The compositions of Curt Cacioppo group under three headings: those with Italian focus, those with Native American focus, and those whose foci originate from inspirational channels diverse and further afield. The catalog of works listed here is so aligned, with pieces then organized according to instrumentation & duration.  The Ensemble Ex Novo rehearsing Tucson Scherzo at Teatro La Fenice, VeniceAll have come under the aegis of the Orenda Press, and the process of converting those scores still in manuscript to computer printed format, and making the entire catalog available both in hard copy and online as pdf.s is underway. Inquiries about current availability – pricing, purchasing, and perusal – are most welcome, as are questions about commissioning, and may be directed via email through this site.
CommissioningCacioppo has executed a variety of commissions, from those of a high profile nature for internationally renowned performers such as the nine time Grammy® winning Emerson String Quartet to smaller scale projects for local ensembles and ceremonial occasions. He has written for the Chicago and Milwaukee Symphonies, the Pacific Symphony, the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra, the Yale Symphony, the Bach Society Orchestra, the Virtuosi dell’ Ensemble di Venezia, the Ex Novo Ensemble, the Network for New Music, the American String Quartet, the Moscow String Quartet, the Borromeo Quartet, the Quartetto d’ Archi di Venezia, the New York Chamber Brass, the Sartori Trio, the Duo Alterno, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Tucson Friends of Chamber Music, Lyric Fest, the Settimana Organistica Internazionale, the International Venice Festival, the NED Ensemble of Verona, the Alba Music Festival, for soloists such as Abbiati prize winners Emanuele Arciuli and Francesco D’Orazio, and many others. Support comes from a range of sources including large foundations and trusts, performing organizations and presenters, competitive grants and private donors. For more information on commissioning, please contact the composer. |
Music of Italian focusMusic of Native American focus Music of diverse fociMusic of Italian focusKeyboard>>Ciclo metamorfico sul nome d’un Maestro — 45 min (piano; written for George Rochberg’s 70th birthday & commissioned by his wife Gene)
Tuscan Folio — 20 min (piano version, prepared for the Rive-Gauche Concert series, Turin)
Sonata trasfigurata (aka Piano Sonata No. 1) — 14 min (piano; written for Alan Moverman) di cibo celeste — ciaconna-fantasia — 14 min (organ; written for the Settimana Organistica Internazionale) Suite from Vespero Vermiglio — 12 min (organ)
Francesca Fantasy — 12 min (piano; after Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini, written for collaboration with the Gruppo Strumentale Ciampi, Piacenza) Pandora’s Box (Toccata) – 9 min (piano; dedicated to Emanuele Arciuli) Notturno elidiano — 8 min (piano; written for collaboration with the Gruppo Strumentale Ciampi, Piacenza) Quiete notturna — 7 min (piano; fantasia-berceuse after an etching by Lia Laterza) Capriccio pellicano — 7 min (harpsichord; written for the Alba Festival) Visione delle Crociate — 7 min (organ; written for the Settimana Organistica Internazionale) Fuga cavalcantiana — 7 min (piano & tape) Ricercar sopra “Clavis Astartis Magica” — 6 min (piano) Il Pensionato — fantasia fugale — 6 min (piano) Carmina fiant – 6 min (piano) a Violetta aka “Venezia mia” — 5 min (piano) Ecco Venere — 5 min (piano) Endgame: a prelude — 4 min (piano; companion piece to the fantasia fugale “Il Pensionato”) Arrivederci — 3 min (piano) Epitaph — 3 min (piano) In the Dolomites — 3 min (piano) Somnamble — 3 min (piano) Old Swedes — fantasy on “Santa Lucia” — 4 min (piano; part of a Philadelphia Chamber Music Society commission) Consolatio (from Vespero Vermiglio) — 3 min (organ or piano) Burlesca (on “Fin ch’ han dal vino”) — 3 min (piano) Nel mezzo del cammin — 3 min (organ or piano) Breve indagine fugale d’un arabesco di Chopin — 2 min (piano) Cartolina — 1 min (piano) Chamber>>String Quartet No. 3 (“Impressioni venexiane” — Impressions of Venice) — 35 min (string quartet; written at the request of the Quartetto d’Archi di Venezia) Sunrise over St. Mark’s (aerial view); song of the Serenissima; the Quadriga; reflection of flames on wet pavement (Piazza S. Marco); simbolo (over the entrance to the Chiesa di S. Maria Madalena); canzona popolare (“Venezia mia!”); napping on Attila’s throne (Torcello; Campo dei Mori (Palazzo Mastelli); the Ghetto; sunset on the banks of Lido (vespers from S. Giorgio/cantilena); reprise Women at the Cross (Donne alla Croce) — 31 min (quintet for piano, 2 vn, va, vc – for the 30th anniversary of the Quartetto di Venezia)
Concerto for Oboe and String Chamber Orchestra with Harpsichord — 29 min (ob solo, 4 vln, vla, vc, cb, hpschd; for the International Venice Festival “Viva Vivaldi” at the Chiesa di S. Maria della Pietà on the Grand Canal in Venice) String Quartet No. 8 (Bagatelle-Variations on “Wohl kenn’ ich Eueren Stand” from Hugo Wolf’s Italian Songbook) — 27 min (for the Quartetto di Venezia) Colomba scarlatta della Libia (Red Dove of Libya)— 22 min (fl, harp, cb, percussion; based on the story of the Temple of Venus at Erice in Sicily; spoken text fragments from Shakespeare; written for the Network for New Music, Philadelphia)
String Quartet No. 6 (“Divertimenti in Italia/Italian Holiday”) — 16 minutes (for the Quartetto di Venezia
String Quartet No. 7 (“Nebbia lagunare”) — 9 min (for the Quartetto di Venezia) Tucson Scherzo — 9 min (fl, cl, vln, vcl, pno; for the Ensemble Ex Novo di Venezia) Tucson Scherzo — 9 min (concertante version for fl solo, strings & hpschd; for the Alba Festival) Sinfonia e fugato — 7 min (fl, vln, vla, vc, pno; a birthday party in baroque style for Scarlatti, Bach, Handel & Schütz) Sorriso a Catania — 7 min (string quartet) Trulli Sketches — 6 min (string quartet) flights of fancy – 6 min (solo flute; for Andrea Vecchiato) Colapesce – 5 min (solo harp; for Paola Perrucci) Colapesce – 5 min (harp, cello; for the duo Strange Interlude) Gloria (from Vespero Vermiglio) — 3 min (for 8 cellos, arr. for the Venice Cello Ensemble) In the Dolomites —3 min (string quartet; for the Quartetto di Venezia, in anticipationof their 30th anniversary) Vocal>>Poems from Paternina— 19 min (soprano & piano, for the Fiore-Cacioppo Duo; texts by C.H.O. Scaife, Shelley)
Bernini Elegy – 14 min (bass-baritone & piano; text by C.H.O. Scaife, “AN ELEGIAC FRIEZE for AURELIO BERNINI,” used with the author’s permission and encouragement) Sestinamento “Operistica” — 14 min (soprano & piano; text by Luigi Cerantola, composed at the request of the author and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura) Canzoni su testi di Renzo Oliva — 14 min (soprano and piano)
Franciscan Prayer — 9 min (bass-baritone & piano; text attr. St. Francis of Assisi) Notturno elidiano — 8 min (version for piano & spoken voice; text by Claudio Saltarelli) Due canti brevi su poesia di Claudio Saltarelli — 7 min (soprano & piano, for the Duo Alterno di Torino)
Sugnu sicilianu — 7 min (tenor & piano; text by Gaetano Lino) Canto notturno — 5 min (soprano & piano, for the Fiore-Cacioppo Duo; text by Giacomo Leopardi) Né più la luce — 4 min (soprano & piano; text by Luigi V. Cerantola) Danae — 4 min (chorus SATB, a cappella, text by Luigi V. Cerantola; for Gonçalo Lourenço and the ESART Singers/Studio Conducere) Arianna — 4 min (SATB chorus, a cappella, text by Luigi V. Cerantola; for Tian Hui Ng and the Haverford — Bryn Mawr College Chamber Singers) O principessa — 3 min (soprano & piano, text by Luigi Cerantola) Volgi, Beatrice — 3 min (soprano & piano, for performance sponsored by the IIC; text by Dante) Mixed ensemble>>Franciscan Prayer — 9 min (bass-baritone & piano, with trumpet & percussion obblig.; text attr. St. Francis of Assisi) Alla primavera — madrigale virtuosa — 9 min (chorus SATB, soli SATB, piano, harpsichord, vln, vla, vcl, fl, cl, bsn; text by Giacomo Leopardi) Natura — 9 min (soprano, pno, electronics; on a madrigal text by Luigi Cerantola) Gloria — trio version — 4 min (soprano, oboe, pno; from Vespero vermiglio, text by Luigi Cerantola) Volgi, Beatrice — 3 min (for soprano & string quartet; adapted for Lyric Fest) Large forces>>Trilogia dantesca — 90 min (orchestra, chorus SATB, piano, supported by a Howard Foundation fellowship, funds from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and private donations); texts by Dante et al)
La Canzon della Veglia — 60 min (melodrama for orchestra, chorus SATB, soprano solo, actress and male dancer; libretto by Claudio Saltarelli — score in preparation; originally written for the Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana di Piacenza) Sequenza del Vespero Vermiglio — 58 min (chorus SATB, soprano solo, organ concertante & percussion; libretto by Luigi Cerantola; a musical celebration commissioned privately by a Venetian family)*
Women of Ancient Greek Myth: 7 motets on poems by Luigi Cerantola — 40 min (chorus SATB, a cappella)
Symphony No. III “Tuscan Folio” — 21 min (commissioned by the Yale Symphony Orchestra on support from the Howard Foundation & AMC)
Music of Native American focusPiano>>Pawnee Preludes — 19 min
Lyric Visions from the Pawnee — 8 min
Old Petitions — 6 min Rock Solid — 4 min (in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux) Bluebird Sings Goodnight — 3 min Under the Treaty Elm — 3 min (part of a commission from the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society) Chamber>>Womb of the Sacred Mountains — 1 hour, 51 min (string quartet); a cycle of four string quartets inspired by the Navajo creation story
Monsterslayer — Nayénĕzgạni (String Quartet No. 1) — 37 min (string quartet; commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts for the Emerson String Quartet)
The Ancestors — 32 min (vln, vc, pno; commissioned for the Sartory Trio in residence at Duquesne University by artist Charles Stegeman Sr.)
a distant voice calling — Níłch’i dine’é (String Quartet No. 2) — 27 min (string quartet; commissioned by the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music with the sponsorship of Linda and Stuart Nelson for the American String Quartet)
Kinaaldá (The Rite of Changing Woman – String Quartet No. 5) — 25 min (string quartet; written for the Borromeo Quartet)
Coyoteway — Mą’ iijí hatáál (String Quartet No. 4) — 22 min (string quartet; written for the Moscow String Quartet at their request)
Wolf — 17 min (soprano, vc, pno; written for the Fiore-Cacioppo Duo and cellist David Geber, commissioned by the Samuel S. Fels Fund; text by Peter Blue Cloud) Snake Dance – Coyóhim Katsina — 14 min (fl, vc, pno) Tucson Scherzo — 9 min (see Italian focus section) Red Bird (with Alejandro Cardona) — timing variable (guitar and variable obbligato instruments) The Yellow Star (with Alejandro Cardona) — 3 min (fl, vcl, guitar) Choral/Vocal>>Red Jacket/Yonnondio (“Upon this scene, this show”) — 5 min (sopr & pno, text by Walt Whitman; for Lyric Fest) Quattro canti indigeni nordamericani — 9 min (SATB, SB soli)
Orchestral>>Symphony No. V “Lenape Refrains” — 32 min (for 19 strings, clarinet, and Native American voice and percussion; commissioned by the Philadelphia Classical Symphony through the Philadelphia Music Project/Pew Trusts & NEA) Symphony No. VI “When the Orchard Dances Ceased” — 13 min (str 6,5,4,3,2, single ww/br, hp, pno, timp + 2 perc, Native American voice & percussion; commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra for its Zankel Hall “Orchestra Underground” series) Symphony No. IV “Scenes from Indian Country” — 19 min (movement 1 commissioned jointly by the Chicago Symphony and Milwaukee Symphony; movements 2 and 3 commissioned by the Chamber Orchestra of Bryn Mawr)
Music of diverse fociPiano>>Three American Fantasies — 45 min
Piano Variations on “Hail to the Chief” — 36 min Stories from the 7th Ward: a tribute to New Orleans — 32 min (2 pnos, for the Orpheus Duo)
Eclogue: Symphony for Piano (Symphony No. I) — 25 min Synaesthesis I (aka Piano Sonata No. 2) — 15 min Philadelphia Diary — 15 min (commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society)
Cameos from the Quaker Domain (13 short solo pieces) — 14 minutes Armed and Dangerous (fantasy-variations on “L’ Homme armé”) — 12 min (for Emanuele Arciuli) Fantasy, Air and Rag (2 pnos – tribute to J.S. Bach, for the Orpheus Duo) — 12 min Saints Alive! — 11 min (2 pnos – for the Orpheus Duo) Variations on a theme of Mozart — 10 min The Valiant Crab — 8 min (2 pnos – for the Orpheus Duo) Parisian Room Waltz — 7 min (in honor of Dixieland trumpeter Tony Almerico; for solo pno or 2 pnos) Klavierstück — 7 min Taffeta Skirts — 6 min (2 pnos with pno I perc. obbligato – for the Orpheus Duo) Triumvirite Anthem — 5 min (1 pno, 6 hands + optional male voices) Summer Moon over Cape Cod — 5 min August Rose — 5 min January Thaw — 5 min ¡Angelus! — 5 min Homage to Diz — fantasy in honor of Dizzy Gillespie — 5 min Sharon’s Song — 4 min Julian’s Song — 4 min Vaya con Dios (tango) — 4 min Lied ohne Worte (arr. of movement from Schoenberg’s Serenade) — 4 min Bagatelle nostalgique — 4 min In Memoriam — 3 min (orig. pno version) Requiescat in Pace — 3 min Fugue and Chorale — 3 min Goldberg’s Cat — 3 min Glück auf! (fanfare-prelude) — 3 min חמלה (Mitleid) — 3 min Precious Lord, Take my Hand — 3 min (for Martin Luther King) Rag for J.S. — 3 min Tango — 3 min (commemorative piece for the Biden’s, inauguration 2021) Trigger Warning 1 (not for those of weak constitution) — 3 min Plie d’amour (after L. Newman) — 3 min Snow Day Fugue (after Schumann, Winterzeit Nr. 1, Op. 68) — 2 min Tumbling — 2 min Infinitive — 2 min Au Revoir — 2 min Neue Widmung (after Schumann) — 2 min (pno 4 hands) Drehleier Blues (after Schubert, “Der Leiermann”; optional vocal part) — 2 + min Chloe — 2 min Fuga meteo (music for a meteorologist) — 1.5 min Minute March — 1 min + With tithes and offerings — 1 min Cadenzas for Mozart’s piano concerti K. 271, K. 466, K. 467, K. 491, K. 595 Also available: Largo in E — 9 min (version for organ) Chamber>>Trio for violin, horn and piano — 18 min (for Francesco D’Orazio & David Wetherill) Faust Narrative No. 1 (after Busoni; dedicated to Leonard Samuels in memoriam) — 18 min (vln, pno) Fantaisie-Sonatine (“Souvenirs du Levant”) — 16 min (oboe, pno) Faust Narrative No. 2 (after Busoni; for Francesco D’Orazio) — 15 min (vln, pno) Pharaonic Suite —14 min (brass quintet: 2 trp, hn, tbn, tba; for Graham Ashton & the New York Chamber Brass)
Nevskaya Fantaziya (Neva Fantasy) — 11 min (vln, pno; for the 2019 Tschaikovsky Center Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia) Notturno & Danse joyeuse — 10 min (ob, pno; originated as a reading commission for the National Jazz Ensemble) Largo in E — 9 min (version for 8 cellos; arr. for the Venice Cello Ensemble) Largo in E — 9 min (2 vln, 2 vla, 2 vc — original version, written for a Kinhaven summer festival ensemble) Gone Bats – 8 min (solo cello; for Nicola Fiorino) Elegy — 8 min (aka “Hamlet Elegy” – solo violin; written for Abbiati prize winner Francesco D’Orazio) Séance (Concert Etude) — 8 min (solo bsn) Tritton Fanfare — 5 min (brass quintet — 2 tpt in C, hn, tbn, b-tbn/tba; commissioned by Haverford College for the Philadelphia Brassworks for the inauguration of the school’s 12th president) Dea praeclara — 5 min (woodwind quintet — fl, ob, cl, hn, bsn) of dark and bright — 4 min (solo hn; published by Boelke-Bomart/Mobart Music, Hillsdale, NY) Cadenza for the C.P.E. Bach d minor Flute Concerto — 3 min (fl; commissioned by Jeanne Baxtresser, originally published in the Journal of the Victorian Flute Guild) Desert Soliloquy — 2.5 min (solo ob) Neue Widmung (after Schumann) — 2 min (2 vc) Mignon (after Schumann) — 2 min (tenor, hn, pno) Vocal/choral>>
Songs With and Without Words (a cycle for soprano and pianist) — 28 min (texts by Sharon Lamb, Chekhov, and Curt Cacioppo)
To A Child Dancing In The Wind — 25 min (soprano & pno version; text by William Butler Yeats) Sieben Thiel Lieder — 22 min (bass-baritone & pno; texts by Friedrich Thiel)
(I, madly struggling, cry) — 15 min (baritone and piano, text by Walt Whitman, with additional lines by Emma Lazarus – aka “The Golden Door”) Conditions of Life: a cycle of 6 songs on poems by the composer — 14 min (mezzo soprano and piano)
Notturno elidiano — 8 min (version for piano & spoken voice on Beethoven texts) An die unsterbliche Geliebte — 6 min (bass-baritone & pno; text by Beethoven) Revelation 21 — 13 min (treble choir, S solo, organ; commissioned by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, for an AIDS memorial service) An “Amen!” to Peace — 5 min (chorus SATB, soli SATB, org; dedicated to the victims of the Kent State shootings; commended by President Nixon) Land of the Free — 3 min (sopr/pno) Hymn of Affirmation aka Hymn to God’s Love — 1 min (chorus SATB, org) Mixed ensemble>>Linus — 12 min (alto, vln, vla, vc, pno; text by the composer)
Dialogue — 5 min (tbn, pno — tbn doubles as soprano; private commission)
Orchestral>>Concerto for Violin and Orchestra— 42 min (for Francesco D’Orazio) Symphony No. II “To A Child Dancing In The Wind” (with soprano)— 25 min (text by William Butler Yeats; commissioned by the Bach Society Orchestra of Harvard University) Symphony No. VII “Of Shacklers and Heroes” (for the Orquesta Sinfónica de Heredia, Costa Rica) — 18 min Largo in E — 9 min (version for strings and timpani with pno obblig.; requested by the Bach Society Orchestra) A Meeting of Souls — 8 min (strings 88553 and cembalo; commissioned by the Carmel Bach Festival, Paul Goodwin, music director) Midsummer Air — 6 min (baroque strings 88553 and cembalo; commissioned by the Carmel Bach Festival, Paul Goodwin, music director) |