Malipiero: Piano Works

Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882–1973) studied in Venice, where the greatest discovery of his student years came when he found manuscripts by Monteverdi, Frescobaldi and others in the Biblioteca Marciana. This started a lifelong devotion to Monteverdi that would culminate in a complete edition of his works. In 1913 Malipiero went to Paris, where he attended the premiere of Le Sacre du printemps, met Ravel and discovered the music of Debussy. During World War I, Malipiero’s individual voice developed: ‘If I have created something new in my art,’ he wrote, ‘it happened precisely in this period.’ ‘La notte dei morti’, the first of the Poemi asolani (1916), is a dark reflection on a historic city ravaged by war. Barlumi (1917) is influenced by Debussy in its evocative and richly coloured musical language, while Risonanze (1918) experiments with harmony and resonance. Hortus conclusus of three decades later is crystalline and refined, while the Cinque studi per domani from 1959 are more rigorous, astringent and austere. Malipiero aspired to move Italian music in a new direction by absorbing elements of the Renaissance and Baroque into a thoroughly contemporary language, and the result in his piano works is an attractive synthesis of ancient and modern, of discipline and originality.