Nielsen Riccardo, *3 March 1908 Bologna, †30 January 1982 Ferrara, Italian composer. He studied composition under C. Gatti in Milan, and later at the conservatory in Bologna (diploma in 1931). In 1946–50, he directed the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, in 1952 he was a teacher, and from 1954 a headteacher of the conservatory in Ferrara. In 1953 he received the Prix Italia for La via di Colombo. He is the author of the textbook Le forme musicali, Bologna 1958, 2nd ed. 1961.
Nielsen’s early work was shaped by the neoclassicism of A. Casella (Sinfonia concertante) and I. Stravinsky. This period ends with Psalmus in confessione XCIX. After 1943, Nielsen composed in the 12-tone technique, but he did not treat it orthodoxly. In the monodrama L’Incubo, there is the strong influence of A. Schoenberg’s expressionism, in the Sonata for 2 pianos the advanced contrapuntal technique dominates. In his later works Nielsen tried very radical means (Fasce sonore).
