Lorenzo Ferrero

Lorenzo Ferrero (born 1951) is a contemporary Italian composer, librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and has written over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestral, chamber music, solo instrumental, and vocal works. His musical idiom is characterized by eclecticism, stylistic versatility, and a neo-tonal language.

Born in Turin, he studied composition from 1969 to 1973 with Massimo Bruni and Enore Zaffiri at Turin Music Conservatory, and philosophy with Gianni Vattimo and Massimo Mila at the University of Turin, earning a degree in aesthetics with a thesis on John Cage in 1974.

His early interest in the psychology of perception and psychoacoustics led him to IMEB, the International Electroacoustic Music Institute of Bourges, where he did research on electronic music between 1972 and 1973, IRCAM in Paris, and to the Musik/Dia/Licht/Film Galerie in Munich in 1974.

Lorenzo Ferrero has received commissions from numerous festivals and institutions, his works being constantly performed throughout Europe and North America, particularly in Italy, Germany, France, Great Britain, Spain, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, and the United States.

Scene from the opera La Conquista, 2005

His most popular compositions include the operas Marilyn, La figlia del mago, Salvatore Giuliano, Charlotte Corday, La Conquista, and Risorgimento!, the first Piano Concerto, the Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Piano, the set of six symphonic poems La nueva España, the song cycle Canzoni d'amore, the Capriccio for Piano and String Orchestra, Parodia, Ostinato, Glamorama Spies, Tempi di quartetto for string quartet, and the ballet Franca Florio, regina di Palermo. In 1986 he participated in the Prix Italia with his work La fuga di Foscolo. His music is published by Casa Ricordi, Milan.

As an active manager of art events, he has served as artistic director of the Festival Puccini in Torre del Lago (1980–84), Unione Musicale in Turin (1983–87), Arena di Verona (1991–94), and the Musica 2000 fair. In 1999 he co-founded and coordinated the Festa della Musica, a showcase of classical, jazz and world music held in Milan, and four years later he managed the Ravello Festival.

In 2007 Lorenzo Ferrero was appointed to the board of directors and elected vice-president of SIAE, the Italian Authors and Publishers Association. That same year he published the Manuale di scrittura musicale, a manual which describes the basic rules of correct and elegant music writing from the orthographic as well as the graphic point of view, which is addressed to all composers, musicologists, teachers, students and copy-editors in need of practical advice. In 2008 he translated, edited and published Lo studio dell'orchestrazione, the Italian edition of Samuel Adler's The Study of Orchestration, a landmark orchestration manual.

Lorenzo Ferrero has been professor of composition at Milan Conservatory since 1980. His teaching appointments also include positions at St. Mary's College of Maryland and LUISS Business School, a division of LUISS Guido Carli University of Rome. Moreover, as member of the Italian National Union of Composers, Librettists and Authors he co-founded ECSA, the European Composer and Songwriter Alliance, and since 2011 he is Chairman of CIAM, the International Council of Music Authors, which is a committee within CISAC, the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers.

He was described in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera as "the most successful opera composer of his generation in Italy" and in The New Penguin Opera Guide as "a principal exponent of the neo-tonal tendencies common to a number of Italian composers of his generation, who has championed a brand of narrative music-theatre that aims to capture a wider audience than that achieved by the heirs of the modernist tradition."

In addition to the original works listed below, Lorenzo Ferrero completed the orchestration of the third version of the opera La rondine by Giacomo Puccini, which was subsequently premiered at Teatro Regio di Torino on 22 March 1994. With a group of six other Italian composers he wrote the Requiem per le vittime della mafia, a collaborative composition for soloists, choir and orchestra on an Italian text by Vincenzo Consolo. The requiem was first performed in the Palermo Cathedral on 27 March 1993. Furthermore, he wrote the music for the Sestriere Alpine World Ski Championships opening ceremony of 1997 including the official anthem, incidental music for stage productions, and a film score. British musicologist David Osmond-Smith described his style as "an unabashed synthesis of classical traditions and pop [...] that never forgets its 19-century precursors."

Opera

• Rimbaud, ou Le Fils du soleil (1978), quasi un melodramma in three acts
• Marilyn (1980), scenes from the '50s in two acts
• La figlia del mago (1981), giocodramma melodioso in two acts
• Mare nostro (1985), comic opera in two acts
• Night (1985), opera in one act
• Salvatore Giuliano (1986), opera in one act
• Charlotte Corday (1989), opera in three acts
• Le Bleu-blanc-rouge et le noir (1989), marionette opera
• La nascita di Orfeo (1996), musical action in one act
• La Conquista (2005), opera in two acts
• Le piccole storie: Ai margini delle guerre (2007), chamber opera in one act
• Risorgimento! (2011), opera in one act

Ballet

• Invito a nozze (1978), ballet
• Lotus Eaters (1985), ballet
• Franca Florio, regina di Palermo (2007), ballet in two acts

Orchestral music

• Ellipse IV (Waldmusik) (1977), for folk ensemble ad libitum
• Romanza seconda (1977), for bassoon and strings
• Arioso (1977), for orchestra and live electronics
• Arioso II (1981), for large orchestra
• Balletto (1981), for orchestra
• My Blues (1982), for string orchestra
• Thema 44 (ad honorem J. Haydn) (1982), for small orchestra
• Ombres (1984), for orchestra and live electronics
• The Miracle (1985), suite for orchestra
• Intermezzo notturno from Mare nostro (1985), for small orchestra
• Intermezzo "Portella della Ginestra" from Salvatore Giuliano (1986), for orchestra
• Four Modern Dances (1990), for small orchestra
• Zaubermarsch (1990), for small orchestra
• Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1991)
• Paesaggio con figura (1994), for small orchestra
• Concerto for Violin, Cello, Piano and Orchestra (1994–95)
• Palm Beach Overture (1995), for orchestra
• Capriccio for Piano and String Orchestra (1996)
• Three Baroque Buildings (1997), for bassoon, trumpet, and strings
• Championship Suite (1997), for large orchestra
• Storie di neve (1997), music for the Alpine World Ski Championships opening ceremony
• La nueva España (1992–99), a set of six symphonic poems
  • La ruta de Cortés (1992)
  • La noche triste (1996)
  • Memoria del fuego (1998)
  • Presagios (1999)
  • El encuentro (1999)
  • La matanza del Templo Mayor (1999)
• Rastrelli in Saint Petersburg (2000), for oboe and string orchestra
• Two Cathedrals in the South (2001), for trumpet and string orchestra
• Five Easy Pieces (2002), transcription for orchestra
• Guarini, the Master (2004), for violin and strings
• DEsCH (2006), for oboe, bassoon, piano, and orchestra
• Quattro variazioni su un tema di Banchieri: 2 Agosto. Prima variazione (2008), for organ and orchestra
• Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 (2009)
• Fantasy Suite No. 2 (2009), for violin and orchestra

Chamber and instrumental music

• Primavera che non vi rincresca (1971), electronic tape piece
• Ellipse III (1974), for any 4 players/ensembles
• Siglied (1975), for chamber orchestra
• Romanza senza parole (1976), for chamber ensemble
• Adagio cantabile (1977), for chamber ensemble
• Variazioni sulla notte (1980), for guitar
• Respiri (1982), for flute and piano
• Soleils (1982), for harp
• Ellipse (1983), for flute
• Onde (1983), for guitar
• My Rock (1985), (versions for piano and for big band)
• Empty Stage (1985), for 4 clarinets and piano
• My Blues (1986), for flute and piano
• Passacaglia (1986), for flute, clarinet, and string quartet
• Ostinato (1987), for 6 violoncelli
• Parodia (1990), for chamber ensemble
• Discanto sulla musica sull'acqua di Handel (1990), for flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, French horn, and percussion
• Cadenza (1990), for clarinet and marimba
• Musica per un paesaggio (1990), for small orchestra
• Movimento americano (1992), for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet
• Ostinato (1993), for two violoncelli and strings
• Portrait (1994), for string quartet
• Seven Seconds (1995), for clarinet, violin, and piano
• Shadow Lines (1995), for flute and live electronics
• My Piece of Africa (1996), for violin, viola, violoncello, and contrabass
• Five Easy Pieces (1997), for flute and piano (version of a piano work)
• Tempi di quartetto (1996–98), for string quartet
• Glamorama Spies (1999), for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano
• Sonata (2000), for viola and piano
• Moonlight Sonata (2001), for 5 percussion instruments
• Three Baroque Buildings in a Frame (2002), for flute and string quartet
• Macuilli Mexihcateteouch - Five Aztec Gods (2005), for string quartet
• Haring at the Exhibition (2005), ambient piece
• Fantasy Suite (2007), for flute, violoncello and piano
• Freedom Variations (2008), for trumpet and chamber ensemble
• Tourists and Oracles (2008), for eleven instruments and piano four-hands
• Three Simple Songs (2009), for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano
• Venice 1976 (A Parody) (2013), for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano
• Country Life (2015) for saxophone and piano
• A Night in Nashville (2015) for saxophone and piano

Piano music

• Aivlys (1977)
• My Rag (1982)
• My Blues (1982)
• My Rock (1983)
• Rock my Tango (1990)
• Five Easy Pieces (1994)
• Seven Portraits of the Same Person (1996)
• Op.111 - Bagatella su Beethoven (2009)

Organ and harpsichord

• Ellipse II (1975), for harpsichord/clavichord
• A Red Wedding Dress (1998), for organ

Choral and vocal music

• Fawn (1969/70), for voice and live synthesizer
• Immigrati (1969/70), for voice and live synthesizer
• Ellipse III (1974), for any 4 voices/choruses
• Ghost Tantra (1975), for voice and synthesizer
• Missa Brevis (1975), for 5 voices and two synthesizers
• Le Néant où l'on ne peut arriver (1976), for solo voices, mixed chorus, and orchestra
• Non parto, non resto (1987), for mixed chorus
• Introito, part of the Requiem per le vittime della mafia (1993), for chorus and orchestra
• Night of the Nite (1979), aria from Marilyn for soprano and piano
• Canzoni d'amore (1985), for voice and chamber ensemble
• La fuga di Foscolo (1986), for 4 soloists, speaker, and small orchestra
• Poi andro in America (1986), aria from Salvatore Giuliano for voice and orchestra
• Ninna-nanna (1986), for tenor and piano
• La Conquista (2006), symphonic-choral suite
• Canti polacchi (2010), for female chorus and orchestra
• Senza parole (2012), for mixed chorus

Incidental and theatre music

• Nebbia di latte (1987), for flutes and live electronics
• La cena delle beffe (1988), stage music for Carmelo Bene
• Maschere (1993), for Le Massere by Carlo Goldoni for string quartet
• Lontano dagli occhi (1999), for one actor, 4 voices, and piano quartet
• Mozart a Recanati (2006), for one actress, 1 voice, string trio, clarinet, and piano

Film score

• Anemia

Books and book contributions

• Ferrero, Lorenzo (2007). Manuale di scrittura musicale. Torino: EDT Srl.
• Ferrero, Lorenzo, ed. (2008). Lo studio dell'orchestrazione. Torino: EDT Srl.
• Capellini, Lorenzo (1987). Nascita di un'opera: Salvatore Giuliano. Bologna: Nuova Alfa Editoriale.
• Ostali, Piero, ed. (1990). Il Piccolo Marat: Storia e rivoluzione nel melodramma verista. Atti del terzo convegno di studi su Pietro Mascagni. Milan: Casa Musicale Sonzogno.
• Harpner, S, ed. (1992). Über Musiktheater: Eine Festschrift. Munich: Ricordi.
• Jacoviello, Marco (1998). Il suono e l'anima: Il paesaggio invisibile del melodramma. Udine: Campanotto.
• Jacoviello, Marco (2015). Al favor della notte... Notturni nel teatro di Mozart. Perugia: Morlacchi Editore.
• Pozzi, S, ed. (2002). La musica sacra nelle chiese cristiane. Bologna: Alfastudio.
• Donati, P, and Pacetti, E, eds. (2002). C'erano una volta nove oscillatori... Lo studio di fonologia della Rai di Milano nello sviluppo della nuova musica in Italia. Teche. Rome: RAI Teche; Milano: Scuole civiche di Milano, Fondazione di partecipazione, Accademia internazionale della musica, Istituto di ricerca musicale; Rome: RAI-ERI.
• Maurizi, P, ed. (2004). Quattordici interviste sul «nuovo teatro musicale» in Italia. Perugia: Morlacchi Editore.
• Hugony, Fabrizio (2010). Galileo e il segreto dei Maya. Milan: NR.