The twentieth-century Italian musical scene was a dynamic period in which composers sought to move beyond an opera-centered musical tradition and to promote the revival of instrumental music. Within this historical context, Alfredo Casella (1883-194...
The twentieth-century Italian musical scene was a dynamic period in which composers sought to move beyond an opera-centered musical tradition and to promote the revival of instrumental music. Within this historical context, Alfredo Casella (1883-1947) is regarded as a pivotal figure who opened new possibilities for Italian instrumental music by integrating the formal legacy of the past with modern compositional techniques. Among his piano works, Sinfonia, arioso e toccata, Op. 59 (1936) occupies an important position as a representative masterpiece that embodies the culmination of his long compositional experience and artistic exploration, and thus provides a
significant key to understanding Casella’s musical world.
This study examines Sinfonia, arioso e toccata, Op. 59 within the broader development of Italian modern music. It first considers Casella’s life, his piano works, and his neoclassical tendencie s, and then analyzes the principal musical elements of the work. On this ba sis, the study investigates the traditional characteristics and modern compositional technique s manifested in each of the three piece s, ultimately clarifying the neoclassical features embodied in the work.
The analysis demonstrates that the three pieces differ in formal structure and musical character, yet traditional features and modern musical elements interact organically within the work as a whole. Based on these findings, this study identifies Ca sella’s neoclassical characteristic s in Sinfonia, arioso e toccata, Op. 59 from four perspectives: the modern reworking of traditional genre s, the integration of classical formal frameworks with modern musical elements, the use of Baroque contrapuntal techniques, and the symbolic use of the pitch center C.
This study is significant in that it offers a detailed account of how traditional characteristics and modern compositional techniques are combined in Sinfonia, arioso e toccata, Op. 59, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of the neoclassical features of Casella’s late piano music. Furthermore, it is hoped that this study will assist pianists in gaining a clearer understanding of the work’s formal structure and musical character, and will provide practical insight for developing a persuasive interpretation in performance.