Remembering a Musician of Ours

(Article published in the magazine "Music & Record" in the 1940s)

What I am going to do is not a historical essay, neither a critical
examination nor a retouch of musicology. Not at all. I wish only to
accomplish an act of justice towards a deceased musician of ours, who, for
the quantity of his varied and important production, seems to us to deserve
the right of being worthily remembered.

Many do not know this name. And yet the activity of this praised orchestra
director, composer and self made man, produced in a great part abroad, should
be known especially to the Italians that he advertised and supported and
helped. Neglia is a native of Enna, born on May 22, 1874. His youth is more
or less equal to that of other musicians and therefore it has the
unmistakable characteristics of the artist. His father, the director of the
town band, taught him the violin and the trombone. The instinctive call
towards a serious and regular course of musical experience could not be
followed at once, for financial reasons were against it. After eighteen years
we find young Neglia as elementary school teacher in his native town.
However, one day the novice teacher takes himself away from the school and
from his town, to create himself director of an Opera troop. Launched in art
we find him again some time after in Palermo received with fatherly interest
by William Zuelli, then director of a music conservatory, and out of which,
just in that period of time came out the finest minds that today the Nation
can boast in the musical field in general and especially in the lyric one.
(Marinuzzi, Mule, Donaudy, Cuscina, etc.) In 1900 he gets the diploma of
composer teacher and the following year (who has already individualized his
marked directorial tendency) settles in Hamburg, where he explicates largely
his brilliant career among the consent of the experts and the public.

And organizing soul, gifted with an uncommon musical talent, he founded a
music Conservatory which in a short time counts more than 500 students and
directs the local symphony concerts which in a short time classify and among
the greatest interpreters of the nine Beethoven symphonies. This procuring
him invitations to conduct the greatest orchestras of Berlin, Kiel,
Bad-Nauheim, Frankfort on Mein and at last the famous Stadt Theater at Felix
Weingartner’s side.

Out of this history we can already make a clear idea of the spiritual and
cultural heights of our Artist, as a highborn artist and who in a short time
conquers abroad the supremacy among the international orchestra directors.
To this aim let us refer to a critical document of the Hamburg Fremdenblatt
which regards him "the difficulties that are met for the performance of
Bruckner’s symphonies may be a justification never to hazard their execution:
with an orchestra, which can interpret the nine symphonies of Bruckner as our
Musik Freunde Orchestra has interpreted it, everything can be dared. The
execution was on an excellent beauty and of a penetrating truth. To have led
the orchestra to this perfection is behind discussion a merit of Professor
Neglia.

Among his numerous artistic affirmations it must not be forgotten that in
commemoration of Beethoven and the other also commemorative of Verdi. Nor
must be forgot in his friendly relations with our greatest musicians, his
contemporaries among whom M. Henry Bossi, whose principal symphonic works he
made known, keeping high abroad the good name of the Italian art.

President in many associations he never fails to carry to his countrymen did
here far away father was reading, and to this, in moments of grief, the
grateful sons help. So in the occasion of the Messina earthquake (1908)
Neglia organized and directed a grand concert which yielded the net proceeds
of 25,000 francs, devolved by hand to the survivors of the disaster, (a very
substantial amount for that epoch). His name and fame had become popular in
the whole of Germany. Having so reached this summit of his fortuitous
activity, the unlucky day on August 2nd 1914 falls on his fate, which with
the incoming of the Great War had to overturn so many things in the entire
world, and also our acclaimed orchestra director, cut off all of a sudden his
luminous career.

Francesco Paolo Neglia could not resist to the whole of the fatherland in
arms. He hastened to it, coming back home with his whole family and losing
all his property. Soon the real embarrassments made them selves felt. In
Italy to nothing amounted the good offices of Richard Strauss, of Siegfried
of Wagner, of M.E. Bossi, of Zuelli and even the personal concern of her
Majesty the Queen Mother to procure him an even modest position of work: off
his work. His countryman remained feeling less to all the authoritative
references, to the entreaties, to every feeling of the most human and
friendly hell. The mark of the real ingratitude, in the deaf comprehension
end of the bitter undeceiving "so frequent and artists life", had decisively
manifested itself for the poor Neglia, cool, pressed away more lighthearted
needs, at last makes recourse to his diploma of elementary teacher and the
schools of his native Enna find him again for the period of a quinquennium.
His strong temper of outiring worker from a kid in Chile exposed himself
again to the examination at the Royal University of Palermo, obtaining the
diploma of teacher in the German language. He taught this language to the
technical Institute of Caltanissetta and Legnano, wear at last he succeeded
in creating a new music Institute Giuseppe Verdi, which certainly what have
had a great future, if his untimely death had not caught in July 1932.

Face the existence struggling and anyhow over, on a strong son of Sicily;
face is the Calvary of in authentic musician, of a good and generous man.

Love that disappeared it remains, besides the critical and photographic
documents of his life, an artistic patrimony of varied and interesting
compositions of his that offers us the opportunity of thoroughly knowing, as
he deserves it, his musical physiognomy. And I like to last hear the works I
have read healer compliance: orchestra and choruses Symphony - Venetian suite
for grant orchestra-Quartet for bows and piano - trio - Sonata for violin and
piano-Zelia. A Lyric Opera in three at and much other Western music, part
published by Leipsic, Hamburg and Genoa editors, and part published yet.

From Maestro Neglia’s production, it detaches neatly the physiognomy onto a
musician nourished with very good and rather classical studies, where it does
not overhanging the impetus of his exuberant temperament, burning with
Southern warmth, unaltered by the northern temperatures so favorable to him
in the dawn of his artistic career.

We don’t want to make comparisons, nor raise the work of our musician above
his real values, which are however above discussion today that it is looked
at with a limpid eye and with a soul absolutely objective. We believe however
too dutiful to point out to the Italian musicians Francesco Paolo Neglia’s
name, activities and works, as an apostle of music and of the Italian spirit
abroad. This very noble feeling, which to the deceased artist caused the sacr
ifice of a whole existence, claims its sacred mortal rights. Today that it
is hoped that a feeling of honesty and justice may return from the useless
rhetoric, where for too long time it has been away, two waits to the
acknowledgment of his own forgotten existence.

Acknowledgment that limits itself to the remembrance of his works of art,
which, as a synthetic reminder of a noble intelligence, May and must survive
when they had in them vital elements of artistic interest at any time they
may appear.

Signed: Mario Barbieri, a well-known teacher composer and professor in the
music conservatory Paganini of Genoa.

Venetian Suite

This Suite for full orchestra would describe three pictures of Venetian life.

Picture 1

The first picture, a Venetian panorama, seen a gondola from the Laguna should
first of all imitate, by means of violoncello and double bases, the
rhythmical beating of the oars of the gondola. The violins would give the
idea of the reflection on the moon on the glittering water of the Laguna.
The chum loans, with their majestic rhythm, should represent the austerity of
the palaces, which the gondolier passes by and sees in crossing the Channel
Grande. The horns, with their insisting echoes, would invite the gondolier
to intone his song. Then it is heard the stroke of the tower clock, the
cockcrows, and the first streaks of dawn break out.

Picture 2

In the second picture the author describes a Saturday at the quarter of a
canal lateral to the Canal Grande, where a young lover is playing it on his
mandolin, under his sweethearts balcony.

Picture 3

In the last picture the composer transports us to St. Mark’s Square, on
holiday. The peace begins with organ accords (horns, trumpets and
trombones), coming from the church: then follows a wedded couple on their
honeymoon journey, who look at the beauties of the Square, see a procession
pass by, and at last amuse themselves by watching pigeons which are
fluttering about cooing. The accords of the organ are heard again, the band
that follows the procession from time to time interrupts the scene to which
the young couple assists. The feast is that it’s highest. All the voices get
mixed together: the fluttering of the doves, the harmonies of the organ, the
theme of the idyl are nearly over, by St. Mark’s big bells, which are
joyfully chiming.

Critic of the first performance - Frankfurter Zeitung - Bad-Nauheim, June 19, 1914

Concert hall: Thursday June 18, III art concert, with Miss Marcia Van
Dresser’s contribution of the opera of a Frankfort on the main direction:
Prof. Winderstein.

The director on our oratory has reserved the greatest success of the evening
to one of his colleagues, the Hamburg director Francesco Paolo Neglia, who,
as composer of a Venetian suite appear himself at the music stand of the
direction, to bring to the Bad-Nauheim first performance and manuscript
opera.

In general, no great account is taking of suites, of which there is great
abundance, because for the most part they seem to alike. But it can be
already given a place of exception to that concert of yesterday, and foresee
it a long life. Everything shines, sparkles, gurgles, lightens and laughs.
The artist takes us with a trip in gondola, in the moonlight, in the darkness
of the evening, where we begin to hear a mandolin concert. This mandolin
concert forms one of the most enchanting pieces of the whole suite, and it
will be received in all the great and small orchestras in the world, above
all for the rare and efficacious sweetness of the very beautiful action and
full of the violins and the solo cellos. After this part the applause broke
for so unanimous and impetuous that the success of the opera appeared already
assured here. The third part will represent life in St. Mark’s Square, and
contains among the other a wonderful piece for wind instruments, that stands
for a deep sweetness and for its supreme harmony. In the finish of the Opera
the artist gives us a procession, in which the music renders all the pious
and glad characteristic ways of the Italian people, well known to the
composer, son of that land. The public heartened and thanked Professor Neglia
with always-new applause that he tried to attribute to the orchestra, which
had played perfectly well.

For shortness it has been wanted to report only one of the recensions is on
the Venetian sweet, but many other Neglia’s compositions had unfavorable
reception on the part of the public and of the critic in Germany, before the
breaking out of the world war in 1914. Then, from more than 30 years, a
complete silence on his name and works.

As it has already in said in Neglia’s article, the poor Neglia - a refugee and
fallen in mystery on account of the war - in order to live had to give
himself off to other occupations that could never more rise again in the
field of art. Nevertheless, in those faraway years of hopeful, but vain
expectation, he composed yet a very valuable music, of which only now - at
the distance of many years from his death - is recognized the indisputable
artistic value, and only now the compositions of the great and unhappy
musician are executed everywhere.

In fact, and less than one year, after so much silence, almost all his
compositions have been now published, of which several have already been
engraved also on records The Masters Voice performed by artists of worldwide
fame and more than 80 public performances have already taken place in the
most important cities of Italy.

The "Minuet" work 14 and the "Trio" work 52 had had everywhere a particular
favor of the public. Unfortunately however the greatest works of the
composer have yet to be performed.