Turchi, Guido
Turchi, Guido
Turchi, Guido, Italian composer and teacher; b. Rome, Nov. 10,1916. He studied piano and composition with Dobici, Ferdinandi, and Bustini at the Rome Cons. (diplomas, 1940) and pursued graduate training with Pizzetti at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome (diploma, 1945). He taught at the Rome Cons. (1941-67; again from 1972); was artistic director of the Accademia Filarmonica in Rome (1963-66); served as director of the Parma and Florence cons. (1967-72); was artistic director of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna (1968-70) and at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome (from 1970). In his early music, Turchi followed Pizzetti’s style of Italian Baroque, with Romantic and impressionistic extensions; he then changed his idiom toward a more robust and accentuated type of music-making, influenced mainly by a study of the works of Béla Bartók. Turchi’s Concerto for String Orch. is dedicated to Bar-tók’s memory.
Work
dramatic: II buon soldato Svejk,opera (Milan, April 6, 1962); Dedalo,ballet (Florence, 1972); incidental music to plays; film scores. ORCH .: Concerto for Strings (Venice, Sept. 8, 1948); Piccolo concerto notturno (1950); 3 metamorfosi (1970). CHAMBER : Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Viola (1945); Dedicafor Flute (1972). VOCAL : Invettivafor Small Chorus and 2 Pianos (1946); choral works; songs.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire