When harpists from around the world gathered in Toronto last week for One Harp World, a pair of presentations explored the contributions of two Italians to the twentieth century harp repertoire: the harpist Clelia Gatti-Aldrovandi and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
Patrizia Tassini explored the career and contributions to the harp repertoire of Gatti-Aldrovandi, who commissioned composers including Paul Hindemith, Alfredo Casella and Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco traced her grandfather’s career with a focus on his music for harp. Beginning with Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s collaboration with Gatti-Aldrovandi on the 1937 Concertino (recently republished by Schirmer and available via WiseMusicClassical), she also highlighted the composer’s use of the harp in film scores as well as his late career chamber and solo works for the instrument.
In addition, Diana talked about several new harp editions published this year, including Three Sephardic Songs (IEMJ, Paris) and The Persian Prince on the Name of David Blumberg for viola and harp (Casa Ricordi,Milan), as well as other publications scheduled for release before the end of 2026.
“From Italy to Hollywood: A Twentieth-Century Harp Legacy,” presented by Patrizia Tassini and Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco, was held on July 30, 2026, during One Harp World. More information is available here.