Respighi's Buccine
Dinora
something.
Do you recall any standard or - better - unusual replacement
conductors now and in the past use(d) for Respighi's buccine?
And is it actually known what he REALLY wanted these parts to be
played on?
Saxhorns?
makropulos
There's a nice page here suggesting possible substitute instruments:
http://www.dmcclure.org/pini-rom.htm
The suggested replacements are:
* BUCCINA I. in Si bemolle (o FLICORNO SOPRANO)
[in treble clef — probably best played on B-flat fluegelhorn]
* BUCCINA II. in Si bemolle (o FLICORNO SOPRANO)
[in treble clef— probably best played on B-flat fluegelhorn]
* BUCCINA I. in Si bemolle (o FLICORNO TENORE)
[in treble clef — probably best played on B-flat fluegelhorn]
* BUCCINA II. in Si bemolle (o FLICORNO TENORE)
[in treble clef — probably best played on B-flat fluegelhorn]
* BUCCINA I. in Si bemolle (o FLICORNO BASSO)
[in bass clef — probably best played on euphonium or baritone]
* BUCCINA II. in Si bemolle (o FLICORNO BASSO)
[in bass clef — probably best played on euphonium or baritone
and then provides some interesting details:
Respighi presumably used the word buccina only for its poetic and
evocative value; the original Roman buccina could not have played all
those chromatic notes. The instruments he actually wants are specified
quite precisely:
* two flicorni soprani (fluegelhorns)
* two flicorni tenori (probably similar to the flicorni soprani,
perhaps with a slightly larger bore or mouthpiece. The parts are still
playable on regular fluegelhorns, and the transposition is the same)
* two flicorni bassi (tenor tubas; i.e. euphoniums or baritones)
The flicorni bassi parts may cause some initial confusion, as they are
written in B-flat, but in bass clef. That is, they are to sound one
whole-step below the written notes. It may be necessary to recopy the
parts for players accustomed to reading in C (bass clef) or B-flat
(treble clef).
The six buccina parts play only in the fourth movement. Some costs can
be saved if the buccina parts are not used. In that case, two extra
horns (V and VI) and an extra trumpet (IV) MUST be used, and the
regular horns (I, ?II, III and ?IV) and trumpets (II and III) must
play the cue notes marked "in luogo delle Buccine".
Some conductors and brass players may be misled by the first
indication for the soprano buccine in the fifth bar of rehearsal
number 20: "isolate e chiuse (suoni come da lontano)", that is,
"isolated and stopped [or muted] (should sound as in the distance)".
However, they should probably NOT be offstage, because the very next
entrance — just three bars later — is already louder and marked
"aperte" ("open"). In any case, the piece gets very loud by the end,
so it is certainly preferable to have the buccine onstage.
(all the above pasted from the webpage)
Dinora
Thank you SO MUCH!
That is a very interesting web page, I'm going to go through it all
now!
Kerrison
The two earliest 78rpm sets of 'The Pines of Rome' were both made on
three 10" 78s, one set following hard on the heels of the other, in
September/October 1928. The first was for Columbia, by the Milan
Symphony Orchestra under Lorenzo Molajoli, and the second set, for
Odeon, was made the Orchestra della Scala Opera, Milan, conducted by
Ettore Panizza. It's not inconceivable that Respighi himself attended
both sets of sessions. In any case, would a close listening to either
of these early Italian recordings of the work give an answer to the
"buccine" question?
makropulos
That's a very good point. And since I see that the Molajoli recording
is now on the CHARM website, I'm going to have a listen right now.
It's pretty inconceivable that Respighi was not at the premiere
recording, though with a bit of research it might be possible to
establish that.
Kerrison
>
> - Show quoted text -
The Italian edition of Respighi's biography by his wife Elsa went into
great detail about his comings and goings, and might just reveal
whether he went to those record sessions. The English language edition
of the book had about 50% of it omitted by the translator.
Unfortunately I no longer own a copy of that, but if anyone has the
Italian original they might be willing to check what Respighi was
doing in September 1928 and see if Elsa says he was in Milan for the
recordings. Strange that two labels should record the work almost
simultaneously in the same city but that's what happened. I wonder if
they both used the same 78 of the nightingale? The catalogue number is
printed in the score but there can't have been many others on the
market to choose from!
John Wiser
>> On Mar 20, 6:40 pm, makropulos <makropu...@gmail.com> wrote: [snip]> [more snippage][still more snippage]
> [...] I wonder if they both used the same 78 of the nightingale?
> The catalogue number is printed in the score but there can't have
> been many others on the market to choose from!
The record was a rental item from the publisher,
presumably always the same 78 during that era.
--
John Wiser
Jicotea Used Books
Howells NY 10932 0136 USA
cee...@gmail.com
http://www.amazon.com/shops/ceeclef