Copyright
by
Melody Marie Rich
2003
The Treatise Committee for Melody Marie Rich certifies that this is the approved version of the following treatise:
Pietro Cimara (1887-1967): His Life, His Work, and Selected Songs
Committee:
_____________________________Andrew DellAntonio, Supervisor
_____________________________Rose Taylor, Co-Supervisor
_____________________________Judith Jellison
_____________________________Leonard A. Johnson
_____________________________Karl Miller
_____________________________David A. Small
Pietro Cimara (1887-1967): His Life, His Work, and Selected Songs
by
Melody Marie Rich, B.M., M.M.
Treatise
Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of
the University of Texas at Austin
in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Doctor of Musical Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
May 2003
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The journey to discovering Pietro Cimara began in 1996 at a summer workshop
where upon first hearing Ben venga amore, I instantly knew that I had to have more of
Cimaras music. Since then, the momentum to see my research through to the finish would
not have continued without the help of many wonderful people whom I wish to formally
acknowledge.
First, I must thank my supervisor, Dr. Andrew DellAntonio, Associate Professor
of Musicology at the University of Texas at Austin. Without your gracious help and
generous hours of assistance with Italian translation, this project would not have happened.
Ringraziando di cuore, cordiali saluti! To my co-supervisor, Rose Taylor, your nurturing
counsel and mounds of vocal wisdom have been a valuable part of my education and my
saving grace on many occasions. Thank you for always making your door open to me. To
each of the members of my committee at UT, thank you for your encouragement, your
wisdom, and your willingness to help me reach beyond myself to accomplish this
memorable achievement.
Cimaras incredible music was brought to life with the help of my fabulous pianist,
coach, and friend Kristin Roach. Thank you for imparting your musicality so unselfishly
and for holding my hand until I could do it myself. To Gilda Cruz-Romo, for sharing
yourself and your beautiful artistry and for your perseverance in making me a true artist in
every way, I wish you many more years of beauty, love, and good health.
To my proof readers, editors, and partners in spacing, Laura Grindle and Jennifer
Anderson, I am eternally indebted. Right up to the last minute you were there helping me
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to find the right words! Special thanks to Annalisa Mendiola and her father George DeLeon
whose expertise of opera singers and conductors made my job lighter. To Joan Ahrens, I
can never repay or thank you enough for all of your research talents and your endless
supply of support.
Much of the information provided in this research came from publishers and their
archive files. I am indebted to Gaetano Consolo of Casa Editrice A. Forlivesi & C. who has
been so gracious in providing music scores, copies of the letters from the poets of Cimaras
songs, copies of the Certificates of Copyright Renewal, and the only photograph of Pietro
Cimara that I was able to obtain. Those items have kept my hope alive at times when it
seemed that all the research was leading to dead ends. Mille grazie Signor Consolo. I am
equally indebted to Giancarlo Bongiovanni of F. Bongiovanni Edizione Musicale and Maria
Pia Ferraris of BMG Ricordi for their many hours of assistance in collecting valuable
historical data concerning the songs that are published by their companies and for their
patience in answering my repeated requests for more information.
A treasure-filled package arrived one day in the mail from John Pennino, Assistant
Archivist from the New York Metropolitan Opera Association Archives, who sent me
Pietro Cimaras file of his years as Maestro with the Metropolitan Opera. From this, much
valuable information was provided that has not been found anywhere else.
Thank you John Koopman for your beautiful writing about Cimaras song
Nostalgia in Unsung Songs, which has been a great inspiration to me. I also must
acknowledge John Conyers from the University of Texas at San Antonio Library who has
been instrumental in helping me retrieve musical scores not found in general access sources.
My research and effort would have been nearly impossible were it not for the army
of friends and family who have made completion a reality. The members of the Chancel
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Choir at Christ Episcopal Church in San Antonio and Owen Duggan, Minister of Music,
have been my faithful extended family, supporting my progress across the years. I wish to
thank my mother, Sonia Rich, and my sister, Lois McCoy, for holding the pieces of my life
together when my hands were too full. To my life-support team: Susan Blake, Elaine
Christian, June Taylor, Tonya Lapinski, Madolyn Fallis, Irma Taute, and Christine Debus,
please never stop cheering!!! And most of all, to the greatest four-year-old on earth who
has had to wait for his turn at the computer and for his mommy to be done yet, I owe
you a lifetime of bedtime songs and kisses, son. Thank you for coming into my life!
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Pietro Cimara (1887-1967): His Life, His Work, and Selected Songs
Publication No. ________
Melody Marie Rich, D.M.A.The University of Texas at Austin, 2003
Supervisors: Andrew DellAntonio and Rose Taylor
To describe Pietro Cimara solely as an Italian conductor is to diminish Cimara's
numerous talents and accomplishments, yet, unfortunately, such is the reality in the all-
too-brief biographic entries about him in journals and encyclopedias. Cimara's life was
one as servant to music, resulting in a career that would span the gamut of his talents from
violinist to pianist to composer and, ultimately, to that of a gifted conductor. With the
use of scant newspaper articles, periodical and journal entries, encyclopedia entries from
both Italy and the United States dating from the 1940s to the present, obituaries,
correspondence with publishing houses in Italy, internet research, immigration
documentation, the Social Security Administration, archive files from the Metropolitan
Opera, first editions of music scores obtained from libraries throughout the United States
using Interlibrary Loan, subsequent reprints of music scores from Italian publishers,
information from audio recordings, biographies of singers, forwards in music anthologies,
and with the generous assistance of Dr. Andrew Dell'Antonio, Associate Professor of
Musicology at the University of Texas at Austin, the many accomplishments of Pietro
Cimara are all pieced together into a biographical sketch that establishes his important place
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in music history. Still largely elusive, Cimara's private life may forever remain unknown
because of the lack of written accounts and because of the absence of personal witnesses
who could attest to his life story. As little is written about his life, this collection of facts
must serve to form a picture of the composite Cimara: the son, the brother, the violinist, the
student, the friend, the husband, the father, the accompanist, the conductor, and the
composer--ultimately a man who would spend all the years of his working life making
music both for and with the greatest legends in music today.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................xi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................................... xii
CHAPTER ONE CIMARA: HIS EARLY YEARS ..........................................1
CHAPTER TWO CIMARA: THE CONDUCTOR AND ACCOMPANIST..8
CHAPTER THREE CIMARA: THE MAN, THE HUSBAND, THE FATHER.13 CHAPTER FOUR CIMARA: THE COMPOSER ............................................ 24
CHAPTER FIVE SELECTED SONGS .......................................................... 37
Stornello .................................................................... 37
Fiocca la neve .............................................................40
Maggiolata .................................................................44
Stelle Chiare .............................................................. 47
A una rosa ................................................................. 50
Non pi ..................................................................... 52
Canto di Primavera ........................................ ........... 56
Ben venga amore ....................................................... 60
Trittico Primaverile.................................................... 63no. 1: Febbraio............................................... 64no. 2: Pioggia di Marzo.................................. 65no. 3: Aprile................................................... 67
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CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION .......................................................
