Preface
In the spring of 2016, the musical association Animando located in Lucca (Tuscany, Italy), in collaboration with the “Istituto Musicale L. Boccherini” of Lucca and the “Centro Studi Boccherini” launched a scholarship program for the discovery and evaluation of some seventeenth-century manuscripts preserved both in the Library of the Music Institute L. Boccherini and in the National Archive. Thanks to this outstanding initiative I was awarded a bursary which allowed me to pursue a project focusing on the research and rediscovery of six short musical masterpieces, which are stored within the “Fondo Puccini”3, part of the Library of the “Istituto Musicale Luigi Boccherini”. The results of this research are the URTEXT transcriptions of six Lamentations out of the total of twenty composed during the seventeenth century by three generations of the Puccini family (Giacomo Senior, Antonio and Domenico). The “Fondo” collection is rich of impressive sources and the search for the repertoire to focus on was not easy. Lucca has always retained a lead role both in solo vocal and instrumental techniques. Inspired by my passion and personal interest, I have selected scores that could highlight these two aspects. The Lamentations immediately attracted and fascinated me because of the beauty of their vocal lines (which suggest the form of the elegy) and for their orchestration (light and delicate, consistent with the practice of the basso continuo). These pieces concentrate on the techniques of strict counterpoint, recitative and cantabile sections, while imitating the opera form. They are important for understanding the Puccini family’s role as custodians of music traditions while being at the same time open to innovations appearing in operatic and instrumental music during the classical era, especially in works of the Bolognese and Neapolitan school where the Puccinis undertook their training. The task of researching and realising usable and publishable editions took place during the six months between October 2016 and March 2017. The Lamentations were premiered, after two hundred years, in March 2017 in the auditorium of the L. Boccherini Music Institute in Lucca.
Brief History and Biography
Lucca is a kaleidoscopic city, which has managed, over the centuries, to perfect a combination of tradition and innovation. These aspects are recognizable and present in every aspect of Lucca’s life and culture: from architecture to painting, from silkwork to music. Music has a rich history which nourished musicians of global standing, both in the instrumental and vocal repertoire, such as Luigi Boccherini, Francesco Geminiani, Alfredo Catalani and the prolific Puccini family who formed and shaped the musical activity of the city for almost three centuries. The Puccini family boasts a musical tradition that spans five generations of musicians, culminating with the famous opera artist Giacomo Puccini. Giacomo Puccini Sr. (Celle 1712-1781) was a pupil of Giuseppe Carretti, who was chapel master in the Basilica of San Petronio, in the Bolognese School. After his apprenticeship, Giacomo returned to Lucca in 1740 and began to serve as organist in the S. Martino Cathedral. His output, mostly sacred, includes elements from the baroque and early classical periods. The Cappella Palatina shone with great music and prestige under the leadership of Giacomo Sr. Among the musicians of the orchestra, figures such as Luigi Boccherini, Leopoldo Boccherini, and the castrato Giovanni Battista Andreoni were to be found. Antonio Benedetto Maria Puccini (Lucca 1747-1832) founded his career in the footsteps of his father Giacomo and fulfilled the same role. He studied under Giuseppe Carretti and Abbot Zanardi in Bologna. He was a prolific composer but less imaginative than both his father and his son. However, once admitted to the Accademia Filarmonica, he was appointed Maestro di cappella di Palazzo and organist in the Cathedral of Lucca. Domenico Vincenzo Maria Puccini (Lucca 1772-1815) performed in the Bolognese and also in the Neapolitan School under Giovanni Paisiello. Among his known compositions we can find some sonatas and one concerto (B major) for piano. He also wrote many operatic and chamber music works.
Twenty Lamentations survive in the Fondo Puccini, divided as follows: eleven by Giacomo Puccini Sr., seven by Antonio and two by Domenico. The manuscripts are 7 to 9 pages long in full score. These compositions often feature concertato solo voices in dialogue with two higher register instruments (often violin, flute or oboe) and continuo (viola, cello, double bass, harpsichord and/or organ). As already indicated above, the pieces are small gems that contain extraordinary melodic richness combined with musical influences which the composers absorbed, masterfully reinterpreted and reworked. The vocal technique borders on virtuosity, though it always maintains a soft belcanto imprint. The instrumental parts feature a remarkable use of rhythm and brilliant melodies; in a chronological perspective, these became more and more detailed up to a complete writing-out of the instruments. From the instrumental parts it is possible to deduce the quality of the musicians present in Lucca at the time: I was pleasantly surprised to find, for example, that the double bass parts in some compositions are written separately from the cello or continuo part (and with the presence of the fourth string on the double bass as early as 1741, whereas this innovation was generally attributed to Verdi in his Otello): this proves that technically advanced performers were playing in Lucca. After a careful analysis of the scores, I have selected six Lamentations (three by Giacomo, two by Antonio and one by Domenico) unified by compositional aspects of a certain importance (for example contrapuntal technique, melodic processing and orchestration) and compositional techniques that showcase the idiosyncratic styles of the three composers in order to create a direct comparison and temporal continuum, thus clearly illustrating changes over generations of the Puccini family.
Lucca, September 2018
Valentina Ciardelli