Luigi Dallapiccola's use of symbolism has been a fundamental part of his compositional process throughout his life. Symbolic techniques range from a madrigalian style of text painting to complex structural associations to ideograms and personal rhythmic representation. One of the most salient forms of symbolism in Dallapiccola's music can be found in his practice of self-quotation. Beginning as early as 1937, Dallapiccola quotes thematic material from his Tre laudi in Volo di notte. His 1942 Liriche greche quotes sections from the Cinque frammenti di Saffo, and this practice continues in the composer's quotation of the Canti di prigionia in Il prigioniero as well as the Quaderno musicale di Annalibera and Il prigioniero in the Canti di liberazione. The culmination of this practice is Dallapiccola's 1968 opera Ulisse, in which quotations from a wide range of the composer's previous works can be found, especially in the work's Epilogue. Many times these self-borrowings have a symbolic meaning in that they draw upon earlier dramatic or textual contexts present in the original works and insert those associations into a new musical environment. The wide-reaching use of self-quotation in Dallapiccola's work not only serves a symbolic function but also works as a unifying factor in the composer's output as a whole.

Works: Dallapiccola: Volo di notte (277-80), Liriche greche (280-82), Due liriche di Anacreonte (282), Il prigioniero (282-89), Canti di liberazione (282-90), Il Cenacolo--Le vicende del capolavoro di Leonardo da Vinci (290), Variazioni (290), Ulisse (290-302), Sicut Umbra (303-4).

Sources: Dallapiccola: Tre laudi (277-80), Cinque frammenti di Saffo (280-82), Canti di Prigionia (282-84), Il prigioniero (284-90, 295), Quaderno musicale di Annalibera (289-90), Goethe-Lieder (290-94), Volo di notte (294-95), An Mathilde (297-98), Requiescant (299-302), Canti di liberazione (301-2), Ulisse (302-4).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Elizabeth Elmi