Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

Born into a family of bankers that had lived in Florence since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) studied under Pizzetti at the city’s Conservatoire. He soon became one of the leading members of the young Italian school which broke with the tyranny of bel canto to return to the instrumental tradition of the Italian masters from the Baroque era. In 1928 Amédée-Landély Hettich a vocal teacher in Paris asked Castelnuovo-Tedesco to write a vocalise for the Répertoire moderne de Vocalises-Études the publication of which he was supervising at Leduc. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’scontribution entitled Vocalise-Étude for Medium Voice became so popular that it was immediately transcribed several times over. The present adaptation for cello and piano was created with prior consent from the composer by the famous Catalan cellist Gaspar Cassadó in 1930. The works opens with a poignant lamento that grieves the tragic fate of the Jewish people; it is followed by a folk dance whose “brisk and stubborn” movement marks with panache an imperious refusal to yield to resignation. The composer adopted the same proactive stance himself when in 1939 fleeing Mussolini’s antisemitic laws he decided to emigrate to the United States a land of refuge to which he would remain faithful until his death some thirty years later.

Born into a family that had lived in Florence since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) entertained only a distant relationship with the music he heard at synagogue. It was only when he discovered Schelemo a rhapsody for cello and orchestra written in 1916 by Ernest Bloch that he began to understand what “Jewish music” could be. In the mid-1920s the young composer found a collection of prayers set to music among his maternal grandfather’s papers. Something clicked and from then on Jewish tradition would become a source of inspiration for Castelnuovo-Tedesco. In 1928 two years after publishing theDances of King David he wrote this Vocalise-Étude for medium voice and piano at the request of vocal teacher Amédée-Landély Hettich who wanted to include it in the Répertoire moderne de Vocalises-Études published by Leduc. The piece became so popular that several instrumental adaptations were soon created published under the title Chant hébraïque (for violin and piano: AL17 713; for cello and piano: AL 17196). Divided into three sections this wordless melody opens with a “sad and impassioned” chant that appears to grieve the tragic fate of the Jewish people. A folk dance follows in which a “lively and stubborn” movement has great panache. The third section returns to the initial poignant theme before briefly reiterating the dance motif allowing the piece to conclude on a hopeful note. The composer himself would adopt this proactive stance refusing to yield to resignation when fleeing Mussolini’s anti-Semitic laws he decided to emigrate in 1939 to the United States a land of refuge to which he would remain faithful until his death some thirty years later.

Edizione critica a cura di Frédéric Zigante from opus 170. Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco composed 52 Greeting Cards for various instruments between 1953 and 1967, collectively catalogued as opus 170, which he developed in a non-systematic manner up to the year before his death. These pieces were conceived as gifts for his interpreters and students, whom the author meant to gratify with these pleasant little vignettes. The 21 Greeting Cards for guitar, written from 1954 to 1967, are here collected for the first time. Historical introduction and critical commentary in Italian and English.

La Sonatina canonica pour deux guitares opus 196 de Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968) fut composée en 1961 pour le légendaire duo de guitares formé par Ida Presti (1924-1967) et Alexandre Lagoya (1929-1999). Ce fut le premier épisode d'une longue collaboration qui eut pour fruits des oeuvres d'une grande valeur. Conçus en forme de canon, les trois mouvements de la Sonatina représentent un hommage voilé à la musique pour clavecin d'inspiration hispanique de Domenico Scarlatti et sont restitués ici dans le texte original, respectant scrupuleusement les nombreux signes d'articulation et indications du compositeur présents dans les manuscrits. / 2 Guitares

For Violin and Orchestra-Le CONCERTO No. 2 pour violon et orchestre de Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco est dédié à Jascha Heifetz un des violonistes les plus importants et influents du XXe siècle qui en fut le premier interprète sous la direction d´Arturo Toscanini (New York 1933).? Cette Edition est la réduction pour violon et piano effectuée par le compositeur lui-même.? Un classique très demandé du répertoire Ricordi disponible de nouveau au catalogue.