2 Madrigali del Guarini

Mario Pilati (Naples, 1903 – Naples 1938) takes a leading position among the ranks of Italian composers who have been unjustly forgotten. His compositional output spans diverse genres: from piano music to chamber music, from vocal music to choral and symphonic music. He was also the composer of an opera: Piedigrotta, he managed to finish only the first act.

The decision to turn to an author from the distant past, for the purposes of a song cycle for voice and piano, is in fact rather common among Italian composers of the time; if Respighi’s name immediately comes to mind, we should not forget Alfredo Casella’s settings, Ildrebrando Pizzetti, and Gian Francesco Malipiero. To this count, we should add the younger composers Luigi Dallapiccola and Goffredo Petrassi, both of whom belonged to Pilati’s generation. This is the first printed edition of the Due Madrigali del Guarini.