Lino Liviabella

Lino Liviabella (born April 7, 1902 in Macerata , † October 21, 1964 in Bologna ) was an Italian composer, pianist and university teacher.

Liviabella came from a family of musicians. His paternal grandfather Livio was a student of Rossini and a church musician in Tolentino , his father Oreste had studied piano and organ at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome as well as composition with Ottorino Respighi and worked as a cantor at Macerata Cathedral . Liviabella initially studied literature, but soon switched to music, against the will of his parents. He financed his studies through private piano lessons and as a pianist in film theater performances.

In 1928 he was appointed director and piano teacher at the Liceo Musicale in Pescara , in 1931 he moved to Venice in the same position, and from 1940 he became a full professor of counterpoint and composition at the Conservatory of Palermo .

In 1942 Liviabella finally moved to Bologna . He held the chair for counterpoint and composition at the local conservatory, where he later became vice director and, after heading the conservatories in Pesaro (1953–1959) and Parma (1959–1963), director. In 1958 he finished writing a treatise on the theory of harmony, in 1964 he summarized his didactic experiences together with R. Monterosso in the work Sentir musica ('listen to music' or 'feel'). He also wrote essays for musical journals. Among his numerous students were the composers Franco Donatoni and Guido Ferraresi . In addition to his work as a composer, Liviabella also performed as a pianist.

Liviabella has received numerous international awards, including first prize in the National Propaganda Musicale competition for his violin sonata in A minor (1928) and in the Terza Mostra Nazionale di Musica Contemporanea competition in 1934 for the sonata in one movement for violin and piano. In 1936 he won second place in the orchestral music category at the art competitions of the 1936 Summer Olympics for his orchestral work Il vincitore ('The winner'), which was premiered by the Berlin Philharmonic under his direction. Other important awards were the Premio San Remo (1940), the Premio Roma for the cantata O Crux, ave! (1950), and the honorary diploma of the Comitato Internazionale per l'Unità e l'Universalità della Cultura (1962).

Works

Stage works

• L'usignolo e la rosa , ('The Nightingale and the Rose'), ballet based on Oscar Wilde (1925)
• Favola di poeta , ballet based on an act by Adriano Prandi (1935)
• Antigone , lyric tragedy, text: Emidio Mucci (1941)
• La Conchiglia ('The Shell'), dramatic novella, text: Emidio Mucci (1952)
• Canto di Natale ('Christmas Carol'), opera based on a text by Enzo Lucio Murolo (1962)

Cantatas

• Manina di neve , ('Hands from Snow', 1935)
• Sorella Chiara , ('Sister Chiara', 1943)
• Caterina da Siena , (' Catherine of Siena', 1947)
• O Crux, Ave! , (1950)
• Le sette parole di Gesù sulla Croce , ('The seven words of Jesus on the cross', 1957)

Symphonic music

• Monte Mario, symphonic poem (1937)
• La mia terra, symphonic poem ('Mein Land', 1942)
• Poema per pianoforte e orchestra ('Poem for piano and orchestra', 1952)
• Violin Concerto (1956)
• Symphony in four movements for soprano and orchestra on texts by Thomas Stearns Eliot (1963)
• Concerto for orchestra (1964)

Chamber music

• Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano (1928)
• Sonata ciclica for violoncello and piano (1931)
• Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano (1932)
• String Quartet No. 3 (1948)
• Piano Trio (1948)
• Viola Sonata No. 1 (1950)
• String Quartet No. 4 La melanconia (1955)
• Tre momenti for viola and piano (1956)
• Sette duetti miniatura (Seven Miniature Duets) for violin and viola (1957)
• Viola Sonata No. 2 (1957)
• Quattro brani nuziali (Four Wedding Songs ) for viola and organ or harmonium (1961)

Web links

• Portrait on the pages of the city of Macerata (ital.)
• Private page about Liviabella with numerous photos (ital.)
• Portrait (ital.)
• Liviabella's compositions for the Italian publisher Ricordi