Il contributo di Giulio Ricordi alla diffusione delle musiche per banda alla fine dell’Ottocento

Abstract

The contribution of Giulio Ricordi to the diffusion of band music at the close of the nineteenth century

During the nineteenth century, the band was the most widespread musical reality throughout Italy, thanks to numerous regimental military bands, to town bands (frequently direct heirs of the various Corpi di Musica of the National Guard) and to the multitude of philharmonic societies. A certain publishing activity consequently developed, but only to a limited extent owing to the fact that the repertoire consisted mainly of transcriptions and original dance music composed for the different formations of the various ensembles.
In 1888 Giulio Ricordi took over the firm on the death of his father, Tito, and launched a series of synergistic publishing initiatives which became extremely popular in band circles:
- publication of Amintore Galli’s Manuale del Capomusica (1889);
- publication of Metodi populari per strumenti a fiato (19 altogether in the period 1893-1896);
- annual competitions for composition of music for bands (5 between 1888 and 1892);
- publication of the complete catalogue of band music published by Francesco Lucca and acquired 30 May 1888;
- regular publication of numerous compositions for bands of varying size;
- publication of band music series available by subscription with attached authorization for performance released by the Società degli Autori:
(a) «Biblioteca dei Corpi di Musica Civili e Militari» (374 pieces in 30 annual series: 1888-1917)
(b) «Biblioteca Popolare dei Corpi di Musica e Fanfare» (366 pieces: 1897-1918)
(c) «Piccola Biblioteca Popolare della Fanfara» (11 pieces: 1902, 1907, 1916)
(d) «La Piccola Banda. Concertini» (23 pieces: 1904-1905)
The paper describes briefly the lines of development of the various initiatives in the panorama of the period, bringing into focus the more important relative issues, in particular the training of bandmaster and players, the composition of the bands and their repertoires.
The paper concludes with a complete catalogue of the publications for band by Ricordi up to 1917, integrated with the dates of pieces extracted from the Libroni Ricordi and subdivided as follows: General Catalogue, Biblioteca dei Corpi di musica civili e militari, Biblioteca popolare dei Corpi di musica e Fanfare.