Quick Facts
Biography
Vittorio Rieti (Italian: [ˈrjeːti]; January 28, 1898 – February 19, 1994) was a Jewish-Italian composer. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Rieti moved to Milan to study economics. He subsequently studied in Rome under Respighi and Casella, and lived there until 1940.
In 1925, he temporarily moved to Paris and composed music for George Balanchine's ballet for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, Barabau. He met his wife in Alexandria, Egypt. He was a cousin of actor Vittorio Rietti.
He emigrated to the United States in 1940, becoming a naturalized American citizen on the 1st of June 1944. He taught at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore (1948–49), Chicago Musical College (1950–54), Queens College, New York (1958–60), and New York College of Music (1960–64). He died in New York on 19 February 1994.
His music is tonal and neo-classical with a melodic and elegant style.
Selected works
- Ballet
- Barabau (1925)
- Le bal (1929)
- La Sonnambula (1946)
- Orchestral
- Symphony No. 3 (1932)
- Symphony No. 4 (1942)
- Suite "La Fontaine" (1968)
- Concertante
- Piano Concerto No. 3 (1955)
- Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra (1952–1955, 1972)
- Cello Concerto No. 2 (1953)
- Triple Concerto for violin, viola, piano and orchestra (1971)
- Chamber music
- Capriccio for violin and piano (1941)
- Partita for harpsichord, flute, oboe, 2 violins, viola and cello (1945)
- String Quartet No. 3 (1951)
- Woodwind Quintet (1957)
- String Quartet No. 4 (1960)
- Concertino for 5 Instruments for flute, viola, cello, harp and harpsichord (1963)
- Pastorale e fughetta for flute, viola and piano (or harpsichord) (1966)
- Sonata à 5 for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano (1966)
- Incisioni for brass quintet (1967)
- Silografie for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and basson (1967)
- Sestetto pro Gemini for flute, oboe, piano, violin, viola and cello (1975)
- Piano
- Second Avenue Waltzes for 2 pianos (1942)
- Suite champêtre for 2 pianos (1948)
- Medieval Variations (1962)
- Chorale, variazioni e finale for 2 pianos (1969)
- Film music
- Your Money or Your Life, directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1933)
- Ritorno alla terra, directed by Mario Franchini (1934)
- Amore, directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia (1935)
- The Happy Road (La route heureuse), directed by Georges Lacombe (1936)
- L'orologio a cucù, directed by Camillo Mastrocinque (1938)