Vittorio Monti

View moreBrowse piano sheets by Vittorio Monti on Zen Virtual Piano. Vittorio Monti (Naples, 6 January 1868 – Naples, 20 June 1922) was an Italian composer, violinist, mandolinist and conductor. Around 1900 he received an assignment as the conductor of the Lamoureux Orchestra in Paris, where he wrote several ballets and operettas. A man born and died in Naples who conducted and composed in Paris suggests a career carried between two cities. In Paris, Monti was a significant figure in the mandolin community; he created La Stella, a group based around mandolin and guitar works and compositions. This group, under the name of “V. Monti,” wrote several pieces and techniques for mandolin students, and gave performances from 1908 to 1910. He also wrote a method for mandolin, Petite Méthode pour Mandoline, in which he included some of his works, Perle Brillante, Dans Una Gondola and Au Petit Jour, along with works by F. Paolo Tosti. In 1910 Monti started a music journal, Le Mediator, with news and instruction for new mandolin and guitar players; it dissolved in 1913. Writing a method, creating La Stella and creating Le Mediator can be read as someone building a community around the mandolin. “Csárdás” is a rhapsodical concert piece by Vittorio Monti, written in 1904, and there are arrangements for orchestra and for a number of solo instruments. A piece arranged for orchestra and for a number of solo instruments can be read as a tune that travelled well between ensembles. The piece is about four and a half minutes long and has seven distinct mini-movements, usually changing in tempo and feeling; the first half is in D minor, it modulates to D major, then back to D minor, and finally concludes in D major. It is generally expected to be played with some rubato, and in the Meno, quasi lento passage the violin plays artificial harmonics. Rubato and artificial harmonics asked of the violin suggest a showpiece that leaves the soloist to judge pacing and colour.

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