TOBAL, Opus 5
FOUR SONGS, Opus 6
CONCERTO FOR CLARINET & STRING ORCHESTRA, Opus 11
Or with Piano
SUITE NO. 1, Opus 19
FAREWELL & HAIL, Opus 28
A CONCERT OVERTURE, Opus 29
FANTASY, Opus 36
CONCERTANTE, Opus 44
THREE PSALMS, Opus 50
FANTASIA ON KOREAN FOLK TUNES, Opus 53
CAROLINE'S DANCE, Opus 67
MONT BLANC - OVERTURE, Opus 72
MUSIC FOR SMALL ORCHESTRA, Opus 81
FUSIONS FOR TROMBONE & ORCHESTRA, Opus 92
THERE IS SWEET MUSIC HERE, Opus 93
PYRAMID, Opus 95
CANTO I, Opus 96
SHERBROOKE WEST, Opus 99
SONGS OF REMEMBRANCE, Opus 100
DIALOGUE FOR PIANO & ORCHESTRA, Opus 111
ICELANDIC MUSINGS, Opus 113
TOBAL II, Opus 115
CELEBRATION SUITE, Opus 119
KYOUSOU, Opus 121
LAMENT FOR HAL, Opus 122
CONVERGENT DIVERSIONS, Opus 123
TOMORROW WILL BE TODAY, Opus 126
FINAL PROJECT, Opus 127
Return to the Bavicchi Home Page.
Copyright © 1996-2012
BAVICCHI, in 1955, composed To The Lighthouse, a piece scored for
soprano, French horn and piano, which was inspired by Norma Farber’s poem.
Mrs. Farber (an actress, singer and poet from the Boston area) was so
pleased and impressed with the performance that she commissioned him to
set to music her Farewell & Hail. The world premiere was to have been a
performance by the Zimbler Sinfonietta (a chamber orchestra formed by
Alfred Zimbler and other members of the Boston Symphony) with Roger
Voisin of the Symphony as soio trumpet. Completed in 1957, the work was
never performed due to Mr. Zimbler’s untimely death.
Bavicchi’s basic technique is contrapuntal, rarely employing chords except
in a polyphonic context. His music is so “open” that, although each
instrumentalist may only be entrusted with a fragment at a time, he is
completely exposed for that moment. The part must be mastered and passed
on quickly so that all the elements dovetail surely, and build up to that
intense energy that is the hailmark of Bavicchi’s music.
The Fantasia on Korean Folk Songs began as a harmonization of
melodies for a solo singer and piano. Later the composer conceived the
idea of enlarging the scope of the work and scoring it for civic symphony orchestras.
The melodies of Korea are built on a six-tone scale which imparts
a very lush quality and at the same time gives a haunting and nostalgic
aura to the tunes themselves. Although the melodies are basically
simple, they have an extraordinary breadth, piling phrase upon phrase.
This kind of thing is automatically interesting to a composer and
invites the kind of manipulation that is really exhilarating to work with,
forming a springboard for multitudinous ideas.
The “Mont Blanc" Overture was written at the request of Oxford University
Press for what both they and the composer considered a gap in contemporary
music: works accessible to orchestras of less than the highest professional
level. A huge percentage of the serious music written for symphony orchestras
today is either unachievable or at best highly problematical for performance,
and much of the rest is for rather basic orchestras in educational situations.
This work is meant to be clear in form (basically a simple 3-part shape) and
uncomplicated in style, while remaining a creation of our time. Ranges and
technical elements have been kept within practical limits, and the string
parts use the more standard finger patterns as much as possible. Genuinely
lyrical passages are in contrast to much brilliance in the orchestral setting.
Most recent revision, October, 2012