THE LIVING COMPOSERS PROJECT  

Giovanni D'Aquila

(b. 1966, Grotte, Sicily).

Italian composer of mostly stage, orchestral, chamber, vocal, and piano works that have been performed in Europe and elsewhere.

Mr. D'Aquila studied piano privately with Vincenzo Mannino and earned a diploma at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in Palermo in 1989, where he later studied composition with Marco Betta and Alberto Giraldi and graduated in 1998. He also studied piano privately with Constance Channon-Douglass in Rome and piano privately with Ennio Pastorino in Reggio Emilia in the 1980s.

His music has been performed in Italy, San Marino, Switzerland, and the USA.

He is also active in other positions. He served as assistant to the artistic director and as musical assistant of the Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Vittorio Emanuele in Palermo from 2000–02.

He taught composition at the Conservatorio Arcangelo Corelli in Messina in 1999–2000.

His primary publishers are Casa Sonzogno and Mnemes.

CONTACT INFORMATION

E-mail address: giovannidaquila@aliceposta.it

Website: http://www.giovannidaquila.it/

COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS

STAGE:

Hippolytus (incidental music, play by Euripides), synthesizer, computer, 1996

Œdipus Rex (incidental music, play by Sophocles), synthesizer, computer, 1997

Le Stagioni di Medea (incidental music, play by Marcella Natale), synthesizer, 1999

...e poi non rimase nessuno (incidental music, play by Giuditta Lelio, after Dame Agatha Christie), synthesizer, 2000

Ulisse Innamorato (lyric opera in 1 act, libretto by Alberto Bonanno), soprano, tenor, clarinet, violin, cello, synthesizer, drum kit, 2000

La Nascita di Cristo (holy representation, text by Lope de Vega [translated by the composer]), soprano, alto, tenor, bass, 2 actors, 8 mixed voices, flute, clarinet, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 2003

Giulietta (degli spiriti) (incidental music, play by Vitaliano Trevisan), 2004

ORCHESTRAL:

...under dark, deep skies..., soprano saxophone, large orchestra, 1997

Xmas cards, large orchestra, 1998

Ainulindalë, large orchestra, 2001

dawn of a black sun, double bass, string orchestra, 2002

La Nave bianca, string orchestra, 2003

The great horn of Helm, alphorn, string orchestra, 2003

Il Trionfo di Santa Rosalia, large orchestra, 2003

Through the mines of Moria, large orchestra, 2003

Pictures from the Middle Earth, large orchestra, 2003–04

CHAMBER MUSIC:

Break, 2 French horns, 2 flügelhorns, 2 trumpets, tuba, 1995

Escape, 4 saxophones, 1995

Elf song, flute, English horn, harp, violin, viola, cello, double bass, 1995 (also version for flute, flügelhorn, violin, cello, piano, 1996)

Desaparecidos, synthesizer, computer, 1995

Sgomento, synthesizer, computer, 1995

Apartheid, synthesizer, computer, 1995

Indigeni, synthesizer, computer, 1995

Alone, B-flat trumpet, 1996

Gli Alberi della luce di Valinor, 2 clarinets, piano, 1997

Voices and whispers, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1997

Inferno, canto XV, 3 synthesizers, 1998

La Stanza di Charrington, clarinet, harp, cello, 1999

Flint's last run, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 1999

Ciàula e la luna, clarinet, accordion, ensemble (4 saxophones, 2 trumpets, trombone, 4 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, double bass, bass guitar, synthesizer, percussion), 2001

Le Stanze dello scirocco, piccolo, 8 flutes, 2 alto flutes, bass flute, 2001 (also version for piccolo, 5 flutes, 2 alto flutes, bass flute, 2001)

The grey havens, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, 2003

The very error of the moon, flute, harp, cello, 2003

Epitaffio, guitar, 2003

The surrenders, flute, violin, cello, 2003

Al Qasr, flute, guitar, 2003

Al Qantarah, flute, clarinet, piano, 2004

CHORAL:

...tant' è la pena mia, pena infinita... (text by Antonio Veneziano), mixed chorus, 1998–99 (its three sections may be performed separately: ...cuntati a la mia donna lu miù arduri; ...em'amu sulamenti perchì v'amu; ...chiangirò l'occhi e, a l'ultimu, la vita)

dello spirito dell'amore dello spirito dell'amore (text by Guido delle Colonne), mixed chorus, flute, violin, cello, harpsichord, 2000

VOCAL:

Dell'Uomo, della morte (text by Gaius Valerius Catullus), soprano, piano, 1998

Kurdistan (text from a 19th-century folksong from Kurdistan [Italian translation]), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, piano, 1998

Il Più bello dei mari (text by Nâzım Hikmet [Italian translation]), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, piano, 1998

...la guerra che verrà... (text by Bertolt Brecht [Italian translation]), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, piano, 1998

Noctandre (text by Charles Baudelaire [Italian translation]), mezzo-soprano, 4 saxophones, 1998

Le Visioni di Hildegard (vocalise), soprano, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, violin, cello, double bass, piano, percussion, 1999

Shades in the night (text by William Shakespeare), non-lyrical female voice, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, harp, electric guitar, violin, double bass (+ bass guitar), synthesizer, percussion, 2000

Degli Anelli (vocalise), soprano, clarinet, cello, piano, 2000

Della Natività di Iesu (text by Jacopone da Todi), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, glockenspiel, 2000

PIANO:

Fifths, 1992

Soft, 1992

Hard, 1992

Just for you, piano 4 hands, 1993

Moonstruck, 1993

Time, please, 1993

Like Keith, 1993

Spleen, 1993

What fun is this?, 1993

Untitled, 1993

Latin rag, 1993

Out of Breath, 1995

Il Mare colore del vino, piano 4 hands, 1999

The cave, 2004

ORGAN:

For a friend's marriage, 1994

DIDACTIC MUSIC:

Six Piano Pieces for Children, 1994–96

DISCOGRAPHY

Desaparecidos; Sgomento; Apartheid; Indigeni. Giovanni D'Aquila, synthesizer (Killer Music: KMCD 9501, 1995)

Moonstruck; Time, please; Spleen; Untitled. Giovanni D'Aquila, piano (Domani Musica: DMCD 9801, 1997)

Flint's last run. Gruppo di Roma (Domani Musica: DMCD 0013, 2001)

Le Stanze dello scirocco. Cherubino Flute Ensemble (Rodaviva: RV013, 2001)

dello spirito dell'amore dello spirito dell'amore. Fabio Ciulla/Euphonia (Salvare Palermo [magazine], 2001)

Al Qasr. Devis Mariotti, flute; Marco Squicciarini, guitar (Rodaviva: RV037, 2003)