SONGS OF ITALY BENIAMINO GIGLI

For centuries songs have been the faithful expression of the joys and sorrows of Italy. They grew naturally from the people's ten-perament, their love of life, and from the colourful, expre3sive qualities inherent in their language—"the Tuscan siren's tongue, that music in itself, whose sounds are song, the poetry of speech" in the inspired words of Lord Bryon's Childe Harold.

Italians are born singers, and the country was predestined to become the cradle of vocal art. In the seventeenth century, with the flowering of opera, art songs also enjoyed a golden period. But public interest eventually declined in non-operatic vocal music, while opera went on to attain its period of glory. It was only after the middle of the nineteenth century that the Italian art song found a new renaissance in the efforts of Tosti, Denza, Donaudy and other inspired contemporaries.

Italian songs in general raredifferent from the German and French models which' stress intimate communication and poetic sublety. The strength of the Italian songs lies in sensuous melodies and passionately dramatic expression; centuries of operatic tradition have left their mark on even the simplest lyric manifestations. And all Italian songs bear the influence of an opulent folk heritage drawn from many regions with distinct musical profiles of their own. Tuscany's delicate stornelli, the graceful refrains of Lombardy and Venice inspired not only Italian composers, but Mozart and Schubert as well. The unique poetry of Abruzzese melodies and the passionate songs of Sicily, in their different ways, also contributed to the rich fund from which arose the musical voice of unified Italy. Nor should we forget the region of Naples that gave the world some of its most singable and memorable melodies. There the annual festival at Piedigrotta is an event of great traditional significance, where Neapolitan songs composed during the year are given public hearing with enthusiastic popular participation. This is the way new songs are added to the treasure chest of Neapolitan melodies the Santa Lucias and O Sole Mios of our time.

Hauntingly melodious and expressive of a wide range of emotion, the Italian songs reflect the soul of the people. Musically they are uncomplicated and their artistic values are variable. The dividing line that separates the art song from .the popular tunes is thin and sometimes invisible. Frequently it becomes a matter of interpretation, for a superior vocal artist can endow these melodies with a communicative richness they do not possess when committed to an interpreter of more limited talents.

In our generation no one has brought Italian songs before the serious musical public with the consummate mastery of Beniamino Gigli. His was a spectacular career that began when he won an international singing contest in Parma in 1914, and ended officially with a final global tour in 1955. Audiences of the entire world acclaimed this great tenor in the years between; Mascagni, Puccini, Giordano and other leading operatic minds of our times composed for him or asked his participation in their operas. His triumphant Metropolitan debut in 1920 established him as Caruso's logical successor not only in artistic supremacy but also in the affection of a worldwide public. No other singer of our generation commanded Gigli's kind of popular appeal, and it was natural that he

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SONGS OF ITALY BENIAMINO GIGLI