Giovanni Sgambati Born 28.5.1841 Rome Died 14.12.1914 Rome
English mother, Italian father. Studied with Natalucci at The Naples Conservatory and later in Rome with Lizst. He was a composer, conductor, and pianist. For some years he was a professor in The Saint Cecilia Academy, Rome.
Orchestral
'Cola di Renzo' Overture 1866 lost ?
Symphony No.1 in D major Op.11 1880
Symphony No.2 in E flat 1883
Festival Overture 1878
Piano Concerto in G minor Op.10 1878 pub. by Les fils de B. Schott
Epitalmio Sinfonico in form of a suite 1883
Chamber
Piano Quintet in F minor Op.4 1876 pub. by Schott & Co.
Piano Quintet in B flat Op.5 1877 pub. by Schott & Co.
String Nonet 1866 lost
String Quartet 1864
String Quartet in C sharp minor Op.17 1882 pub. by Schott & Co.
Two pieces for violin and piano Op.24 1890 Sacramata Mapoletana/2
'Gondoliera' for violin and piano Op.28 (one of 4 melodies Op.28) pub. by Schott & Co
Piano
Allegro con moto in B minor 1886
Ballata in B minor
Notturno for piano Op.3 pub. by Schott & Co.
Prelude and fugue in B flat minor Op.6 pub. by Schott & Co.
Two etudes for piano, 1. in D flat, 2 in F sharp minor Op.7
Fogli Volanti eight pieces for piano Op.8
Etudes de concert Op.10
Gavotte for piano Op.14 pub. by Schott & Co.
Quattro pezzi for piano - Preludio, vecchio, minuetto, nenia, toccata. Op.18 pub. by Schott & Co.
Tres notturni Op.20 pub. by Schott & Co
Suite for piano in B minor - Prelude, valse, air, intermezzo, etude malodique. Op.21 pub. by Schott & Co.
Six pieces lyriques Op.23 pub. by Schott & Co.
Douze melodies poetiques Op.29
Fifth notturni Op.31
Sixth notturno Op.33
Twelve melodies for piano Op.36 (Melodies poetiques) pub. by C F Peters
Romanza senza parole
Serenade valsee
Tres pezzi Op.42 Preludio, Berceuse Reverie, Melodia Campestrs. pub. by Schott & Co
Toccata lost ?
Valse Brillante in E major
Song
Album of five songs Op.1 pub. by Schott & Co.
Album of 10 songs Op.2 pub. by Schott & Co.
Cor di fiamma for voice & piano
'Passiflora' Op.17
Four Italian songs
L'Emir deBengador for voice & piano
Melodie liriche, four songs Op.32
Ninna nanna for voice & piano 1895
Quattro melodie for voice and piano Op.35 Serafina, Oblio, La Sirena, Canto d'aprile. pub. by Schott & Co.
'Tout bas' Op.30 pub. by G Schirmer
'Flor di slepe'
Fuori di porta'
Impromptu on a theme by Berlioz for voice & piano
'La Mia Stella'
Rose Op.41 pub. by Schott & Co.
Serenata, per canto e piano
Ballata per tenore
Stornello toscano, for voice and piano
Melodie liriche - five songs and a duet
Organ
Benedizione Muzicale Op.23
Melodie poet, gives Op.29
Te Deum laudmas for organ and strings, also version for full orchestra pub. by Schott & Co
Versa est in Luctum cythara mea - motet for baritone, organ and strings
Andia filia for voice and orchestra 1870
Messa da Requeim for chorus baritone and orchestra Op.38 1896 pub. by Schott & Co
There is considerable confusion where opus numbers are concerned as many of the original numbers were reassigned. For example, the piano concerto has both Op.10 and 15
Thank you for that accounting.
But, ahem - should not such a reference have the composer's surname spelled correctly? :P
Thanks - duly corrected!
Alan Howe
Whatever the opus number of the Piano Concerto, its key was not reassigned. It was, and still is, G minor, not C-sharp minor. ::)
See here: http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto,_Op.15_%28Sgambati,_Giovanni%29 (http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto,_Op.15_%28Sgambati,_Giovanni%29)
P.S. BTW there does seem to be an error in the instrumentation list. I most definitely hear an English Horn in the second movement which seems to be overlooked on the list (although it is in the score).
I believe there is also a third symphony. Am I right?
Grove says there's an orchestral Epitalamio sinfonico of 1887 (an epithalamium being a poem written for a wedding procession apparently - who knew?) Is that what you were thinking of Gareth?
Yes, Gareth - the Epitalamio sinfonico or Sinfonia Epitalamio of 1887-8. It is mentioned in the Wikipedia article about him:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Sgambati (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Sgambati)
It could be. I just had a feeling that Roz Trubger, who, you may recall, produced an edition of the 2nd Symphony from the MS, had made mention of a 3rd Symphony on a thread on the old forum. Unfortunately, I can't recall the details.
I'm pretty sure this was the piece she was talking about.
The double-opus-number thing - which applies to more works than the piano concerto- seems to have to do with Italian publishers applying one opus number to some Sgambati works, and German publishers another. Or something.
Same thing happened, Eric, with Dreyschock's piano music when published in England. A lot of double opus numbers - quite confusing sometimes.
QuoteI'm pretty sure this was the piece she was talking about.
Yes - I think you must be right, Alan.
I never knew he wrote a third symphony! Wow, we now have 3 recordings of the PC but only a two-piano version of one of his symphonies (the 1st) :o >:(! Hopefully Naxos (or Chandos) will record them in their rapidly growing Italian series (which will also hopefully include Pizzetti's symphony).
The "Sinfonia epitalamia" or "Epitalamio sinfonico" was composed for a wedding in the Italian royal family.
A Sgambati enthusiast (a piano teacher) spoke to me about as a substantial work lasting around half an hour.On the occasion the same pianist held a private concert performing various Sgambati works.
In "public" concerts, I have attended to, I never heard a Sgambati work, except when Yuja Wang recently performed (as an encore) the so called "Melodie de Gluck" (which is a free transcription from Orpheus and Euridice).
Wang also recorded the piece (like, for instance, Wilhelm Kempff).
Thank you all, I have made the corrections. I never could spell or read my own writing!
Quote from: kyjo on Thursday 09 August 2012, 03:29
we now have 3 recordings of the PC but only a two-piano version of one of his symphonies (the 1st)
Actually, there is a full orchestral recording of Symphony No.1, now deleted:
http://www.amazon.fr/Sgambati-Symphonie-Concerto-piano-mineur/dp/B00007J4XA/ref=sr_1_20?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1344506316&sr=1-20 (http://www.amazon.fr/Sgambati-Symphonie-Concerto-piano-mineur/dp/B00007J4XA/ref=sr_1_20?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1344506316&sr=1-20)
I wasn't aware of this, Alan. A shame it's deleted :(!
It's always worth consulting Mike Herman's discographies at MusicWeb before posting...
http://www.musicweb-international.com/Latin_symphonies/Latin_Symphonies.htm#sgambati (http://www.musicweb-international.com/Latin_symphonies/Latin_Symphonies.htm#sgambati)
Quite, Alan. Michael Herman's discographies are fascinating and are an
excellent resource.
Hi everyone
Regarding the symphonies of Sgambati :
No 1 received a live performance in Rome last autumn and is being recorded
No 2 is now re-published in a 2nd (improved and corrected) edition - and will be recorded next year (I'm just finishing printing the orchestral parts now)
No 3 is also up for recording soon - it is indeed the work to which you all referred, it is the Epitalamio written for the Aosta wedding. I've prepared some of the new score already and I'll put a snatch on this site soon.
Apologies for the delayed response to the thread - I've been a bit busy recently but, as you can tell, there are some exciting things afoot :)
Hi Roz,
Good to hear from you - and thanks for the update about forthcoming Sgambati recordings. Can you possibly tell us any more about the recordings? Might they be with the Rome Symphony Orchestra under Francesco La Vecchia for Naxos, by any chance?
Here's a review (via Google translation!!) of a performance of the 1st Symphony given in Rome on 15th December 2011:
<<It takes courage to present to the public-as did the Rome Symphony Orchestra, directed by the energetic and precise Francesco La Vecchia - Symphony in D major by Giovanni Sgambati, little-known author of the late nineteenth century, and courageous advocate of a necessary Italian approach to the symphonic world.
Let's say that the forty minutes of the Symphony run smoothly. The second movement, Andante mesto, is a beautiful Italian melody "instrumented" German, as well as the brilliant Scherzo. The lyricism emerges continuously between the harmonic textures ever complicated, so that seems to offer Sgambati union between our traditional northern European and influence of calm and scenic listening.>>
http://www.cittanuova.it/contenuto.php?idContenuto=332289&TipoContenuto=web (http://www.cittanuova.it/contenuto.php?idContenuto=332289&TipoContenuto=web)