Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius (ca. 480–524 or 525 AD) was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after Odoacer deposed the last Western Roman Emperor. Boethius, of the noble Anicia family, entered public life at a young age and was already a senator by the age of 25. Boethius himself was consul in 510 in the kingdom of the Ostrogoths. In 522 he saw his two sons become consuls. Boethius was imprisoned and eventually executed by King Theodoric the Great, who suspected him of conspiring with the Eastern Empire. While jailed, Boethius composed his ''Consolation of Philosophy'', a philosophical treatise on fortune, death, and other issues. The ''Consolation'' became one of the most popular and influential works of the Middle Ages. A link between Boethius and a mathematical boardgame Rithmomachia has been made.

Early life

Boethius' exact birth date is unknown. It is generally established at around 481, the same year of birth as Benedict of Nursia. Boethius was born to a patrician family which had been Christian for about a century. His father Manlius Boethius' line included two popes, and both parents counted Roman emperors among their ancestors.

Although Boethius is believed to have been born into a Christian family, some scholars have conjectured that he abandoned Christianity for paganism, perhaps on his deathbed. Momigliano argues "many people have turned to Christianity for consolation. Boethius turned to paganism. His Christianity collapsed — it collapsed so thoroughly that perhaps he did not even notice its disappearance." However, while this has been a popular idea among scholars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it does not reflect the majority of current scholarship on the matter. It is unknown where Boethius received his formidable education in Greek. Historical documents are ambiguous on the subject, but Boethius may have studied in Athens, and perhaps Alexandria. Since the elder Boethius is recorded as proctor of a school in Alexandria circa 470, the younger Boethius may have received some grounding in the classics from his father or a close relative.

As a result of his education and experience, Boethius entered the service of Theodoric the Great, who in 506 had written him a graceful and complimentary letter about his studies. Theodoric subsequently commissioned the young Boethius to perform many roles.

Late life

In 522 his two sons, Symmachus and Boethius, received the high honour of being appointed joint consuls; that same year, Boethius accepted the appointment to the position of ''magister officiorum'', the head of all the government and court services. Also in 520, Boethius was working to revitalize the relationship between the Church in Rome and the Church in Constantinople. This may have led to loss of favour.

In 523, however, Theodoric ordered Boethius arrested on charges of treason, possibly for a suspected plot with the Byzantine Emperor Justin I, whose religious orthodoxy (in contrast to Theodoric's Arian opinions) increased their political rivalry. Boethius himself attributes his arrest to the slander of his rivals. Theodoric was feeling threatened by events, however, and several other leading members of the landed elite were arrested and executed at about the same time. Also, because of his previous ties to Theodahad, Boethius apparently found himself on the wrong side in the succession dispute following the untimely death of Eutharic, Theodoric's announced heir. Whatever the cause, Boethius found himself stripped of his title and wealth and imprisoned at Pavia, where he was executed the following year. Boethius was executed at the young age of 44 years on October 23, 524. The method of his execution varies in the sources; he was perhaps killed with an axe or a sword, or was clubbed to death. His remains were entombed in the church of San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro in Pavia. In Dante's ''Paradise'' of ''The Divine Comedy'', the spirit of Boethius is pointed out by St. Thomas Aquinas:

:''Now if thy mental eye conducted be'' :''From light to light as I resound their frame,'' :''The eighth well worth attention thou wilt see.'' :''The soul who pointed out the world's dark ways,'' :''To all who listen, its deceits unfolding.'' :''Beneath in Cieldauro lies the frame'' :''Whence it was driven; from woe and exile to'' :''This fair abode of peace and bliss it came.''

Works

Boethius's best known work is the ''Consolation of Philosophy'' (''De consolatione philosophiae''), which he wrote most likely while in exile under house arrest or in prison while awaiting his execution, but his lifelong project was a deliberate attempt to preserve ancient classical knowledge, particularly philosophy. This work represented an imaginary dialogue between himself and philosophy, with philosophy being personified by a woman. The book argues that despite the apparent inequality of the world, there is, in Platonic fashion, a higher power and everything else is secondary to that divine Providence. There are several manuscripts that have survived and been expansively edited, translated and printed throughout the late 15th century and forward in Europe. He intended to translate all the works of Aristotle and Plato from the original Greek into Latin. His completed translations of Aristotle's works on logic were the only significant portions of Aristotle available in Europe until the 12th century. However, some of his translations (such as his treatment of the topoi in ''The Topics'') were mixed with his own commentary, which reflected both Aristotelian and Platonic concepts.

Unfortunately, the commentaries themselves were lost. In addition to his commentary on the Topics, Boethius composed two treatises on Topical argumentation, ''In Ciceronis Topica'' and ''De topicis differentiis''. The first work has six books, and is largely a response to Cicero's ''Topica''. The first book of ''In Ciceronis Topica'' begins with a dedication to Patricius. It includes distinctions and assertions important to Boethius's overall philosophy, such as his view of the role of philosophy to "establish our judgment concerning the governing of life", and definitions of logic from Plato, Aristotle and Cicero. He breaks logic into three parts, that which defines, that which divides, and that which deduces. He asserts there to be three types of arguments, those of necessity, of ready believability, and sophistry. He follows Aristotle in defining one sort of Topic as the maximal proposition; these are propositions which are somehow shown to be universal or readily believable. The other sort of Topic, the differentiae, are "Topics that contain and include the maximal propositions"; means of categorizing the Topics which Boethius credits to Cicero. Book II covers two kinds of topics, those from related things and those from extrinsic topics. Book III discusses the relationship between things studied through Topics, Topics themselves, and the nature of definition. Book IV analyzes partition, designation and relationships between things (such as pairing, numbering, genus and species, etc.). After a review of his terms, Boethius spends Book V discussing Stoic logic and Aristotelian causation. Book VI relates the nature of the Topic to causes.

''In Topicis Differentiis'' has four books; Book I discusses the nature of rhetorical and dialectical Topics together, Boethius's overall purpose being "to show what the Topics are, what their differentiae are, and which are suited for what syllogisms". He distinguishes between argument (that which constitutes belief) and argumentation (that which demonstrates belief). Propositions are divided into three parts, those that are universal, those that are particular, and those that are somewhere in between. These distinctions, and others, are applicable to both types of Topical argument, rhetorical and dialectical. Books II and III are primarily focused on Topics of dialectic (syllogisms), while Book IV concentrates on the unit of the rhetorical Topic, the enthymeme. Topical argumentation is at the core of Boethius’s conception of dialectic, which “have categorical rather than conditional conclusions, and he conceives of the discovery of an argument as the discovery of a middle term capable of linking the two terms of the desired conclusion”. Not only are these texts of paramount importance to the study of Boethius, they are also crucial to the history of topical lore. It is largely due to Boethius that the Topics of Aristotle and Cicero were revived, and the Boethian tradition of topical argumentation spans its influence throughout the Middle Ages and into the early Renaissance: “In the works of Ockham, Buridan, Albert of Saxony, and the Pseudo-Scotus, for instance, many of the rules of consequence bear a strong resemblance to or are simply identical with certain Boethian Topics . . . Boethius’s influence, direct and indirect, on this tradition is enormous”.

It was also in ''De Topicis Differentiis'' that Boethius made a unique contribution to the discourse on dialectic and rhetoric. Topical argumentation for Boethius is dependent upon a new category for the topics discussed by Aristotle and Cicero, and "[u]nlike Aristotle, Boethius recognizes two different types of Topics. First, he says, a Topic is a maximal proposition (''maxima propositio''), or principle; but there is a second kind of Topic, which he calls the differentia of a maximal proposition..." . Maximal propositions are "propositions [that are] known per se, and no proof can be found for these.". This is the basis for the idea that demonstration (or the construction of arguments) is dependent ultimately upon ideas or proofs that are known so well and are so fundamental to human understanding of logic that no other proofs come before it. They must hold true in and of themselves. According to Stump, "the role of maximal propositions in argumentation is to ensure the truth of a conclusion by ensuring the truth of its premises either directly or indirectly.". These propositions would be used in constructing arguments through the "Differentia," which is the second part of Boethius' theory. This is "the genus of the intermediate in the argument". So maximal propositions allow room for an argument to be founded in some sense of logic while differentia are critical for the demonstration and construction of arguments.

Boethius’ definition of “differentiae” is that they are “the Topics of arguments...The Topics which are the Differentiae of [maximal] propositions are more universal than those propositions, just as rationality is more universal than man.”. This is the second part of Boethius’ unique contribution to the field of rhetoric. Differentia operate under maximal propositions to “be of use in finding maximal propositions as well as intermediate terms,” or the premises that follow maximal propositions.

Though Boethius is drawing from Aristotle’s Topics, Differentiae are not the same as Topics in some ways. Boethius arranges differentia through statements, instead of generalized groups as Aristotle does. Stump articulates the difference. They are “expressed as words or phrases whose expansion into appropriate propositions is neither intended nor readily conceivable”, unlike Aristotle’s clearly defined four groups of Topics. Aristotle had hundreds of topics organized into those four groups, whereas Boethius has twenty-eight “Topics” that are “highly ordered among themselves.”. This distinction is necessary to understand Boethius as separate from past rhetorical theories.

Maximal propositions and Differentiae belong not only to rhetoric, but also to dialectic. Boethius define dialectic through an analysis of “thesis” and hypothetical propositions. He claims that “[t]here are two kinds of questions. One is that called, ‘thesis’ by the [Greek] dialecticians. This is the kind of question which asks about and discusses things stripped of relation to other circumstances; it is the sort of question dialecticians most frequently dispute about – for example, ‘Is pleasure the greatest good?’ [or] ‘Should one marry?’”. Dialectic has “dialectical topics” as well as “dialectical-rhetorical topics,” all of which are still discussed in De Topicis Differentiis.Dialectic, especially in Book I, comprises a major component of Boethius’ discussion on Topics.

Boethius planned to completely translate Plato's ''Dialogues'', but there is no known surviving translation, if it was actually ever begun.

Boethius intended to pass on the great Greco-Roman culture to future generations by writing manuals on music and astronomy, geometry, and arithmetic.

Several of Boethius' writings, which were largely influential during the Middle Ages, drew from the thinking of Porphyry and Iamblichus. Boethius wrote a commentary on the ''Isagoge'' by Porphyry, which highlighted the existence of the problem of universals: whether these concepts are subsistent entities which would exist whether anyone thought of them, or whether they only exist as ideas. This topic concerning the ontological nature of universal ideas was one of the most vocal controversies in medieval philosophy.

Besides these advanced philosophical works, Boethius is also reported to have translated important Greek texts for the topics of the quadrivium His loose translation of Nicomachus's treatise on arithmetic (''De institutione arithmetica libri duo'') and his textbook on music (''De institutione musica libri quinque'', unfinished) contributed to medieval education. ''De arithmetica'', begins with modular arithmetic, such as even and odd, evenly-even, evenly-odd, and oddly-even. He then turns to unpredicted complexity by categorizing numbers and parts of numbers. His translations of Euclid on geometry and Ptolemy on astronomy, if they were completed, no longer survive. Boethius made Latin translations of Aristotle's ''De interpretation'' and ''Categories'' with commentaries. These were widely used during the Middle Ages.

Boethius' ''De institutione musica'', was one of the first musical works to be printed in Venice between the years of 1491 and 1492. It was written toward the beginning of the sixth century and helped medieval authors during the ninth century understand Greek music.

In his "De Musica", Boethius introduced the fourfold classification of music: #''Musica mundana'' — music of the spheres/world #''Musica humana'' — harmony of human body and spiritual harmony #''Musica instrumentalis'' — instrumental music (incl. human voice) #''Musica divina'' — music of the gods

In one of his works within ''De institutione musica'', was to say "Music is so naturally united with us that we cannot be free from it even if we so desired."

During the Middle Ages, Boethius was connected to several texts that were used to teach liberal arts. Although he did not address the subject of trivium, he did write many treatises explaining the principles of rhetoric, grammar, and logic. During the Middle Ages, his works of these disciplines were commonly used when studying the three elementary arts.

Cassiodorus' biography of Boethius authorized that Boethius wrote about theology, composed a pastoral poem, and was most famous for his ability to translate works of Greek mathematics and logic. Boethius also wrote Christian theological treatises, which generally supported the orthodox position against Arianism and other dissident forms of Christianity. These included ''On the Trinity, On the Catholic Faith'', and a ''Book against Eutychius and Nestorius''.

Lorenzo Valla described Boethius as the last of the Romans and the first of the scholastic philosophers. Despite the use of his mathematical texts in the early universities, it is his final work, the ''Consolation of Philosophy'', that assured his legacy in the Middle Ages and beyond. This work is cast as a dialogue between Boethius himself, at first bitter and despairing over his imprisonment, and the spirit of philosophy, depicted as a woman of wisdom and compassion. "Alternately composed in prose and verse, the ''Consolation'' teaches acceptance of hardship in a spirit of philosophical detachment from misfortune." Parts of the work are reminiscent of the Socratic method of Plato's dialogues, as the spirit of philosophy questions Boethius and challenges his emotional reactions to adversity. The work was translated into Old English by King Alfred, and into later English by Chaucer and Queen Elizabeth; many manuscripts survive and it was extensively edited, translated and printed throughout Europe from the 14th century onwards. Many commentaries on it were compiled and it has been one of the most influential books in European culture. No complete bibliography has ever been assembled but it would run into thousands of items. "The Boethian Wheel" is a model for Boethius' belief that history is a wheel, that Boethius uses frequently in the ''Consolation''; it remained very popular throughout the Middle Ages, and is still often seen today. As the wheel turns those that have power and wealth will turn to dust; men may rise from poverty and hunger to greatness, while those who are great may fall with the turn of the wheel. It was represented in the Middle Ages in many relics of art depicting the rise and fall of man. Descriptions of "The Boethian Wheel" can be found in the literature of the Middle Ages from the ''Romance of the Rose'' to Chaucer.

Veneration

Boethius is recognized as a martyr for the Catholic faith by the Roman Martyrology. His cult is held in Pavia and in the Church of Santa Maria in Portico in Rome. His feast day is October 23. He was declared a saint by the Sacred Congregation of Rites in 1883, and Pope Benedict XVI explains the relevance of Boethius to modern day Christians by linking his teachings to an understanding of Providence.

Cultural references

Boethius figures prominently in the worldview and philosophical musings of fictional character Ignatius J. Reilly in ''A Confederacy of Dunces'', a novel by John Kennedy Toole. Christopher Eccleston quotes a passage from ''Consolation of Philosophy'' during a brief cameo as a homeless man in the movie 24 Hour Party People.

In Chapter 27 of ''The Screwtape Letters,'' C.S. Lewis holds Boethius up as an example of timeless wisdom—a "meddlesome" writer, according to his morally inverted character Uncle Screwtape.

Author Tom Shippey has noted several Boethian influences in J.R.R. Tolkien's novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. It is documented fact that Tolkien was very familiar with Alfred the Great's Anglo-Saxon translation of ''Consolation of Philosophy'', known as the ''Lays of Boethius''. Shippey contends that this Christian view of evil is most clearly stated by Boethius: "evil is nothing." He says Tolkien used the corollary that evil cannot create as the basis of Frodo's remark, "the Shadow ... can only mock, it cannot make: not real new things of its own," and related remarks by the Ent Treebeard and the Elvenking Elrond.

Notes

References

.

Heather, Peter (1996). ''The Goths.'' Wiley-Blackwell.

Marenbon, John (ed.) (2009). ''The Cambridge Companion to Boethius'' Cambridge University Press.

Bibliography

Papahagi, Adrian, ''Boethiana Mediaevalia – A Collection of Studies on the Early Medieval Fortune of Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy'', Zeta Books, November 2010, ISBN 978-973-1997-79-7.

Discography

Carlo Forlivesi, ''Boethius'' (2008) for biwa. The piece is included in the CD album SILENZIOSA LUNA (ALCD 76).

External links

Works

''De Musica'' — Boethius ''De Trinitate'' (On the Holy Trinity) — Boethius ''Theological Tractates''; Christian Classics Ethereal Library

A 10th century manuscript of ''Institutio Arithmetica'' is available online from Lund University, Sweden

The Geoffrey Freudlin 1885 edition of the Arithmetica, from the Cornell Library Historical Mathematics Monographs

Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries High resolution images of works by Boethius in .jpg and .tiff format.

On Boethius

Blessed Severinus Boethius at Patron Saints Index

Blackwood, Stephen.''The Meters of Boethius: Rhythmic Therapy in the Consolation of Philosophy.''

The Contribution of Boethius to the Development of Medieval Logic

Boethius at ''The Online Library of Liberty''

On Boethius and Cassiodorus — Pope Benedict XVI

Category:480 births Category:520s deaths Category:5th-century Romans Category:6th-century Romans Category:5th-century Italian people Category:6th-century Italian people Category:6th-century Christian saints Category:6th-century philosophers Category:6th-century mathematicians Category:6th-century writers Category:Anicii Category:Ancient Roman rhetoricians Category:Burials at San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro, Pavia Category:Goths Category:Greek–Latin translators Category:Latin commentators on Aristotle Category:Imperial Roman consuls Category:Late Antique Latin-language writers Category:Philosophers of Roman Italy Category:Executed philosophers Category:Deaths by blade weapons Category:Latin-writing philosophers Category:Magistri officiorum Category:Music theorists

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Nigel Warburton (born 1962) is a philosopher, currently Senior Lecturer at the Open University. He is best known as a populariser of philosophy, being author of a number of books of this genre, but he has also written academic works in esthetics and applied ethics.

Education

Warburton received a BA from the University of Bristol and a PhD from Darwin College, Cambridge and was a lecturer at the University of Nottingham before joining the Department of Philosophy at the Open University in 1994.

Career

He is author of a number of introductory Philosophy books including the bestselling ''Philosophy: The Basics'' (4th ed.), ''Philosophy: The Classics'' (3rd ed.) and ''Thinking from A to Z'' (3rd ed.), ''Philosophy: The Essential Study Guide'', and ''The Art Question''; he also edited ''Philosophy: Basic Readings'', second edition and is co-author of ''Reading Political Philosophy: Machiavelli to Mill''. He has written extensively about photography, particularly about Bill Brandt, and wrote a biography of the modernist architect Ernö Goldfinger. He regularly teaches courses on philosophy and art at Tate Modern and writes a monthly column 'Everyday Philosophy' for "Prospect" magazine.

He runs a popular philosophy weblog ''Virtual Philosopher'' and with David Edmonds regularly podcasts interviews with top philosophers on a range of subjects at ''Philosophy Bites''. He also podcasts chapters from his book ''Philosophy: The Classics''.

Partial bibliography

''Philosophy: The Basics'' (4th ed.) ISBN 978-0415327732

''Philosophy: The Classics'' (3rd ed.) ISBN 978-0415356299

''Thinking from A to Z'' (3rd ed.) ISBN 978-0415433716

''The Art Question''

''Ernö Goldfinger: The Life of An Architect''

''Free Speech: A Very Short Introduction'' ISBN 978-0199232352

"Philosophy Bites" (co-edited with David Edmonds) ISBN 978-0-19-957632-6

References

External links

Official site

''Philosophy Bites'' podcast

''Ethics Bites'' podcast

''Virtual Philosopher'' weblog

''Art and Allusion'' weblog

''Free Speech'' weblog

Interview with Nigel Warburton and David Edmonds about Podcasting on Oxonians Podcast

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:Academics of the Open University Category:Book editors Category:British political philosophers Category:Philosophy writers Category:Alumni of Darwin College, Cambridge Category:Alumni of the University of Bristol Category:Academics of the University of Nottingham

cs:Nigel Warburton

Luigi Dallapiccola (February 3, 1904 – February 19, 1975) was an Italian composer known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions.

Biography

Dallapiccola was born at Pisino d'Istria (current Pazin, Croatia), to Italian parents.

Unlike many composers born into highly musical environments, his early musical career was irregular at best. Political disputes over his birthplace of Istria, then part of the Austrian empire, led to instability and frequent moves. His father was headmaster of an Italian-language school – the only one in the city – which was shut down at the start of World War I. The family, considered politically subversive, was placed in internment at Graz, Austria, where the budding composer hadn't even access to a piano, though he did attend performances at the local opera house, which cemented his desire to pursue composition as a career. Once back to his hometown Pisino after the war, he travelled frequently.

Dallapiccola took his piano degree at the Florence Conservatory in the 1920s and became professor there in 1931; until his 1967 retirement he spent his career there teaching lessons in piano as a secondary instrument, replacing his teacher Ernesto Consolo as the older man's illness prevented him from continuing. He also studied composition with Vito Frazzi at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini. Dallapiccola's students include Abraham Zalman Walker, Luciano Berio, Bernard Rands, Donald Martino, Halim El-Dabh, Ernesto Rubin de Cervin, Arlene Zallman, Noel Da Costa, and Raymond Wilding-White.

Dallapiccola's early experiences under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini colored his outlook and output for the rest of his life. He once supported Mussolini, believing the propaganda, and it was not until the 1930s that he became passionate about his political views, in protest to the Abyssinian campaign and Italy's involvement in the Spanish Civil War. Mussolini's sympathy with Adolf Hitler's views on race, which threatened Dallapiccola's Jewish wife Laura Luzzatto, only hardened his stance. ''Canti di prigionia'' and ''Il prigioniero'' are reflections of this impassioned concern; the former was his first true protest work.

During World War II he was in the dangerous position of opposing the Nazis; though he tried to go about his career as usual, and did, to a limited extent. On two occasions he was forced to go into hiding for several months. Dallapiccola continued his touring as a recitalist – but only in countries not occupied by the Nazis.

Though it was only after the war that his compositions made it into the public eye (with his opera ''Il prigioniero'' sparking his fame), it was then that his life became relatively quiet. He made frequent travels to the United States, including appearances at Tanglewood in the summers of 1951 and 1952 and several semesters of teaching courses in composition at Queens College, New York beginning in 1956. He was a sought-after lecturer throughout Western Europe and the Americas. Dallapiccola's 1968 opera ''Ulisse'' would be the peak of his career, after which his compositional output was sparse; his later years were largely spent writing essays rather than music.

He had no more finished compositions after 1972 due to his failing health, and he died in Florence in 1975 of edema of the lungs. There are, however, a very few sketches and fragments of work from this period, including a vocal work left unfinished just hours before his death.

Music

It was Richard Wagner's music that inspired Dallapiccola to start composing in earnest, and Claude Debussy's that caused him to stop: hearing ''Der fliegende Holländer'' while exiled to Austria convinced the young man that composition was his calling, but after first hearing Debussy in 1921 he stopped composing for three years in order to give this important influence time to sink in. The neoclassical works of Ferruccio Busoni would figure prominently in his later work, but his biggest influence would be the ideas of the Second Viennese School, which he encountered in the 1930s, particularly Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Dallapiccola's works of the 1920s have been withdrawn, with the instruction that they never be performed, though they still exist under controlled access for study.

His works widely use the serialism developed and embraced by his idols; he was, in fact, the first Italian to write in the method, and the primary proponent of it in Italy, and he developed serialist techniques to allow for a more lyrical, tonal style. Throughout the 1930s his style developed from a diatonic style with bursts of chromaticism to a consciously serialist outlook. He went from using twelve-tone rows for melodic material to structuring his works entirely serially. With the adoption of serialism he never lost the feel for melodic line that many of the detractors of the Second Viennese School claimed to be absent in modern dodecaphonic music. His disillusionment with Mussolini's regime effected a change in his style: after the Abyssinian campaign he claimed that his writing would no longer ever be light and carefree as it once was. While there are later exceptions, particularly the ''Piccolo concerto per Muriel Couvreux'', this is largely the case.

''Liriche Greche'' (1942-45), for solo voice with instruments, would be his first work composed entirely in this twelve-tone style, composed concurrently with his last original purely diatonic work, the ballet ''Marsia'' (1943). The following decade showed a refinement in his technique and the increasing influence of Webern's work. After this, from the 1950s on, the refined, contemplative style he developed would characterize his output, in contrast to the more raw and passionate works of his youth. Most of his works would be songs for solo voice and instrumental accompaniment. His touch with instrumentation is noted for its impressionistic sensuality and soft textures, heavy on sustained notes by woodwinds and strings (particularly middle-range instruments, such as the clarinet and viola).

The politically charged ''Canti di prigionia'' for chorus and ensemble was the beginning of a loose triptych on the highly personal themes of imprisonment and injustice; the one-act opera ''Il prigioniero'' and the cantata ''Canti di liberazione'' completed the trilogy. Of these, ''Il prigioniero'' (1944-48) has become Dallapiccola's best-known work. It tells the chilling story of a political prisoner whose jailor, in an apparent gesture of fraternity, allows him to escape from his cell. At the moment of his freedom, however, he finds he has been the victim of a cruel practical joke as he runs straight into the arms of the Grand Inquisitor, who smilingly leads him off to the stake at which he is to be burned alive. The opera's pessimistic outlook reflects Dallapiccola's complete disillusionment with fascism (which he had naïvely supported when Mussolini first came to power) and the music contained therein is both beautifully realized and supremely disquieting.

His final opera ''Ulisse'', with his own libretto after ''The Odyssey'', was the culmination of his life's work. It was composed over 8 years, including and developing themes from his earlier works, and was his last large-scale composition.

Selected works

''Partita'' (1930-32), orchestra

''Musica per tre pianoforti'' (1935), three pianos

''Tre laudi'' (1936-7), voice and 13 instruments

''Volo di Notte'' (1938), one-act opera

''Canti di prigionia'' (1938-41), for chorus, two pianos, 2 harps and percussion

''Piccolo concerto per Muriel Couvreux'' (1939-41), piano and chamber orchestra

''Liriche Greche'' (1942-5),

''Marsia'' (1943), ballet

''Il prigioniero'' (1944-8), opera.

''Ciaccona, Intermezzo e Adagio'' (1945), for solo cello

''Sonatina canonica su Capricci di Niccolo Paganini per pianoforte'' (1946), for piano

''Quattro liriche di Antonio Machado'' (1948), soprano and piano

''Job'' (1950), opera

''Tartiniana'' (1951), violin and orchestra

''Canti di liberazione'' (1951-5), for mixed chorus and orchestra

''Quaderno musicale di Annalibera'' (1952), solo piano, featuring the BACH motif

''Goethe-Lieder'' (1953), for mezzo soprano, piccolo clarinet, clarinet, and bass clarinet

''An Mathilde'' (1955), soprano and orchestra

''Tartiniana seconda'' (1955-6), violin and orchestra

''Cinque canti '' (1956), baritone and 8 instruments

''Requiescant'' (1957-8), chorus and orchestra

''Three Questions With Two Answers'' (1962), orchestra

''Preghiere'' (1962), baritone and chamber orchestra

''Ulisse'' (1960-8), opera

''Sicut umbra'' (1970), mezzo-soprano and 12 instruments

''Tempus destruendi/tempus aedificandi'' (1971), chorus

''Commiato'' (1972), soprano and ensemble

Writings by Dallapiccola

''Appunti. Incontri. Meditazioni.'', Edizioni Suvini Zerboni, 1970

''Dallapiccola on Opera'', Selected writings of Luigi Dallapiccola, Vol 1, Toccata Press (1987)

''Dallapiccola on Music and Musicians'', Selected writings of Luigi Dallapiccola, Vol. 2, Toccata Press

Writings in English on Dallapiccola

Raymond Fearn, ''The music of Luigi Dallapiccola''. New York, Rochester, 2003

Edward Wilkinson, "An interpretation of serialism in the work of Luigi Dallapiccola". Phd diss., Royal Holloway, 1982

Ben Earle, "Musical modernism in fascist Italy: Dallapiccola in the thirties", Phd diss., Cambridge, 2001

References

John C. G. Waterhouse, "Luigi Dallapiccola". ''Grove Music'' Online.

Anthony Sellors, "Luigi Dallapiccola", "''Ulisse''", "''Il prigionero''". Grove Music Online (OperaBase).

External links

Istria on the Internet: Prominent Istrians

CompositionToday: Luigi Dallapiccola Overview

Category:1904 births Category:1975 deaths Category:People from Pazin Category:Istrian Italian people Category:Italian composers Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Opera composers Category:Deaths from edema Category:Deaths from lung disease

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