Vittorio Giannini. Photo by Nicolas Flagello,
provided courtesy of Dianne Flagello
Few composers fit the label "traditionalist" as accurately
as Vittorio Giannini. Deeply imbued at an early age with the aesthetic
values and compositional techniques of the European musical heritage,
he devoted his life -- as both composer and teacher -- to applying these
principles to his own music, and to passing them on to the next generation
of serious music students. Composed at a time that virtually defined itself
by its rejection of traditional values, little of Giannini's music was
taken seriously by the music profession during his lifetime, although
his meticulous craftsmanship commanded considerable respect and his personal
warmth and magnetism earned him great affection. Yet no less demanding
a critic than Virgil Thomson could write, "[Giannini's] talent has
long been known as phenomenal, and now . . . he writes like a master,
. . . with such fine skill and such pretty taste that no one can deny
him a place among the authentic composers of our time. By following none
of the contemporary trends, in fact, he has arrived at a highly individual
position." Giannini was a composer who could state, in all sincerity,
that his creative work was motivated by "an unrelenting quest for
the beautiful, with the humble hope that I may be privileged to achieve
this goal, if only for one precious moment and share this moment with
my listeners."
(From Voices in the Wilderness, p. 151)
