was George Frideric Handel Gay?”: On Closet Questions and Cultural Politics, a ground-breaking essay published in 1994—well after the release of this film, its brilliant Broadway adaptation in 1983, the losses of the AIDS epidemic, and the harsh political repercussions still abuzz in 1996, when The Birdcage, the American remake of La cage aux folles hit theatres.
Quaderni d'italianistica, 2018
Recensioni / Book Reviews / Revues des Livres-298-the South of Italy perceives itself and how thi... more Recensioni / Book Reviews / Revues des Livres-298-the South of Italy perceives itself and how this perception is reflected in twentiethcentury Italian literature. However, the work may benefit from some clarification around the selection of novels, as the discussion jumps frequently between texts-sometimes very briefly-and the motivation behind the choice of each text is not entirely consistent. As a result, some of the connections between texts and the overall argument may be missed on the first reading. The work serves best as a compendium of novels exploring the victim complex in Southern Italy, bringing together a range of sources in support of the author's hypothesis. Given the ongoing disparity between the North and South of Italy, this work provides a useful point of discussion from a sociological perspective and may prove useful in understanding the mentality of the South and the role this has played in the formation of modern Italy.
Ferdinando Giorgetti's Metodo per Esercitarsi a Ben Suonare L'Alto Viola (A Self-Training... more Ferdinando Giorgetti's Metodo per Esercitarsi a Ben Suonare L'Alto Viola (A Self-Training Method for Playing the Viola Well) was first published in Florence in 1854. In this translation, Sciannameo (multidisciplinary studies, music, Carnegie Mellon University) gives background on Giorgetti's life an
Foreword, Preface Introduction Philosophy of Music (1836) Giuseppe Mazzini: A Chronology Bibliogr... more Foreword, Preface Introduction Philosophy of Music (1836) Giuseppe Mazzini: A Chronology Bibliography Index of Names Appendix: Filosofia della Musica, Mazzini's Original Italian Text
Federico Fellini entered the pantheon of 20th-Century artists for his path-breaking films like, &... more Federico Fellini entered the pantheon of 20th-Century artists for his path-breaking films like, "La dolce vita" (1960) and "Otto e mezzo" (1963). However, it was with "Amarcord" (1973), that Fellini achieved universal fame. That celebration of youth and memory transcends all barriers of ethnic origin and national belonging by simply appealing to human commonalities. Similarly, Nino Rota's music, an integral part of this film, eludes cultural boundaries by blending learned and popular musical styles - as in a folk-opera in which stories or episodes are expressed through song and dance representative of everyday life. By juxta-posing music and images, their own creative personae and their youth as it relates to our collective memories, Fellini and Rota made this film about "remembering youth" an unforgettable experience for generations of viewers and listeners. This monograph is of interest to scholars of music, cinema, and cultural studies....
American String Teacher
This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who pas... more This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who passed away inJune 1997. Volists have two new additions to their Romantic repertoire with the recent publication of two Sonatas for Viola Alta and Piano, by Felix Draeseke. As study material these pieces offer teacher and pupil some enticing opportunities for probing the composer's stylistic versatility. Both sonatas are eminently playable on the normal viola, and players should not be put off by their unfamiliarity with the viola alta, described below.
The Violexchange, 1991
This paper describes the interesting correspondence between two very strong-headed personalities ... more This paper describes the interesting correspondence between two very strong-headed personalities and their reconciliation sealed by a collaborative work.
The Violexchange, 1991
This essay surveys the roots of Paganini's innovative techniques from Locatelli to Wieniawski. It... more This essay surveys the roots of Paganini's innovative techniques from Locatelli to Wieniawski. It discusses, through a rich apparatus of musical examples, the various "lessons" Paganini learned from his predecessors and those he imparted to his followers. Finally, the author writes that although the artists mentioned were not great composers, they were perhaps "distinguished" minors who wrote music with profound sincerity and devotion. Their music should be resurrected and performed in our time only by violinists whose talents are such as to evoke those masters' artistry.
Miller Theatre at Columbia University-Concert Program, 2005
Program notes to a performance by the Flux Quartet of Giacinto Scelsi's five string quartets.
Course Lecture, 2019
In a time of financial and curricular crises that challenge the existence of music schools and pe... more In a time of financial and curricular crises that challenge the existence of music schools and performing organizations, business terms like merger, acquisition, and consolidation have become current in discourses about the future of higher education and the arts. Such terminology, appropriate for the identification of necessary remedial practices, casts a shadow on idealistic, sometimes palliative prefixes-infra-inter-multi-trans-used to characterize, albeit ambiguously,
Few artists embody the spirit of romanticism and its philosophy-which placed a premium on rebelli... more Few artists embody the spirit of romanticism and its philosophy-which placed a premium on rebellion, spontaneity, intense emotion, and heroic vision-as completely as the legendary Paganini. As an instrumentalist, he created the personage of Paganini, the romantic violinist who became synonymous with what was against police regulations, always struggling to overcome the split between subject and object, the self and the world, and the conscious and the unconscious. He, like an opera star, played that role as he wished. Paganini's life and wanderings, a subject of endless fascination, have been chronicled, embellished upon, studied, and documented in a variety of styles, according to the times and the social milieu during which they were written. Today he is viewed not so much as a legendary personage but as a troubled soul afflicted by paranoia, miserable health, and morose attachments to his only son, Achille, to his friend Luigi Germi, and to his profession. His approach to music was always illuminated by a desire for challenge and discovery. Paganini had violin strings especially made for himself, caliber being very important for scordatura and harmonics. He had bows made longer than usual, with hair particularly tense for a better rendition of ricochet bowings and parlato effects, a style of bowing where emphasis is placed on every note in imitation of the syllables of a word. n an article titled "The Viola Alta and Felix Draeseke's Sonatas" published in this journal (August 1998: 58-65), I stated that in 1984, Salvatore Accardo recorded Paganini's Sonata per la gran-viola playing a controviola built in 1982 by Francesco Bissolotti of Cremona. That information was provided for the reader interested in sampling the sound of a viola quite similar to the five-stringed viola alta described in that article. Paganini's so-called controviola, however, has remained a subject of controversy among Paganini experts. Some newly published correspondence between Paganini and Luigi Germi sheds new light on the argument concerning the instrument.
American String Teacher, 1998
This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who pas... more This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who passed away inJune 1997. Volists have two new additions to their Romantic repertoire with the recent publication of two Sonatas for Viola Alta and Piano, by Felix Draeseke. As study material these pieces offer teacher and pupil some enticing opportunities for probing the composer's stylistic versatility. Both sonatas are eminently playable on the normal viola, and players should not be put off by their unfamiliarity with the viola alta, described below.
Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks, 2012
In this book’s opening essay, Richard Howells argues that works of art are not inherently controv... more In this book’s opening essay, Richard Howells argues that works of art are not inherently controversial. He writes: “What we see at work is more typically a power dynamic being played out by interested parties. The art work is usually—and sometimes only—the catalyst.” I concur with Howells’s assessment in the case of musical controversies. Indeed, they are provoked by the inner-working forces of interest groups. Take, for example, the diabolus in musica (the devil in music) controversy. It plunged medieval music theorists into a vortex that involved Satanism, Catholicism, and the menace of excommunication. Why, though? The interval (space) between four notes, say E flat and A natural, was filled by three ascending (in pitch) whole tones, or steps, that formed a “tritone.” It seems that in the Middle Ages the level of emotion triggered by the sound of such a “Satanic” leap was assumed to stimulate in the performer/listener a host of lascivious, unholy feelings. Therefore, the use of the tritone, known as diabolus in musica, became strictly controversial if not outright forbidden.2
Archival Notes No. 8, 2023
This article traces the genesis of the Sonata for viola and piano composed by 23-year-old Nino Ro... more This article traces the genesis of the Sonata for viola and piano composed by 23-year-old Nino Rota in 1934-35 for the Terza Rassegna Nazionale di Musica Contemporanea which took place in Rome in the spring of 1935. Rota's work was selected by a jury chaired by Giuseppe Mulè and including Ottorino Respighi, Bernardino Molinari, Alfredo Casella and Vincenzo Tommasini. The young composer viewed this opportunity with apprehension as his stylistic orientation had begun to veer away from the then fashionable neo-classical movement. So, the gestation of this sonata for viola and piano chronicled in this article bears witness to Rota's gradual evolutionary process that did not stop at the premiere of the work on 4 April 1935 but continued until the composer's death in 1979. The considerable number of sketches pertaining to the 1935 version of the sonata, and the numerous revisions apported to it during the following decades, warranted the present study. In it, the author establishes a chronological order of Rota's creative process vis-à-vis this work while engaging violists to consider some performing alternatives added to those provided by the currently available Edition Schott published posthumously in 2000. This article includes a singular audio-video digital document consisting of the original 1934-35 version performed in 1953 by William Primrose, viola and David Stimer, piano.
Springer eBooks, Dec 31, 2022
The Palgrave Handbook of Music in Comedy Cinema. E. Audissino, E. Wennekes (eds.), 2023
This essay focuses on comedic traits detected in the music composed by Ennio Morricone for the 19... more This essay focuses on comedic traits detected in the music composed by Ennio Morricone for the 1978 French-Italian film La cage aux folles released in Italy as Il vizietto.
Based upon the highly successful 1973 eponymous farce by French actor/ playwright Jean Poiret, La cage aux folles, interpreted by Michel Serrault as Albin and Poiret as George (Renato played by Ugo Tognazzi in the 1978 film adaptation) portray the gay owners of La Cage aux folles, a drag night club in Saint-Tropez. Their hilarious, sentimental, and profoundly human contretemps keep a well-balanced act between public respectability, homoeroticism, and quirky sense of humour.
Ennio Morricone’s subtle ‘queering’ of some instrumental choices and melodic turns of phrase underscores the film’s message with refined sensitivity that provides the necessary bond to steadily hold the viewers’ empathy for Albin and Renato, their story, and the social issues they raise.
The author’s reading of Morricone’s soundtrack wishes to pay homage to Gary C. Thomas’ “Was George Frideric Handel Gay?”: On Closet Questions and Cultural Politics, a ground-breaking essay published in 1994—well after the release of this film, its brilliant Broadway adaptation in 1983, the losses of the AIDS epidemic, and the harsh political repercussions still abuzz in 1996, when The Birdcage, the American remake of La cage aux folles hit theatres.
Quaderni d'italianistica, 2018
Recensioni / Book Reviews / Revues des Livres-298-the South of Italy perceives itself and how thi... more Recensioni / Book Reviews / Revues des Livres-298-the South of Italy perceives itself and how this perception is reflected in twentiethcentury Italian literature. However, the work may benefit from some clarification around the selection of novels, as the discussion jumps frequently between texts-sometimes very briefly-and the motivation behind the choice of each text is not entirely consistent. As a result, some of the connections between texts and the overall argument may be missed on the first reading. The work serves best as a compendium of novels exploring the victim complex in Southern Italy, bringing together a range of sources in support of the author's hypothesis. Given the ongoing disparity between the North and South of Italy, this work provides a useful point of discussion from a sociological perspective and may prove useful in understanding the mentality of the South and the role this has played in the formation of modern Italy.
Ferdinando Giorgetti's Metodo per Esercitarsi a Ben Suonare L'Alto Viola (A Self-Training... more Ferdinando Giorgetti's Metodo per Esercitarsi a Ben Suonare L'Alto Viola (A Self-Training Method for Playing the Viola Well) was first published in Florence in 1854. In this translation, Sciannameo (multidisciplinary studies, music, Carnegie Mellon University) gives background on Giorgetti's life an
Foreword, Preface Introduction Philosophy of Music (1836) Giuseppe Mazzini: A Chronology Bibliogr... more Foreword, Preface Introduction Philosophy of Music (1836) Giuseppe Mazzini: A Chronology Bibliography Index of Names Appendix: Filosofia della Musica, Mazzini's Original Italian Text
Federico Fellini entered the pantheon of 20th-Century artists for his path-breaking films like, &... more Federico Fellini entered the pantheon of 20th-Century artists for his path-breaking films like, "La dolce vita" (1960) and "Otto e mezzo" (1963). However, it was with "Amarcord" (1973), that Fellini achieved universal fame. That celebration of youth and memory transcends all barriers of ethnic origin and national belonging by simply appealing to human commonalities. Similarly, Nino Rota's music, an integral part of this film, eludes cultural boundaries by blending learned and popular musical styles - as in a folk-opera in which stories or episodes are expressed through song and dance representative of everyday life. By juxta-posing music and images, their own creative personae and their youth as it relates to our collective memories, Fellini and Rota made this film about "remembering youth" an unforgettable experience for generations of viewers and listeners. This monograph is of interest to scholars of music, cinema, and cultural studies....
American String Teacher
This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who pas... more This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who passed away inJune 1997. Volists have two new additions to their Romantic repertoire with the recent publication of two Sonatas for Viola Alta and Piano, by Felix Draeseke. As study material these pieces offer teacher and pupil some enticing opportunities for probing the composer's stylistic versatility. Both sonatas are eminently playable on the normal viola, and players should not be put off by their unfamiliarity with the viola alta, described below.
The Violexchange, 1991
This paper describes the interesting correspondence between two very strong-headed personalities ... more This paper describes the interesting correspondence between two very strong-headed personalities and their reconciliation sealed by a collaborative work.
The Violexchange, 1991
This essay surveys the roots of Paganini's innovative techniques from Locatelli to Wieniawski. It... more This essay surveys the roots of Paganini's innovative techniques from Locatelli to Wieniawski. It discusses, through a rich apparatus of musical examples, the various "lessons" Paganini learned from his predecessors and those he imparted to his followers. Finally, the author writes that although the artists mentioned were not great composers, they were perhaps "distinguished" minors who wrote music with profound sincerity and devotion. Their music should be resurrected and performed in our time only by violinists whose talents are such as to evoke those masters' artistry.
Miller Theatre at Columbia University-Concert Program, 2005
Program notes to a performance by the Flux Quartet of Giacinto Scelsi's five string quartets.
Course Lecture, 2019
In a time of financial and curricular crises that challenge the existence of music schools and pe... more In a time of financial and curricular crises that challenge the existence of music schools and performing organizations, business terms like merger, acquisition, and consolidation have become current in discourses about the future of higher education and the arts. Such terminology, appropriate for the identification of necessary remedial practices, casts a shadow on idealistic, sometimes palliative prefixes-infra-inter-multi-trans-used to characterize, albeit ambiguously,
Few artists embody the spirit of romanticism and its philosophy-which placed a premium on rebelli... more Few artists embody the spirit of romanticism and its philosophy-which placed a premium on rebellion, spontaneity, intense emotion, and heroic vision-as completely as the legendary Paganini. As an instrumentalist, he created the personage of Paganini, the romantic violinist who became synonymous with what was against police regulations, always struggling to overcome the split between subject and object, the self and the world, and the conscious and the unconscious. He, like an opera star, played that role as he wished. Paganini's life and wanderings, a subject of endless fascination, have been chronicled, embellished upon, studied, and documented in a variety of styles, according to the times and the social milieu during which they were written. Today he is viewed not so much as a legendary personage but as a troubled soul afflicted by paranoia, miserable health, and morose attachments to his only son, Achille, to his friend Luigi Germi, and to his profession. His approach to music was always illuminated by a desire for challenge and discovery. Paganini had violin strings especially made for himself, caliber being very important for scordatura and harmonics. He had bows made longer than usual, with hair particularly tense for a better rendition of ricochet bowings and parlato effects, a style of bowing where emphasis is placed on every note in imitation of the syllables of a word. n an article titled "The Viola Alta and Felix Draeseke's Sonatas" published in this journal (August 1998: 58-65), I stated that in 1984, Salvatore Accardo recorded Paganini's Sonata per la gran-viola playing a controviola built in 1982 by Francesco Bissolotti of Cremona. That information was provided for the reader interested in sampling the sound of a viola quite similar to the five-stringed viola alta described in that article. Paganini's so-called controviola, however, has remained a subject of controversy among Paganini experts. Some newly published correspondence between Paganini and Luigi Germi sheds new light on the argument concerning the instrument.
American String Teacher, 1998
This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who pas... more This article was written in memory ofMaurice W Riley, author of The History of the Viola, who passed away inJune 1997. Volists have two new additions to their Romantic repertoire with the recent publication of two Sonatas for Viola Alta and Piano, by Felix Draeseke. As study material these pieces offer teacher and pupil some enticing opportunities for probing the composer's stylistic versatility. Both sonatas are eminently playable on the normal viola, and players should not be put off by their unfamiliarity with the viola alta, described below.
This article traces the history and development of the so-called “Library Music,” an all-encompas... more This article traces the history and development of the so-called “Library Music,” an all-encompassing commercial phenomenon which flooded the world music market during the 1950-1980 time span with a music product that included every genre destined for any function according to the wishes of the buyer/listener/user.
In 1972, RCA Italiana commissioned composers Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai to create some 103 pieces or sound fragments of electronic and electro-acoustical music as an intellectually oriented contribution to the Italian American recording company’s already well-stacked library music collection. Morricone and Nicolai entitled their comprehensive work Dimensioni sonore - Musiche per l’immagine e l’immaginazione and assigned to each piece–composed individually, not as a team–abstract terms such as Correlativo, Cromosfera, Epiciclo, Magma, Scissione, Tangente and so on. A strategy, one may think, aimed to free the buyer/listener/user from any suggestions or intellectual conditioning elicited by an explicit title.
The author of this article argues about the practical efficiency of the criteria adopted by Morricone and Nicolai in selecting titles borrowed from the scientific domain to connote their compositional efforts.
The recent release of a compact disc dedicated to piano works by Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-88)... more The recent release of a compact disc dedicated to piano works by Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-88) performed by Paul Wee (BIS-2465 [2019]) is not only a feat of aggressive virtuosity but a rare manifestation of how music performance and other liberal professions can be so effectively integrated. When not at the keyboard, Mr. Wee is a highly successful lawyer whose court appearances represent global banks, major nation-states, energy disputes, and international law. Extraordinary, however, as Mr. Wee’s case may be, it is not unique in the complex world of integrated professions with music as a counterpart. Without evoking the ghosts of King David or Pope Gregory, the history of music boasts a great many examples of musicians who were able to fuse and advance their passions seamlessly once a “revelatory sign”– a reassuring nod–confirmed that they were on the right path. Noble Peace Prize winner, organist, musicologist, theologian, medical doctor, and humanitarian Albert Schweitzer referred to that moment as “reverence for life.” It was revealed to him on a slow boat trip on the river Ogowe in Africa on the way to a medical emergency 160 miles upstream.
Today’s workshop focuses on the dual careers of Muzio Clementi (1752-1832), William Herschel (1738-1822), Charles Ives (1874-1954), and Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965).
Lecture delivered at the Convegno Internazionale di Studi Niccolò Paganini in Genova on October 25, 2021, 2021
Recollections of Paganini, a series of literary, autobiographical vignettes attributed to Daniel ... more Recollections of Paganini, a series of literary, autobiographical vignettes attributed to Daniel Maclise (1806-1870), reflect facts and events that occurred in London between July 2 and August 13, 1831, a time frame carved out from Niccoló Paganini’s very intense first tour of the British Isles from May 14 to March 8, 1832. Memoirs are subjective matters whose reliability may, at times be questionable, especially when the writer appears starstruck by the individual whose memories he wishes to share with the public. This is fine and understandable insomuch as our goal as Paganini scholars is to make these Recollections available again for further scrutiny in the hope that the smallest of stones in Paganini’s life and works may not remain unturned particularly on special occasions like dedicated conferences and symposia such as this one.
Lexington Books, 2025
In this book, Dallapiccola's life, the authors argue, was marked by a series of creative epiphani... more In this book, Dallapiccola's life, the authors argue, was marked by a series of creative epiphanies, form his encounter with Laura Coen Luzzatto (his future wife), his adoption of twelve-tone music serialism, the birth of their daughter Annalibera–which coincided woth the fall of fascism–and his career in the United States that included the world premiere of Quaderno musicale di Annalibers (Pittsburgh, 1952). The world premiere of Ulisse, which took place at the Deitsche Oper Berlin on September 29, 1968, under the baton of Lorin Maazel, was an ultimate milestone marking Dallapiccola's extraordinary career and life.
Music as Dream: Essays on Giacinto Scelsi, 2013
Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988), an extraordinary, innovative, and often controversial moving force i... more Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988), an extraordinary, innovative, and often controversial moving force
in modern music, has been the subject of a vast amount of literary criticism, philosophical
discussions, and groundbreaking performances.
Originally in French, Scelsi’s writings have been included in anthologies of prose, poetry, and
memories published in French, Italian, and German. For the first time, this volume brings selected
writings into English. His writings enlighten the creative process and facilitate further the
understanding of his musical message. Following Eric Drott’s Preface, Franco Sciannameo and
Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini provide two introductory essays to Scelsi’s Meaning of Music, The
Evolution of Harmony, The Evolution of Rhythm, Art and Satanism, Unity and Equality of the
Arts, Sound and Music, and Art and Knowledge–writings spanning from the early 1940s to
February 1987. Additionally, the editors place Scelsi’s aesthetical writings within a densely
contextualized historical, social, and cultural landscape to provide scholarly yet approachable
critical information.
Iconographic plates, bibliography, discography and a comprehensive index complete the volume.
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Shipping dimensions: 9" H x 6" W x 1" L
ISBN: 9781538166819
Italian Opera in the United States, 1800-1850: At the Origins of a Cultural Migration, 2023
This three-part essay discusses the composition and performance on the American stage of La fisic... more This three-part essay discusses the composition and performance on the American stage of La fisica in cimento (The Medicine on Trial) and Harlequin's Triumph in War and in Love, two operatic works written by poet/composer Filippo (Phil) Trajetta (Venezia, 1776-Philadelphia, 1854). Trajetta was a political refugee from the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily who reached the shores of the United States of America on July 3, 1800. My hypothetical mise en musique of La fisica in cimento (The Medicine on Trial), a Serenata in three scenes whose libretto was published in Charleston, South Carolina in 1803, consists of part two. Following the criteria adopted by countless pasticcio opera composers, who snatched music from preexisting operas by various well-known composers and adapted it to new verses to serve new tragic or comedic dramatic narratives, I argue that his hypothetical mise en musique of Trajetta's La fisica in cimento results, in fact, in a pasticcio organico as the music adapted to La fisica in cimento was indeed composed by Trajetta himself. The third part of the essay is dedicated to the unfavorable circumstances that prevented the 1808 Charleston premiere of Trajetta's farce in two acts entitled Harlequin's Triumph in War and in Love, a work, which ultimately saw the light in New York City on December 22, 1810. The essay concludes with some reflections on Phil Trajetta's encounter with Lorenzo Da Ponte in New York City following the departure of the Garcia Opera Company in the fall of 1826, and the missed opportunity to realize Da Ponte's dream of an American opera which would have showcased the combined talents of
Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2010
A description of the sound of the Godfather films, analyzing the musical subjects underscoring a ... more A description of the sound of the Godfather films, analyzing the musical subjects underscoring a group of pivotal scenes.
Experiencing the Violin Concerto, 2016
In Experiencing the Violin Concerto, Franco Sciannameo draws on his years of scholarship and viol... more In Experiencing the Violin Concerto, Franco Sciannameo draws on his years of scholarship and violin performance to trace the genre through Baroque, Classical, and modern periods. Along the way, he explores the social and personal histories of composers and the fabulous virtuosi who performed concertos and the audiences they conquered worldwide. Inviting readers to consider not only the components of the music but also the power of perception and experience. Sciannameo re-creates the atmosphere of a live performance as he paints a narrative history of technique and innovation.
Lexington Books, 2020
This book provides new contextualized perspectives on Ennio Morricone's position as a radical com... more This book provides new contextualized perspectives on Ennio Morricone's position as a radical composer working on the cutting edge of music within the framework of his cinematic compositions.