Partita (Dallapiccola)

Partita for orchestra, Alla memoria di Ernesto Consolo, is a composition by the Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola. It was composed between 1930 and 1932.

Partita is the work with which Dallapiccola first came to international recognition. Written in memory of the Italian pianist Ernesto Consolo, it is scored in four movements for orchestra, with a soprano solo in the final movement. In a manner analogous to the finale of Mahler's Fourth Symphony, the setting is a childlike medieval Latin lullaby.

The work was premiered at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze on the 22nd of January 1933 by the theatre orchestra under Vittorio Gui, with Laura Pasini as soloist. It was first recorded in 2010, by the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda, with Gillian Keith as soloist. The recording was released on Chandos Records.

Movements

1. Passacaglia. Molto solenne -
2. Burlesca. Presto ma non troppo - Pochissimo meno - Un poco più mosso - Moderato - Tempo del principio - Tumultoso
3. Recitativo e Fanfara. Violento - Calmo - Un poco mosso, ma sempre calmo - Molto più lento, trascinato - Ancora movendo - Molto mosso - Animato - Violento -
4. Naenia B.M.V. (Lullaby of the Blessed Virgin Mary), with soprano solo. Molto tranquillo - Pochissimo più mosso - Molto tranquillo - Soavissimo - Un poco piu animato - Un poco largamente - Animando - Come prima (Animato) - Molto tranquillo - Celestiale