Teresa Procaccini - Musica da Camera

Teresa Procaccini

Chamber Music 1

Divertissement
for wind quintet op. 90 (1980) - 6'24" - [Score available]

Demo .mp3 - 30 sec. - 600 Kb

Sonata
for piano op. 3 (1956) - 15'46"

Demo .mp3 - 30 sec. - 600 Kb

Piccolo concerto
for 13 players op. 138 (1996) - 11'14" - [Score available]

Demo .mp3 - 30 sec. - 600 Kb

Marionette
for 4 hands piano op. 55 (1972) - 7'54" - [Score available]

Demo .mp3 - 30 sec. - 600 Kb

Quartetto
for flute, oboe, bassoon and piano op. 27 (1965) - 13'17" - [Score available]

Demo .mp3 - 30 sec. - 600 Kb

Tre pezzi
for bassoon and piano op. 30 (1966) - 7'43"

Demo .mp3 - 30 sec. - 600 Kb

Sestetto
for wind quintet and piano op. 140 (1997) - 10'24" - [Score available]

Demo .mp3 - 30 sec. - 600 Kb

I Fiati di Parma conducted by Claudio Paradiso

Quintetto di ottoni italiano Bim Bum Brass

Duo Stefano Scarcella, Claudio Trovajoli, piano

Claudio Paradiso, flute
Luciano Franca, oboe
Francesco Zarba, clarinet
Francesco Zanelti, bassoon
Domenico Losavio, bassoon
Andrea Mugnaini, horn
Raffaele D'Aniello, piano

Edipan Edition
CD PAN 3068 - price 15.00 Euro -

Teresa Procaccini

CD info

This CD is the second of 8 CD dedicated to the orchestral, sacred and chamber music of Teresa Procaccini, which the recording company Edi-Pan are publishing in stages. It contains seven compositions written over a period of 40 years. Five of these are for wind instruments with or without pianoforte and with musical forces which vary from 2 to 13 instruments.
The DIVERTISSEMENT for brass quintet op.90 (1980) which opens the CD plays upon a collection of small fragments which pass from one instrument to the other, forming the theme which is announced in turn by each of the instruments. Other constantly changing thematic elements are woven into it and heighten its character as an entertainment, from which it gets its title. The second movement provides a brief respite with its meditative, thoughtful adagio. It creates an atmosphere which recurs in nearly all of the slow movements of the pieces for wind instruments on this CD. In contrast, the third movement is built upon a light-hearted, clown-like theme which accentuates the comic nature of this allegro spiritoso, an uninterrupted play of small fragments in jazz style which reaches a powerful climax in the finale in which all of the instruments play in unison.
The SONATA for pianoforte op.3 (1956) is the most "youthful" composition in this collection. It dates from the composer's last years of study at the Conservatory. It is conceived in classic form, especially in the first movement, in which a fresh, enticing theme is contrasted by another which is more intense and romantic. Many recurring elements can be noted in the works written in 1955, 1956 and the first half of 1957, such as the strong rhythmic pause with frequent allusions to dance and jazz style (the use of syncopation can be heard in the third movement). A different atmosphere is created in the second movement which is a sort of enticing perpetuum mobile, in which a dark mysterious theme gradually develops, as it proceeds towards the end, into a luminous, solemn and ever more triumphal crescendo.
The SMALL CONCERTO for 13 instruments op.138 (1996) is a version of the earlier work by the same name for 14 instruments, written in 1959, which has been revised and re-orchestrated. It has three movements - March, Intermezzo and Tarantella - and gives prominence to the tone characteristics of the various instruments with catchy, festive themes which recur and are continually varied. The serious, jauntyMarch calls to mind a band of lead soldiers, images from a childhood world which was evidently dear to the composer. The atmosphere of the Intermezzo is clear. Brief, intense melodic strains, supported by delicate harmonies, give the piece a character of hazy nostalgia and distant memories which are suddenly cut short by the furious final Tarantella. Here, the incessant dance rhythm brings to the forefront that atmosphere of joyous optimism which characterises the music of Teresa Procaccini. MARIONETTE, a piano piece for four hands, op.55 (1972) written for a commission by the "Incontri Musicali Romani" Festival in the same year, is a work which has had such a great effect upon the public as to persuade the composer to make two subsequent versions, one for pianoforte and 10 instruments (1975) and the other for orchestra (1990). The work is a shining example Procaccini's passion, which has remained the same over the years, for making music with enthusiasm and without too much intellectual subtext. And here is the lively, joyous, mechanical music of the wild marionettes which make up the 1st and 3rd movements, while the second - a delicate waltz - evokes a dreaming Pierrot who at first dances gently with his Columbina before carrying her into a frenetic whirl which gradually calms down towards the end.
This is followed by the QUARTET for flute, oboe, bassoon and pianoforte op.27 (1965). This work was written after a silence of four years in which a lack of support for her composition work had deterred Procaccini from continuing to write. In fact, it appears that her work did not meet the attention which it deserved. Certainly, she was not helped by the fact that she was a "female composer", nor by the fact that she remained anchored to formal classical values, going against the trend for a musical balance which she was not able to reject even when the subversive pressures of contemporary language led to the automatic exclusion of those who were "not in line".Her meeting with various fine performers who invited her to write for them provided a useful way of escaping from the crisis and resulted in the composition of a further 120 works from 1965 up until today. In the QUARTET, as well, the parameters of her music do not shift either in its linearity or harmonic structure or in the constant presence of its thematic framework. The first movement is constructed in pure classic style which alternates episodes played in unison with contrapuntal passages. It is characterised by its smooth-running fluidity, built upon a pattern of almost incessant quaver runs. The second movement, a limpid cantabile theme vaguely reminiscent of Ravel, moves from one instrument to another, dissolving into long delicate trills. In the third movement we find once more that jazz atmosphpre of the third movement of the Sonata for pianoforte op.3. The opening theme is set out in an isorhythmic block which then develops into a passage for pianoforte alone, while the flute, playing over it, announces the second theme. Various contrapuntal devices alternate with harmonic passages and, with a continuing crescendo, bring to a close this pleasant, fiery work in which the joy of composing after a long period of silence is particularly evident.
In THREE PIECES for bassoon and pianoforte (1966), we note a mature compositional dexterity, which is clear from the opening presto, with its light-hearted geniality. The music is bright, with playful, ironic, scurrilous tones. The andante is interspersed with calm melodic suspensions which contrast with the flowing allegro finale, constructed upon a type ofperpetuum mobile for piano. Smooth and lively, full of great vitality, the piece expresses a warm irony which plays against the serious tones of the bassoon, which are thrown into pirouettes and disjointed melodic movements.
At the conclusion of this musical tour, we arrive at the SEXTET for wind quintet and pianoforte op.140 (1997). This work (like the SMALL CONCERTO) is also a revised version, this time of the Serenade for flute, two violins, violoncello and harpsichord of 1967. The atmosphere of the three movements is similar to that of the Quartet op.27. They belong to the same period but this differs from the latter for its greater clarity of melodic lines which are played by each of the instruments with gentle lightness. The unison passages here are found in the prestissimo finale, in which the semi-quaver passages for piano provide an almost constant background for a highly staccato quaver theme for the wind instruments, often played in unison. In the second movement we find once more the intimate pensive smoothness which is common to many slow movements in other works by Teresa Procaccini. But the melody is calmly melancholy and dissolves into smaller and smaller fragments, sustained by long suffused harmonies.
Marco Angius

Teresa Procaccini is the composer of a vast production (about 200 works), including operas, ballets, symphonic pieces, chamber works, band and symphonic band works, teaching works, which have been performed both in Italy and abroad.
After having been awarded her diploma in piano and organ (with Fernando Germani) and in composition (with Virgilio Mortari), in 1971 and 1972 she directed the Foggia Conservatory and up to 2001 she hasa been teacher of Composition at the “Santa Cecilia” Conservatory in Rome.
She has won national and international competitions and has held specialisation courses in composition at the Festival of Città di Castello, at the Respighi Academy in Assisi, at the Internazionale Meisterkursen in Duren (Germany) and the Frentana Music Summer in Lanciano.
;Her works have been published by Sonzogno, Zanibon, Edipan, Carisch, Bongiovanni, Curci, Leduc, Seesaw, Rugginenti, Scomegna, Pizzicato Helvetia, Berbén, Wicky, Carrara.
She has produced a remarkable quantity of music for children (short teaching operas, musical fables with reciting voice, works for boys’ Choir and piano, many pieces for young instrumentalists (strings, winds and percussions) and teaching books with tapes) published by Armando and Gulliver.
She has composed sound tracks for theatrical works and for cartoons for RAI television.
Almost all her works has been recorded by Edipan, Bongiovanni, Edizioni Paoline, Electrecord of Bucarest, Rugginenti, Grammophon AB BIS of Stockholm, Nuova Era Records, Scomegna, Altarus and Crystal Records (U.S.A.), Lira Classica M.A.P.
She has also been successful in organising concerts and since 1972 is Artistic Director of the Foggia Association of “Friends of Music” and consultant of many Association in Italy.
She conceived the touring review of “Ladies Composer of Past and Present”.
She is often guest of Juries (as President or member) of various national and international prizes and as speaker of musicology Conferences.