(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Roffredo Caetani

Rome, 1871 - 1961, Rome

BiographyRoffredo Caetani , Prince of Bassett, last Duke of Sermoneta ( Rome , 13 October 1871 - Rome , 11 April 1961 ), was a composer , art collector and patron Italian .

Index [ show ]
Biography [ edit :: wikitesto change ]
It belonged to the ancient Caetani family , son of Onorato Caetani , who in the past was mayor of Rome and foreign minister , and of the English noblewoman Ada Bootle-Wilbraham. Raised in an environment of music lovers (his father was also president of the Roman Philharmonic Academy ), he was the son of Franz Liszt , he studied piano with Giovanni Sgambati , harmony and counterpoint with Cesare De Sanctis , two musicians who worked to spread the instrumental music . He continued his studies aBerlin and Vienna , where he met Brahms . He began to compose mostly chamber music. The first public concert dates back to 1889 with the performance of the Symphonic Intermezzo for the great orchestra op. 2 in the Palestrina hall in Rome (in the Palazzo Pamphilj ). Roffredo Caetani was a much appreciated musician abroad, but almost ignored in Italy, due to his dedication to chamber music.

In 1940, in Bayreuth, she met Countess Greffulhe , the creator and president of the Society of the Great Musical Hearing (Société des grandes auditions musicales) with whom she binds intimately, and who takes him under her protection and organizes concerts to let her know her works.

In Paris she met Marguerite Chapin , an American educator who studied singing with Jean de Reszke . From the marriage, which took place in 1911 , two sons were born: Lelia in 1913 and Camillo in 1915 ; the death of the latter, which occurred in combat on December 15, 1940 on the front of Albania , will determine the end of the family. In Paris, however, the Caetani settled in villa Romaine , in Versailles , and attended figures of great importance in the artistic and literary world ( Paul Valéry , Saint-John Perse , etc.). In1924 Marguerite founded the international literary magazine Commerce . On May 23, 1926, at the Deutsches Nationaltheater in Weimar, in German version, the opera " Hypatia " was presented, which received abroad a resounding success with the public and critics. In 1932 the Caetani returned definitively to Italy and settled in the castle of Sermoneta ; serenity was interrupted by the tragic death of his son Camillo. From a professional point of view, Roffredo Caetani was appointed in 1939 as an academic of Santa Cecilia; in 1943 he was represented at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, under the direction of Tullio Serafin and directed by Marcello Govoni, " The Island of the Sun , a musical novel in two acts on its own booklet." After World War II the family settled in Palazzo Caetani in via delle Botteghe Oscure , home to the other important magazine of his wife, " Botteghe Oscure ".

He was named in 1972 the " Roffredo Caetani non-profit foundation " with the aim of preserving and promoting the memory of the Caetani and protecting the territory and culture of the Lepini mountains and the Pontine lands.

Compositions [ edit :: wikitesto change ]
Quartet in D major, op. 1 (1888)
Symphonic intermezzo, op. 2
Piano Sonata in La bem. major, op. 3
Quintet for piano and strings in F sharp minor, op. 4 (1897):
Trio with piano in D major, op. 5 (1897)
Sonata for violin and piano in B flat, op. 6
12 Variations on a prelude to Chopin in C minor, op. 7
Préludes symphoniques, op. 8: n. 1 in E-flat major, n. 2 in C minor, n. 3 in A major
Compositions for piano, op. 9: n. 1 Ballade in F minor minor; n. 2 Quatre impromptus in La bem., Si bem., La min., Mi bem .; n. 3 Touched in D major
Suite for orchestra in B minor, op. 10
5 Préludes symphoniques for orchestra, op. 11
Quartet in F minor op 12 (1904), dedicated to the countess Greffulhe
"A country festival", Scherzo for violin and piano dedicated to Gioconda De Vito
Sacred music with a Requiem for the death of his son Camillo
"Hypatia", lyric action in three acts (ed 1924, 1953)
"L'isola del sole", lyric action in three acts (Rome 1943) in the Royal Opera Theater of Rome directed by Tullio Serafin
"The song of the three children", for piano and three sopranos
"The comedy of a musician", 5 pieces for piano
"My Italy!" theatrical work (Domodossola, 1926)
Bibliography [ edit :: wikitesto change ]
B. Origo, «CAETANI, Roffredo». In: Biographical Dictionary of Italians , Vol. XVI, Rome: Institute of the Italian Encyclopedia, 1973 ( on-line )
{fr} Laure Hillerin, La comtesse Greffulhe, L'ombre des Guermantes , Flammarion, 2014.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roffredo_Caetani I.S. 1/8/2018

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

Terms