Luigi Dallapiccola

Luigi Dallapiccola (3 February 1904 – 19 February 1975) was an Italian composer and pianist known for his lyrical twelve-tone compositions. Biography Dallapiccola was born in Pisino d’Istria, Austria-Hungary (current Pazin, Croatia), to Italian parents. Unlike many composers born into highly musical environments, his early musical career was irregular at best. Political disputes over his birth region of Istria led to instability and frequent moves. His father was headmaster of an Italian-language school – the only one in the city – which was shut down at the start of World War I. The family, considered politically subversive, was placed in internment at Graz, Austria, where the budding composer did not even have access to a piano, though he did attend performances at the local opera house which cemented his desire to pursue composition as a career. Once back in Pisino after the war, he travelled frequently. Dallapiccola took his piano degree at the Florence Conservatory in the 1920s. He also studied composition with Vito Frazzi. He became a professor at the conservatory in 1931; Dallapiccola’s early experiences under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini coloured his outlook and o