Vittorio Giannini (1903-1966), distinguished pupil of Rubin Goldmark and himself a fine pedagogue, has a distinguished body of work to his credit, much of it in a consciously melodic vein, warmly expressive. Between 1958-1965 Giannini composed music specifically for wind ensemble, essentially to benefit ensembles led by William Ravelli and Frederick Fennell. The Dedication Overture (1965), for instance, celebrates the first year of the North Carolina School of the Arts. A march combines with a lyrical idea in diatonic harmony, a tritone notwithstanding. Festive and valedictory at once, the piece has a smooth nobility of line. Several of its main harmonic points can be found in the earlier (1958) Third Symphony.
Fantasia (1963) is a dark work, put together in short motifs that undergo various moods and tempos. Horn dissonances and a four-beat snare drum add to the restless, slightly Wagnerian atmosphere. Major tonalities in the latter development brighten the sky, and we end on a solemnly hopeful note. Praeludium and Allegro (1958) is the first of Giannini’s band pieces, written for the Goldman Band. The opening section combines a Brahms First sound with Baroque symmetrical phraseology. Long held notes test the capacities of the Houston players, and they keep everything fluid. The Allegro is a busy, skittish affair, with scurrying battery parts and trumpet chorale riffs. Cross rhythms enjoy contrapuntal development, and we might think this a cleverly tight piece by David Diamond.
The big piece is Giannini’s Third Symphony, commissioned by the Duke University Band and conductor Paul Bryan (1958). The first movement is built on a series of fourths in the mixolydian mode, which is not quite G Major, the sixth degree a half-step. Lovely interplay from woodwinds and brass, silky combination of elements at the recap on two themes. The A-flat Adagio is tender a la Copland, the interval of a fourth rising and falling. Nice work between the soft cornet and clarinet solos. The latter part of the movement alternates between chorale and reminiscence. The Allegretto in B-flat Minor pays homage to Brahms on several levels, though the spirit is playful in a French, Bizet-like manner. Exuberance marks the last movement, Allegro con brio, B-flat Major. Scales and fanfares abound in Edwardian pomp, as though Elgar were nigh. Dazzling brass triplets; very impressive work from the trombones.
Giannini composed his Variations and Fugue (1965) for the Purdue University Symphonic Band. Giannini’s late style had become chromatic and complex, and this piece is akin to Bach’s great organ Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor. Through-composed with materials from a twelve-tone combination, this piece embraces as much of the Second Viennese School as it does Bach. Not merely clever but harmonically and texturally dramatic, this piece points to more expressive possibilities in the wind band medium than had been its wont. Important music, intelligently played, with solidly informative liner notes from the Executive Producer of the CD, Walter Simmons.
— Gary Lemco
