20th Century Music Research Papers (original) (raw)

The «Doppio Quintetto di Torino» was founded at the end of
1920 by a group of musicians led by the violinist Maurizio
Vico. It was strongly encouraged by the music critic Andrea Della
Corte and financially supported by some music lovers belonging
to the well-off middle class of Turin. Its aim was to renew the
stagnant post-war concert life of the town with a less usual
repertoire of chamber music for mixed ensembles, also open to
the modern European production. Like the Double quintet of
Paris - which was its model - the ensemble was composed of a
string and a wind quintet, with the occasional addition of a harp
and piano. All the players were eminent members of the orchestra
of the Teatro Regio or teachers of the Liceo musicale. Among
these were Ercole Giaccone, who in 1923 replaced Vico as first
violin, the clarinettist L. Savina, the double bass player
F. A. Cuneo, the harpist Clelia Aldrovandi and the pianist and
composer Luigi Perrachio, who in 1922 became the artistic
director of the group.
The inaugural concert was held on 26 December 1920
within the season of concerts promoted by the FIP (Italian
manufacturer of pianos) and directed by Guido M. Gatti. From
1921, however, the Doppio Quintetto organized every year its
own season of concerts in Turin consisting in four or five
appointments and a tour in various cities of Northern and Central
Italy. Significant concerts were also held out of season, such as
the soirée offered to the participants in the First International Music Congress, held in Turin in October 1921, and the concert
with the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska for the association
Pro Cultura Femminile, in March 1923.
The repertoire of the Doppio Quintetto carefully mixed
classical with modern. Alongside pieces by Mozart, Beethoven,
Schubert, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and the revival of ancient
music (Bach, Handel, Pergolesi, Viotti, mostly arranged for
chamber ensemble), an important part was devoted to
contemporary works, many of which were performed for the
first time in Italy. The modern repertoire was especially
concerned with French composers, such as Debussy, Ravel,
Roussel, Roger-Ducasse, Pierné, but also included Stravinsky,
Hindemith, Bax, Busoni, Casella and a number of works
specifically commissioned by or dedicated to the Doppio Quintetto
(by Sinigaglia, Bossi, Cuneo, Perrachio, Davico, Desderi
and others). In 1921, the Doppio Quintetto in collaboration
with the Circolo degli Artisti of Turin advertised an international
composition contest for chamber ensemble, which saw the
participation of sixty-eighth candidates from all over Europe
and was won by Giorgio Federico Ghedini.
Despite the favourable critical reception, which praised
the high quality of its performances, the Doppio Quintetto
ceased its activity in 1925. The opening in the very same year
of R. Gualino’s «Teatro di Torino», with similar modern interests
and its own orchestra of solo players, may have been one of the
reasons for its dissolution.