There's an Italian composer who did a lot of Hollywood movies too. Anyway, he has a work called "Romancero gitano," some choral settings of songs by Lorca, with guitar accompaniment. You would think that he would have used this title for settings of poems from Lorca's book of the same name. But no.
They are from a different Lorca book, Poema del cante condo. It's a little odd. It would be like setting Frost's poems from North of Boston and calling your work A Boy's Will. Why would you do that? It's not explicable as a mistake, even. If you're working a long time on some poems, you know what they are, what book they are from. I'll let you know if I find out why he decided to give it that title.
I'm not crazy about the work anyway, and it probably won't make it into my book, except as a brief mention.
2 comments:
I remember M C-T as an occasional bland presence on classical radio. Now that I learn about the Hollywood connection, it makes more sense -- this was in Los Angeles (on KUSC, with the undead Jim Svejda). Doesn't explain the perverse title choice, unless he was just being extra crass about using "gypsy" for color.
(Another double-barreled Italian conservative composer may have crossed your path -- Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari.)
I hadn't heard of him until I started the Lorca music. project. I don't know Wolf-Ferrari either. Apparently Mario is known for his guitar music.
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