Giannini, Dusolina
Giannini Vittorio, *19 October 1903 Philadelphia, †28 November 1966 New York, Ferruccio’s son, an American composer of Italian descent. In 1911–14, he studied music at the conservatory in Milan. In 1918-22, he took private composition lessons with E. Trucca in New York; in 1925-30, he studied with R. Goldmark (composition) and with H. Letz and A. Spalding (violin) at the Juilliard Graduate School, obtaining a diploma in 1931. After winning the Grand Prix de Rome, he spent 1932–36 at the American Academy in Rome and stayed in Milan and Berlin. In 1934, he made his debut in Munich with the opera Lucedia; in his second opera, The Scarlet Letter, staged in Hamburg, the role of Hester was played by Dusolina Giannini. In 1939, Vittorio Giannini taught composition and orchestration at the Juilliard Graduate School and the New Yorker College of Music; from 1940 he taught at the Manhattan School of Music, from 1956 at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia; in 1965 he became director of the North Carolina School of Arts in Winston-Salem.
Vittorio Giannini’s early work was influenced by Italian verismo. Over time, the composer freed himself from this expressive dominant, creating more personal works, which, however, remain within the circle of neo-romantic expression of an eclectic nature.
Literature: R. Parriss Vittorio Giannini and the Romantic Tradition, “The Juilliard Review” April 1957.
Instrumental:
Violin Sonata No. 1, 1926
String Quartet, 1931
Piano Quartet, 1931
Suite for orchestra, 1931
Piano Trio, 1931
Quintet for wind instruments, 1934
Piano Sonata, 1934
Piano Concerto, 1935
Symphony “In memoriam Theodore Roosevelt”, 1935
Organ Concerto, 1937
Prelude, Chorale and Fugue for orchestra, 1939
Ballet suite from the opera Casanova by Giannini, 1939
Symphony in One Movement, 1939
Concerto for 2 pianos, 1940
Concerto for a Trumpet, 1943
Violin Concerto, 1944
Violin Sonata No. 2, 1945
Concerto grosso for string quartet and string orchestra, 1946
Variations on a Cantus firmus for piano, 1947
Frescobaldiana for orchestra, 1948
Symphony, 1950
Prelude and Fugue for string orchestra, 1955
Symphony No. 2, 1956
Symphony No. 3, 1959
Praeludium and Allegro for wind orchestra, 1959
Fantasia for wind orchestra, 1963
Sonata for flute and piano, 1964
Variations and Fugue for orchestra, 1964
Psalm CXXX for string bass and orchestra, 1965
Symphony No. 4, 1967
Vocal and vocal-instrumental:
Madrigal No. 1 for 4 voices and string quartet, 1931
Primavera, cantata, 1933
Requiem for solo voices and choir, 1936
Triptych for soprano and string orchestra, 1939
Lament for Adonis, cantata, 1940
Missa “Adeste fidelis”, 1943
Canticle of Christmas for baritone, choir and orchestra, 1951
Canticle of the Martyrs for choir and orchestra, 1957
choral music and songs
Scenic:
Yrana, opera, 1932, staged as Lucedia, Munich 1934
Flora, radio opera, 1937
Beauty and the Beast, radio opera, performed in 1938
Scarlet Letter based on Hawthorne, opera, staged in Hamburg in 1938
Blennerhasset, radio opera, performed in 1940
The Taming of the Shrew, radio opera, performed in 1953
Christus, theatre studies, 1956
The Harvest, staged in Chicago in 1961
Rehearsal Call, staged in New York 1962
The Servant of Two Masters based on Goldoni, staged in New York in 1967