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Hello and welcome to the Insights and Sounds podcast, a podcast centered around classical music. Join Dr. John Sinclair, and explore composers past and present, their works, and an occasional classical music informational episode.
Puccini Messa a 4 voci_mixdown
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Dr. Sinclair: [00:00:00] Hello, good people. Welcome to today's podcast, and we're gonna be talking about a lesser known work by Puccini Omo. Puccini lived a life full of extravagance, full of drama. Comedy and tragedy. He lived life large. He could add to the drama, a near death experience, triumphs, failures, forbidden love, and a fair amount of adversity with much of it being self-inflicted.
We know Puccini as a composer of some of the most iconic works in the operatic repertoire, works such as Madam Butterfly or Tosca Law of Om. Are very much in the Canada, the most performed operas. But today [00:01:00] we're not going to talk about Puccini's magnificent operas, but rather his mass, his one large scale work of sacred music.
While this could be surprising to some, his ability to write music for the church was ingrained in his DNA, allow me to defend the hypothesis. Puccini was born in 1858, sixth of nine children in a small Tuscan city of Luca, the Pacini family. They were a musical dynasty in Luca, starting with his great, great grandfather also named Giacomo, who was the maestro decap of this cathedral of San Martino.
He was succeeded by his son, Antonio Puccini, and then Antonio's son, Dominico. And then his son, Michelle, and then the Puccini we know was prepared to follow in his family's footsteps. His long, full [00:02:00] name was an honor of his musical predecessors. Gimo, Antonio Dominico. Michelle Sudo. Maria Puccini. Now that's a name.
Each Puccini composed music for the church. With Dominico having composed several operas, and Michelle, the father of Portini, also having composed an opera at the time of Michelle's death, the BMI family, having occupied the position at the church of this glorious 11th century cathedral, they had occupied that position for 124 years, 1740 to 1864.
But one wrinkle Piti following his father's footsteps. He was only six years old when his father died, thus incapable of assuming his father's post as a child. Though he was nevertheless participated in the musical life of the cathedral as a member of the boy's choir, and later [00:03:00] also as a substitute organist,
his musical training started. At the Music Institute in Luca, where he was not especially well liked by the teacher because he was viewed as lazy and disrespectful. He wasn't very disciplined either in his work ethic or his ethics in general. He appropriated the pipes for the church organ and sold some of them for scrap metal to buy cigarettes.
The turning point of his life though, seemed to evolve around a trip he made on foot to Pisa her performance of Verdes Aida. He wrote, quote, I feel a musical window had opened for me and his passions would forever be opera. He now is motivated and after scrimping and saving, he made his way to the conservatory in Milan where they accepted him.
Even though he was a little older than the people they usually accepted, it appears he also wasn't a [00:04:00] great student at the school either. But is talent compensated for his anemic academic performance? Now back to the work we're discussing today.
His message to Gloria was written as a graduation exercise from the Milan Conservatory. The work is for choir, orchestra, tenor and baritone soloist. The first performance in 1880 was a great success praised by the critics and the public alive. But Pacini filed the work away, never heard it again during his lifetime.
Let's now fast forward to the end of World War ii. A priest, father Dante Dale Fiorino, purchased an old manuscript copy of the me Gloria from a prominent Vandini family in Luca. Father Fi Reino thought he had the original score, but the authentic original [00:05:00] score was in the possession of the Puccini family.
His daughter-in-law was selling the score to record a publishing company, the publisher that published all Puccini's music. A legal battle ensued with a final resolution, dividing the rights to the work between recording. And Mills music. Now interestingly, the work premiered in 1880. Finally saw its second performance in 1952 at a theater in Bologna, Italy, and its American premier being in Carnegie Hall.
Short time later, Puccini's ability to compose good sacred music lies in his profound understanding of melody, harmony, orchestration, emotional expression, all of which he took to his operating career. The title itself gives us the wrong impression. A mass entitled Messa, or Missa usually mean it. It's only for the re and Gloria sections.
But Pacini wrote all five parts of the ordinary mass, the re, the Gloria, the C Credo, the Sanus, and the Nu Day. While the work Mesa of [00:06:00] Gloria is notable for its operating style with lush melodies and dramatic contrast and rich orchestration that reflects puccini's operatic roots. Let's discuss a few highlights.
Of this youthful yet well constructed work.
The opening curate features intense choral and orchestral writing, and a wonderfully passionate solo section.
Now the Gloria movement is radiant and expansive, filled with vibrant harmonies and joyfulness. Its opening is infectious with the bouncy rhythms and playful melody. It feels a bit whimsical in a good way,
and the glory section has diverse style changes as it moves through [00:07:00] the do de.
The Santo spiritual section has a wicked feud for the choir.
The coral and orchestral writing skip through passages almost as if they're having a lighthearted through conversation, each one trying to outdo the other. With bold musical changes at times, it borders on two cheer and surprising twists and turns. That leaves the listener smiling. Wondering if the composer was having a bit too much fun?
Never a dull moment, and always at the twinkle in its eye,
in the cradle movement, Puccini introduces a striking sense of tension with its rising melodic lines and sweeping orchestral accompaniment.[00:08:00]
The Song Two's movement is stately and serene, and treats the text with a graceful melody. Now this is in contrast with most Santos movement. Which often are rather raucous and big.
The Agnew day movement is fascinating.[00:09:00]
It's the shortest movement and is amusing because puccini's fascination with the American Wild West is on display. Yes. Puccini, the famous Italian opera composer, was indeed intrigued by the idea that American Wild West. This fascination is most notably reflected in his opera, the Girl, the Golden West, which premiered in 1910.
The opera is set during the California Gold Rush, a pivotal moment in the Wild West history. And while his opera captures the excitement and the danger of the American frontier, this a news day gives one the feeling of sitting around a campfire after a long day's ride.
And finally, the Agnus Day returns to a more serene and reflective mood at the end. Showcasing the composers' [00:10:00] ability to balance witty and serious endings, reminding us that Bini could indeed tell a story and take you on an emotional journey. Through his music,
Puccini's Early Exposure to Sacred Music, his Catholic faith. His romantic sensibilities allowed him to create this work that bounces reverence, emotional depth, while still being entertaining. Puccini sacred music reveals another layer of his genius as a composer, capable of writing with profound spirituality.
It reflects the transition from the 19th century sacred music traditions to more dramatic personal expression, which would characterize his later operatic masterpieces, his trademark strengths of beautiful melodies. And lush harmonies are on full display. In this message to Gloria Puccini summed up his work with his quote, quote, I lived for art, [00:11:00] I lived for love.
I hope you have a chance to hear this magnificent work. And by the way, there is a chance to hear it 'cause the Bach Festival Society will be performing this work on April 26th and 27. Go to the Bach Festival website and find out more information@bachfestivalflorida.org. We hope you'll attend the concert, and I think you're gonna fall in love with this work just like I did.
Thank you so very much for listening today, and remember that the power of music belongs to each of us. So I wish for you good listening and allow music to use your imagination to transport you to wherever you want to go. Thank you again for listening. I hope you'll join us next [00:12:00] time.