New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-08-29
Prunieres "Il Sogno" In tho hrst of
his dramatic compositions to carly tho
strong imprint Of his personality.
Adventures During tho War

At Vno beginning OF Vn0 war mail
piero found himself in material DIFF
ficulties and unable to obtain the pub
lication Of his works. In tho spring
Of 1918, while at Asolo, At work on
an orchestral suite "Armenia," tho
town was invaded by tho second array
In flight. In the face Of the enemy,
approaching at forced marches the
composer fed with his wife to Venice.
The journey was nightmare. For
two days he beat his way along roads
Uttered with wreckagc, dead bodies of
men and horse, and terror stricken in
habitants fleeing for their lives. At
Venice train took him to Rome. The
nervous shock Of his experiences re-
suited in the dramatic symphony
"Pantea," which depicts tho struggle
of soul hurting itself into tho strife
for liberty but finding only death and
oblivion.
Prunieres goes on to describe the
"Sette Canzoni," seven poems Of the
fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries In Italy. FOX each Of which
the composer has conceived a scenic
adaptation, recently performed in
Paris:
"The realization. thanks to the very
synthetic scenery described BY the
author, seems easy. To recount the
intrigues imagined with so much taste
and clcverncss by Malipiero, to illus
trate each Canzone. would be to dwarf
singularly the work. Ono must Judge
by the ensemble. the succession Of
tableaux, Which are contrasted In the
happiest manner. Tho score is
charged with great folk-spirit; the
song Of the drunkard. the serenade.
are compositions whose forms, although
audacious, is linked to tho purest ira
ditions of Italy of the seventeenth
century. The songs, both me1odic and
original, evoke tho idea Of an Italian
Moussorgsky.
"Malipiero cxcels In embracing tho
value of melody by q totally independ-
ent harmony which serves as an &C.
compartments Thus a singer retails a
song, vaguely obscene, of the Politien.
while mechanically swinging the bells,
while the orchestra depicts tho fire
which RACES and empurples the sky.
The last scene is perhaps the most
striking: the carnival Is over, the mas
queraders still run In the streets In
bands, at the break of day; they meet
a procession accompanying the hearse
in which is Death and quickly fee. The
chorus, in magnificent chant, cxhorts
men to shun sin and do penance. The
procession passes and the Iugubrious
song is lost in the distance, while q
couple Of masqueraders, treasured. ex-
change furtive kiss
"Analysis is impotent to give an idea
OF this work. the value of which lies
in Its strength Of rhythm and in the
beauty Of its melodc lines. Although
aristocratic, 1t Is at the same time Of
the people; although revolutionary, it
Is traditional; although made up Of IN
dependent scenes, 1t forms whole,
and 1t appears as a manifestation. per-
feet Of its kind, without precedents.
without tomorrow, unique, inimita-
BILE. A strength intoxicated with its
power spends itself in this music,
bathed In warm sunshine, which brings
tho agreeable change from ansmic
compositions filtered from the little
class of Debussyites, no less than the
grandiloquent defamation and the
convulsive Mysteries Of tho school of
Richard Strauss. know not whether
Malipiero has prcoccupied himself with
vertical or horizontal style. Breaking
from all modes Of composing, he casts
from him all letters to express his
thoughts. his sentiments, his sensa-
TONS"
MaIiptero as q Writer
Tho composer does not confine HIM
self to tho writing Of music alone a. q
means Of expression. In tho October.
1919, number Of The Chesterian. a
modern English publication devoted to
music which numbers among its con-
tributorn Granville Bantock. Eurene
Goossens. Paul Dukaa. Gabriel Duhas,
Alfredo CasellA, Ernest Newman and
other musicians and musical author1-
ties Of the present day. tho following
article on "The History Of italian
Melodrama" appeared,
I'm Italy, during the sixteenth and
the greater part Of tho seventeenth
century, there lived many musicians
who, instead Of giving the reins freely
to their aspiration. affected a strange
mania for counterpart, which seemed
to them the only adequate means Of re-
vealing their technical ability. Natur-
ally enough, composers of that caliber
were very numerous. Even to-day. out
of curiosity, one reprints and even
occasionally performs, the works Of
Pierluigi da Palestrina, OF Gesualdo da
Venosa and Of some others, but such
excavations arc not Of tho sliphtest
Importance.
"The puerility and, at tho Same time.
i National Svnnn'