Giuseppe Verdi - Messa da Requiem

Although Requiem was a religious work, it was presented more in concert halls than in churches. Giuseppe Verdi wrote the famous Requiem in honour of his close friend, Alessandro Manzoni, the great Italian poet, writer, and humanist, who died in 1873. It is a powerful fusion of intense drama and passion, with moments of reverent simplicity. Verdi conducted the first performance at St. Mark's Church in Milan on May 22, 1874, the first anniversary of Manzoni's death. Revolutionary composition Verdi's Requiem has been revolutionary in two respects: First, because while the traditional requiem is a prayer of the living for the dead, Verdi's work was a function as much for the living as for the dead. As Verdi would expect, it's a dramatic, theatrical play. Written for four solo voices (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor and bass) with full choir and orchestra, it follows the typical Roman Catholic Latin mass for the dead. The "libretto" certainly comes from the dram

Ricercar (or ricercare)

An Italian term derived from the verb “ricercare” (I’m looking for), which is about an old kind of organic composition of free form, but with mainly a contrapuntal style and character. Also, the term might imply a search for contrapuntal processing, but this is just a hypothesis.

The instruments to which ricercare are mainly dedicated are the lite, the organ, the clavecin and other keyboard instruments.

Ricercare was used as an introductory piece that indicated the search for the tonality of the price that followed it.

Ricercare was widespread in polyphonic form from the 16th century thanks to Marco Antonio Cavazzoni, Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Claudio Merulo, while the homophonic form thanks to A. and G.Gabrieli and preceded the fugue.

However, the greatest artistic flourish of the ricercare observed in the 17th century with Girolamo Frescobaldi, followed by Alessandro Poglieti, Bernardo Pasquini, Johann Kaspar Kerll and Johann Jacob Froberger.

The term was often used in the 29th century by Alfredo Casella and Freancesco Malipiero.





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