In 1967, Mario began what would become his final composition: Appunti, Preludes and Studies for Guitar, op. 210. Undertaken at the request of the guitarist and teacher Ruggero Chiesa for the Milanese publisher Suvini-Zerboni, the work was conceived as a series of pieces for the musical and technical education of young guitarists. The composer worked enthusiastically on the project, but he did not complete the Appunti before his death on 16 March 1968. At that point, only the first book of the four envisioned had been published. For the rest of what Mario had composed, Chiesa published fingerings only for the pieces that did not require major revisions to be performable, since he had not had the chance to discuss other changes with Mario before his passing. Thus Chiesa left it to individual guitarists to decide how to adjust the remaining pieces to be completely performable. Edoardo Pieri is one of the few who have taken up the challenge of performing these works. His double CD of the Appunti, was released this year on the Da Vinci Classics label. How did Edoardo stay faithful to the composer’s intentions, while also making these pieces work technically on the guitar? He kindly agreed to tell us about his experience with this lesser-known work, why it inspires him, and why he believes the Appunti deserve more attention.
Interview with Edoardo Pieri by Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco – December 2024
Edoardo, I understand that you began guitar studies at the age of four. Do you recall the first time that you heard the music of Castelnuovo-Tedesco?
That’s right, I started my studies very early, and I remember my first moments with the guitar as a fun and all-encompassing experience. After a few years, my teacher put me into a guitar trio (when I joined it became a quartet.) We were probably the most precocious students in the class. When I was around 9 or 10 years old, we started to talk about taking the first exams for the Conservatory. Having passed the Solfeggio exam, I moved on to the first level of Conservatory study. I remember that the oldest boy in our little group studied and performed the “Ave Maria” from the Appunti several times in public and then for the exam. As a kid I was quite anxious; for this reason I remember distinctly the sense of contemplative and meditative calm that this composition provided every time my classmate performed it. A few years later, my mom gave me a wonderful recording by Lorenzo Micheli, and I was immediately captivated by his performances of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Escarraman and of the celebrated Capricho de Goya n.18.
I imagine that in your musical career you have played many pieces by Castelnuovo-Tedesco. What attracted you to the Appunti and to the idea of recording them?
Yes, I have played a lot of music by Castelnuovo-Tedesco, including naturally the Concerto op. 99 for guitar and orchestra (in my opinion, essential), several of the chamber works for two guitars, as well as [the Sonatina] for flute and guitar. After that first experience with the Appunti that I mentioned, they came into my world again, this time in my role as a teacher. One of my students was preparing for an exam, and I thought that op. 210 would be perfect to help him develop effective phrasing, complete with a good internal dynamic. While we were working on this together, I thought: I could not have asked for anything better in the guitar repertory for working on this topic. Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s written indications on the score are always a fantastic guide for the performer. Besides, how can one not have a soft spot for his melodies? In the case of the Appunti, all of this is concentrated into a few pages, each time with a different input. For example, Quaderno [Volume] II are dances from different historical periods,but they never overtake the composer’s signature style. This experience with my student motivated me to buy all of the volumes, to immediately record Quaderno I, and to take up the challenge of studying and recording the entire work.
Tell us about the concept behind the work and how the composer set about realizing his ideas.
Before I started to study and record the Appunti, I took a few days to research how this work came about, so as not to misunderstand the composer’s original intention. I found the ambition of Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Ruggero Chiesa, the editor who had commissioned the work, truly fascinating. I speak of “ambition” because, had it been completed, op. 210 would have been monumental, and also from the sheer standpoint of size: if you think about the fact that we only have about half of the work originally conceived, and this alone is already more than two hours of music, requiring two CDs! The idea was to create a sort of didactic method at a large scale, that the performer could use not only during the first years of study (Quaderno I), but also later on, to study styles of all of the historical periods (Quaderno II), figurations (Quaderno III) and even serial musical (Quaderno IV). Truly “Life Long Learning” for the guitar! What more could one ask for as a student, as a performer, or as a teacher?
This work was left unfinished, and, in some cases, the pieces are not performable as published. For you, however, this was not an insurmountable obstacle. Please tell us more.
So, as I was saying, Quaderno III (“the Figurations”) was published with only two pieces, while Quaderno IV ( intended to be studies in serial music) consists of only a few short sketches. Quaderno II, which was, fortunately, completed by the Maestro, was only partly edited, and, even where fingerings are included, sometimes what is published still ends up “unplayable” on six strings. This was due to the composer’s untimely death. As Chiesa explained in his preface to Quaderno II: “my collaboration… was only possible in the already-published first book [Quaderno I], while, for the remaining pieces, my observations, which would have involved numerous modifications to better adapt the compositions to the technical possibilities of the guitar, did not arrive in time… I thought, therefore, that the best solution was to provide fingerings for the pieces that did not require major changes, and to leave to performers the responsibility for making changes to the other pieces, without changing the author’s original idea.” As to my own journey with the Appunti, I admit that it took a lot of time to create a responsible revision that did not alter Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s ideas and that then enabled me to study and then record the works. However, I can now say that I have an entirely performable version of op.210. Given the beauty of the preludes and the studies, it’s an accomplishment of which I am quite proud. Not to mention the personal and professional growth that this project meant for me.
How long did this recording project take and how did you go about studying these pieces?
It took me about a year and a half to record the entire project. As I often joke with colleagues, while my foresight is not good, my hindsight is excellent. This surely helps me to focus on the content of what I perform, but in the first phase of work I proceed more slowly, at least compared to others. Then, from Quaderno II onwards, the “revision” of which I was speaking before came into play, which made the path calmer, and certainly more complete. I recorded the pieces in order (so I also studied them in order) dividing the work into four days of recording, one for each published volume. From the second volume on, as I proceeded with the revision; always with great care and with the guitar in my hands, I proceeded with practicing as well. The dances of Quaderno II required a lot of dedication in practicing because they are challenging (not just technically).
You have performed the Appunti in many recitals, both in Italy and in the United States. How were these works received by audiences, who were probably hearing them for the first time?
Since last year, while I was recording and the, once the recording was completed, I was fortunate to have the chance to “test out” the Appunti in concerts, many of which took place in the United States. It’s true that it was often the case that the audience was hearing op. 210 for the first time, but it certainly wasn’t the first time they had heard the music of Castelnuovo-Tedesco. I can confidently say that the preludes and studies that I presented were received enthusiastically, and that the audiences returned home after the concert knowing a new work by a composer they already admired. The enthusiasm was even more striking when the introduction to this music was a lecture/concert in which some of the participants were conservatory or university students: in these cases, before performing the Appunti, I explained the content that I believe the the author wished to highlight and how he did so in the specific piece, and I demonstrated this with the guitar. I certainly would not have been capable of such an in-depth presentation had I not carefully analyzed the material in order to create my own edition of certain parts of the work.
What effect has Op. 210 had on you, personally and musically?
The journey that led me to make this recording has certainly made me a better, more skilled musician, and it also enabled me to meet new people, who, like me, are very involved with Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s music. I am very proud of the fact that I am from Tuscany, like the composer, and I recognize that certain references in the titles of various Appunti represent for Castelnuovo-Tedesco a call from his native land, distant, but still tangible, memories: “Stornellatrice” (Singer of folk songs), “Canto di mietitori” (Song of the Harvesters), “Andantino campestre” (Andantino of the countryside), “Campane a valle” (Bells in the Valley), “Pioggia nel roseto”(Rain in the Rose Garden). I am still relatively young (33), but yet, when I think back to my childhood memories of Tuscany, it stirs something in me! And when I play these pieces, sometimes it helps me to express these feelings.
In your opinion, how important are the Appunti within Mario’s guitar works production? Why do these pieces deserve to be heard?
In my opinion, the Appunti are very important. First of all, a student will find within them insights to help them improve from every point of view; secondly, professionals can also enlarge their repertoires with preludes and studies that are technically and stylistically challenging, in that the dances of Quaderno II encompass nearly four centuries. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Appunti is a kind of grande metodo [great method] of 20th century guitar music (didactic, technical, and stylistic), if not the greatest one, as it was originally conceived. It really has everything: leafing through it is believing! Not only does op. 210 deserve to be heard, it also deserves to be performed. In conclusion I would add that, although revising the pieces that need some minor editing is a way to get even more into the composer’s poetics, it’s a pity that because of this, sometimes you risk pushing away some interested guitarists. I hope that listening to my recording can help in that sense, because each piece that I recorded is performable in concert just as you hear it in the recording. And thanks very much, Diana, for kindly giving me this opportunity to speak about my project.
Thank you Edoardo for telling us about your journey with the Appunti. I hope your enthusiasm for this work will inspire other guitarists in the future!