The Composer
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Although none of the music here was written by Carmen Coletti, it might still be of interest to those few who care that she ever wrote a single note at all, as these pieces might best 'distill the character and flavor of her music.' She is primarily a classical composer, who lived and died in modern times, with a body of work heavily burdened by greatness from another place along the timeline--a so-called neo-classical artist, who wrote in the classical and romantic style with such skill as to cause instantaneous disbelief and opposition.
But from the age of 12, her mind was on fire with finished, mature music in the style of Mozart, which quickly evolved into the style of a composer who never existed, a German-Italian hybrid, an Antonio Amadeus, as if Rossini himself had been obsessed with purely instrumental music, but was inclined to make instruments talk and sing with as much thunder and lightning as could be found. At times, her scores sound as if Beethoven and Rossini had collaborated--to produce music more beautiful and powerful than any they had written themselves. Even so, how is one to gauge the impact her music would have? Is the assumption by a former concert pianist and Ph.D in musicology to be taken lightly, that her overtures and concertos "would become world famous overnight?"
Perhaps the only way to truly know her is to go to the source of who she is--music itself. Who is she? Why should anybody care? The best answer might be found here, in this small collection of the composers she most admired, as if it were possible to imagine that one lost, lonely composer could have written all of this extraordinary music herself. Yes, truth is stranger than fiction. And though it was once possible, that the music might have never become an accepted part of her reality, there are a few who lived and knew her, who had already embraced the truth of what they saw in her notebooks... and heard on her piano.
Rossini
"In questo augusto" from Semiramide
"Chorus of the Leaves" (C. A. Coletti)
Rossini
"Giorno d'orror!" ("Day of horror!") from Semiramide
Rossini
"Il di gia cade" ("Day is drawing to a close"), excerpt no. 1 from Semiramide
Rossini
"Il di gia cade" ("Day is drawing to a close"), excerpt no. 2 from Semiramide