Testi Flavio, *4 Janury 1923 Florence, †14 Janury 2014 Milan, Italian composer and musicologist. He studied composition with G. Ghedini and L. Perrachio at the Turin Conservatory. After the end of World War II, he moved to Milan, where he studied literature at the university (graduating in 1951), while he continued his music studies independently. He collaborated with the publishing houses Suvini Zerboni and Ricordi and developed and produced various radio projects for Radiotelevisione Italiana. From 1972, he taught at the conservatories in Padua, Milan, and Florence.
Testi was primarily drawn to opera and vocal music. In 1954, he achieved his successful debut with Crocifissione and soon afterward staged his first opera, Il furore di Oreste. He employed a sonic language bearing the hallmarks of “contemporary eclecticism,” but the expressive qualities of the chosen means were more important to him than stylistic uniformity. In L’albergo dei poveri, based on M. Gorky’s drama At the Bottom, the choice of social theme indicates a close affinity with leftist tendencies. The composer explores new approaches in musical theatre, including the use of an unconventional orchestral ensemble consisting of a single violin, six double basses, extensive percussion, xylophone, and piano. In subsequent operas, Testi returned to traditional instrumentation. He employed a larger symphony orchestra with a more expansive sonority in Riccardo III, while simultaneously using vocal techniques in the solo parts that pushed the limits of the voice’s capabilities. In solo cantatas and late works, such as Canti d’amore, Testi turned to a sphere of hushed, intimate lyricism.
Compositions
for orchestra:
Concerto per orchestra 1954
Divertimento 1956
Musica da concerto, cycles: no. 1 for violin and orchestra, 1957, no. 2 for strings, 1957, no. 3 for piano and orchestra, 1961, no. 4 for flute and orchestra, 1962, no. 5 for piano trio and orchestra, 1969, no. 6 for viola and chamber orchestra, 1970, no. 7 for guitar and 14 string instruments, 1983
2 pezzi: 1. Elegy, 2. Ditirambo, 1958
Doppio concerto for violin, piano and orchestra, 1959
Opus 21 1971
Opus 23 for 2 pianos, 2 chamber orchestras, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones and timpani 1972
Opus 35 1978
chamber:
Piano Trio 1973
Cielo for solo flute, 1974
Jubilus I for solo clarinet, 1974,
Jubilus II for clarinet and 9 instruments, 1975
Tempo for string quartet, 1976
Marcia for 4 trombones, 1982
Per un’arpa 1982
Canzoncina for violin, 1994
vocal and vocal-instrumental:
Canción desesperada for unaccompanied choir, words by P. Neruda, 1972
Canción del macho y de la hembral for unaccompanied choir, words by P. Neruda, 1973
Tenebrae factae sunt for unaccompanied choir, 1998
Cantata No. 1 “No Longer Mourn for Me” for tenor and 7 instruments, words by W. Shakespeare, 1972
Cantata No. 2 “Devouring Time” for tenor and 5 instruments, words by W. Shakespeare, 1972
Cantata No. 3 “Esplendor mio, amor” for baritone and 7 instruments, words by R. Alberti, 1974
Cantata No. 4 “Viens, mon beau chat” for baritone and 2 clarinets, words by Ch. Baudelaire, 1974
Cantid’amore for soprano and orchestra, 2002
Il dolore, 3 madrigals for small choir and chamber ensemble, words by G. Ungaretti, 1963
Motetti for 4 solo voices and 12 instruments, 1963
Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Marcum for 6 solo voices and chamber orchestra, 1969
Crocifissione for male choir, strings, brass instruments, timpani and 3 pianos, 1953
Stabat Mater for soprano, choir and an instrumental ensemble, 1957
New York – Oficína y denuncia for choir and orchestra, words by F. Garcia Lorca, 1964
Canto a las madres de los milicianos muertos for soprano, choir and orchestra, words by P. Neruda, 1967
Cori di Santiago for solo voices, choir and orchestra, 1975
Sacrae symphoniae for solo voices, choir and orchestra, 1987
Scene dal Riccardo III for solo voices, choir and orchestra, 1989
scenic:
Il furore di Oreste, opera, libr. Testi after Aeschylus, 1956 staged in Bergamo 1956
La Celestina, opera, libr. R. Prinzhofer after F. de Rojas, 1960, staged in Florence 1963
L’albergo dei poveri, opera, libr. Testi after M. Gorky, 1965, staged in Milan 1966
Riccardo No. 3, opera, libr. Testi after W. Shakespeare, 1972, staged in Milan 1987
Il sosia, opera, libr. Testi after F. Dostoevky, staged in Milan 1981
La brocca rotta, opera, libr. Testi after H. von Kleist, staged in Bologna 1997
Saul, opera, libr. Testi after A. Gide, staged in Paris 2003
Mariana Pineda, romanza popolare, after F. Garcia Lorka, 2006, staged in Erfurt 2007
azione mimata
Le chat, azione mimata for a dancer, after Ch. Baudelaire, staged in Turin 1982
Writings
Introduzione alla musica, Milan 1963
La musica italiana nel Medioevo e nel Rinascimento, Milan 1969
La musica italiana nel Seicento, Milan 1970–72
