Musica Docta

La musica corale nel Ventennio. Convergenze e intersezioni fra pedagogia, musicologia e musica d’arte

Alessandro Maras — 2023-12-14

It has often been pointed out that choral music played a not insignificant role in the fascist totalitarian project aimed at creating a “new man” (see, for example, Gentile 1993, Tarquini 20162, Bernhard and Klinkhammer 2017). Included by the Gentile reform (1923) among the compulsory subjects in primary and secondary schools and in the courses of teacher training schools, the practice of choral singing was also introduced in the Opera Nazionale Balilla, a youth organization, the Opera Nazionale del Dopolavoro, a leisure and recreational organization, and in the many public events of the regime (see, e.g., De Felice 1974; Scalfaro 2014). While this is not the appropriate place to chronicle and evaluate the development of vocal polyphony instruction in Italian schools and academies during this period, nor its educational -or rather “re-educational2 function in the Fascist sense- within the “Opere nazionali,” it is fair to say that its impact on Italian culture was not negligible. By narrowing the focus of my research, I aim to highlight the role that this renewed attention to choral singing - in pedagogical, socio-cultural, and political terms - played within the musicological discourse and artistic compositional practice of the time. I also aim to show what the interactions between pedagogy, theory, and musical practice were - and what impact, if any, they had. This brief survey may suggest further avenues of research, not only in historiography, but also in the contemporary discussion of the intersections between musicology, learned composition, and music education.

L'archivio di tempo reale: come salvaguardare e divulgare la cultura della musica elettronica?

Giulia Sarno — 2023-12-14

The archive of the Tempo Reale center for music research, production and education, founded by Luciano Berio in 1987, is a heritage of great importance for the recent history of electronic music. This article describes the initiatives that have been taken to promote the archive, as well as some ongoing projects: in particular, it presents the methods and perspectives adopted with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the heritage and widening access to it, also involving the potential stakeholders of the archive. Based on this limited experience and on the notion of the “activation” of the heritage, some theoretical perspectives are outlined, questioning the possible participatory construction and transmission of an “electronic music culture”.

Per un uso critico di ‘Wikipedia’ nello studio della storia della musica: il caso della voce ‘Alessandro Scarlatti’

Giacomo Sciommeri — 2023-12-14

This paper proposes some reflections on the peculiarities and main critical issues of Wikipedia, with particular reference to the study of music history. The entry on Alessandro Scarlatti will be used as a specific case. The main stages in the evolution of this entry are traced, starting with an analysis of the comments posted on the “discussion” page and the changes made by users. General reflections will then be made, based on a comparison with the corresponding entry of a “traditional”, authoritative project: the Dizionario biografico degli Italiani.

Musicologia e critica musicale: specificità, interazioni, implicazioni pedagogico-didattiche

Pietro Misuraca — 2023-12-14

The musicologist and the music critic are two distinct and well-characterized professional profiles, but they can be complementary and a possible convergence can be hoped for. This article focuses on the specificity of the two professions, on the knowledge required for both, and on their separate but, if necessary, interchangeable functions. In fact, a productive circular process can be activated when both activities set themselves the primary goal of «expressing in words the specific musical experience and the specific qualities of the work» (Adorno), rising to the challenge of verbal transcoding and providing the reader with keys to interpretation and access to the works. The training of music professionals and their role in Italian society are two topics that are inextricably linked to the issue of music education and the marginal role it plays in our school system, with serious repercussions on the daily work of those who work professionally in the field of music. Despite the practical problems of journalistic production, critical discourse should not be just news, but a link in the hermeneutic chain. Any serious criticism of a performance is also an ‘exegesis’ of the work performed. The musicological competence would allow the critic to regain his authority in the free spaces of the Web and to maintain his own function in a cultural scenario that has undergone a profound change in the last few years. Likewise, critical-aesthetic judgment should be one of the components of any musicological activity that aspires to cultural breadth and knows how to connect with a wider public. No less important is the question of engagement with contemporary thought and creativity: the current absence of critical debate on new music is in fact a problem that affects both the ethical and political mandate of the music critic and the relationship between musicology and civil society.

Giuseppe Tartini, L’arte dell’arco

Angela Fiore — 2023-12-14

This review concerns the first volume of the “Edizione nazionale delle opere musicali di Giuseppe Tartini” (“National edition of the musical works of Giuseppe Tartini”), which consists of L’arte dell’arco, edited by Matteo Cossu. This is a famous collection of variations for violin based on a gavotte by Arcangelo Corelli. The volume offers a critical edition of Tartini’s variations and provides information on the sources and reception of an important text for violin didactics.

Libretti d’opera italiani con traduzione e spiegazioni in cinese (Italian opera librettos with precise word by word explanation)

Fabio Rossi — 2023-12-14

A series of Italian opera librettos with translations and explanations in Chinese is reviewed. The series is useful not only for singers, singing teachers and other opera professionals, but also for Chinese-speaking students of Italian. It should be considered as a model for a language teaching system (L2 but also L1) that finally includes librettos among its sources as an integral part of the Italian linguistic-cultural repertoire.

Pierguido Asinari, Studiare la musica; Licia Mari, Vivere la musica nella scuola dell’infanzia e primaria. Elementi di teoria, metodologia e didattica

Silvia Cancedda — 2023-12-14

The two volumes under review are addressed primarily, but not exclusively, to Primary school students. They are a response to the need for training that is often lacking among those attending these courses (and among the teachers of these school levels). Asinari’s volume is intended as a kind of compendium, briefly covering all areas of music, and may be a useful aid for those who, in the absence of specific training, have to study musical subjects in their university courses. Mari’s collection, written with the help of musicians and teachers who collaborate with her in her courses, focuses more on the didactic side: articles on pedagogy and methodology, combined with an analysis of the legal framework, are complemented by more hands-on contributions with practical suggestions and descriptive teaching proposals. Beyond their different approaches, the contributions in both volumes share the high formative value they ascribe to music: although they follow different paths, the authors seek to lead music education on the road to emancipation from the role of mere entertainment that has long accompanied it.

‘Music Drivers’. Un percorso integrato tra musica e turismo

Diana De Francesco — 2023-12-14

Music Drivers is a module that combines laboratory didactics, music history and promotion of local economic development, designed for secondary school students but adaptable to different educational needs. The module is divided into three phases, the first dedicated to music history research and the others to its practical implementation. The aim of the module is to develop and design a musical tourist guide for the town of Lanciano, whose tradition is rich in music-historical events and important personalities, in a completely digital format that can be used on the move. Broadly inspired by the ‘research-action’ methodology, the module has established strong links with the objectives of Agenda 2030 and those of the National Curriculum Guidelines, and is therefore presented as a proposal to broaden the educational offer both in school and extra-curricular settings.

Il potere del fischio. Un percorso tra usi e riusi cinematografici

Marco Cosci — 2023-12-14

Since the advent of sound cinema, human whistling has been used in a wide range of situations, from the light-hearted to the eerie. Despite their apparent simplicity, whistled melodies can play a central role in the sonic dramaturgy of a film, thanks in part to their timbral characteristics, which place whistling in a fluid space between the vocal and instrumental domains. This educational path is addressed to students of theory, analysis, and composition, as well as to students of music history in music high schools, and to students of related musical disciplines in conservatories and university courses. The aim is to provide analytical tools for understanding the fundamental role of such music in multimedia communication by analyzing some illustrative film sequences with whistled music. For that purpose, some key concepts will be explained to frame audiovisual construction strategies, providing research methods and skills applicable to other soundtrack elements. Finally, attention is drawn to the processes of re-semantization activated by the citation of pre-existing music, taking into account intertextual and intermedial references.

Focus – Quale futuro per la storia della musica nelle scuole italiane?

Lorenzo Bianconi — 2023-12-14

This paper illustrates the important contribution of Italian university musicology to the training of future music educators, emphasizing the formative role of the history of music (or musics) not only for future musicians or musicologists, but for the training of all students. It also highlights some problematic aspects of the current regulatory framework for the teaching of music history.

How to Write an Opera Review

Olesya Bobrik — 2023-12-14

The article is a brief guide for critics that are about to write their first review of an opera. With a touch of irony, the author suggests ways of organizing the material, analyzing the director’s concepts, and the musical side of the performance (conductor, orchestra, singers).

Impari Atena

Alberto Rizzuti — 2023-12-14

Impari Atena presents the verbal text of a musical theater performance on the myth of Apollo and Marsyas, which will be staged in Turin as part of the 2022 edition of Festa Europea della Musica. This reworking imagines that Euterpe, in protest against Apollo’s arbitrariness, calls for Athena’s intervention so that the musical competition can take place and the contestants have equal opportunities. But even the goddess of justice cannot judge equally, and so she remains silent. It will be Music who wins the challenge, and finds a way to reconcile the art of the god with that of the Sylen beyond all expectations.