Leone Sinigaglia facts for kids
Leone Sinigaglia (born August 14, 1868 – died May 16, 1944) was a talented Italian composer and a skilled mountaineer. He is remembered for his beautiful music and his love for the mountains.
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Biography
Leone Sinigaglia was born in Turin, Italy. His family was well-off and Jewish. He began studying music at the Turin conservatory with Giovanni Bolzoni.
Leone grew up knowing many important thinkers, artists, and scientists in Turin. These included people like Galileo Ferraris and Cesare Lombroso. From a young age, he loved reading and mountain climbing. He often spent holidays near Cavoretto, a place just outside Turin. This area gave him lots of ideas for his music. One piece he wrote during this time was the Romanza for horn and string quartet.
In 1888, Sinigaglia started traveling around Europe. From 1894, he lived in Vienna, Austria. There, he met the famous composer Johannes Brahms. Brahms helped him develop a love for "absolute music," which is music that isn't meant to tell a story or describe something. He also studied with Eusebius Mandyczewski. During these years, he wrote several Lieder (German songs) and a Concerto for violin and orchestra.
Around 1900, he moved to Prague to work with another famous composer, Antonín Dvořák. Dvořák taught him how to use classical music techniques to arrange popular songs.
After 1901, Sinigaglia's music production slowed down. Sadly, during World War II, he faced great danger in Turin and passed away in 1944.
Musical Works
When Sinigaglia returned to Turin in 1901, he spent ten years collecting and writing down many popular songs. He found most of these songs from the oral tradition (songs passed down by word of mouth) in the hills of Cavoretto. He arranged many of them for a singer and pianoforte (piano). His style was similar to German songs from the late 1800s.
One of his most famous collections is Twelve Old Popular Songs of Piedmont. These were first published in Germany in 1914. People still remember Sinigaglia for this collection today. His other music from this time also showed his deep love for the music of his home region, Piedmont. Examples include his two Piedmontese Dances (1905) and the Suite for orchestra "Piemonte" (1909). The famous conductor Arturo Toscanini often performed these pieces.
Sinigaglia also wrote other important works. His overture to The Chiozzotte Quarrels (1907) was directed by great conductors like Wilhelm Furtwängler and John Barbirolli. Toscanini even played this music in radio concerts with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. Some of his chamber music (music for a small group of instruments) that is still remembered includes two sonatas: one for cello and piano, and another for violin and piano.
Mountaineering
Leone Sinigaglia was a very enthusiastic mountain climber when he was young. He climbed many mountains in the Dolomites (a mountain range in Italy). People have called him "the first great Italian climber in the Dolomites."
Two of his most famous climbs were the first ascents (meaning no one had climbed them before) on Croda da Lago and Monte Cristallo. He wrote a book about his climbing adventures called Climbing Reminiscences of the Dolomites. It was published in English in 1898 and is still considered a classic book about climbing.
Other Compositions
Leone Sinigaglia wrote many different types of music.
Chamber Works
He composed pieces for small groups of instruments.
- Romanza for horn and string quartet, opus 3.
- Konzert-Etude (Concert-Study) for string quartet, opus 5.
- Drei romantische Stücke für Violine mit Clavierbegleitung (Three Romantic pieces for violin with piano accompaniment), opus 13.
- Twelve variations on a theme by Franz Schubert, for oboe and piano, opus 19.
- String quartet in D major, opus 27.
- Piece for horn and piano, opus 28.
- Serenade for string trio in D, opus 33.
Orchestra Works
He also wrote music for larger orchestras.
- Adagio tragico, opus 21, for string orchestra.
- Lamento in memoria di un giovane artista (Lament in memory of a young artist), opus 38.
- Ouvertüre zu Goldonis Lustspiel Le Baruffe Chiozzotte (Overture to Goldoni's Comedy The Chiozzotte Quarrels), opus 32.
- Piemonte: suite per orchestra sopra temi popolari (Piedmont: suite for orchestra on popular themes), opus 36. This suite has four sections.
See also
In Spanish: Leone Sinigaglia para niños
