Girolamo Arrigo
b. 1930
Italian
Biography
Originating from Italy, Girolamo Arrigo was born on April 2nd 1930 in Palermo. Whilst studying at the conservatory there, he received tuition from Belfiore, among others, eventually attaining diplomas in both horn and composition. He then studied in Paris with Deutsch from 1954-1964, followed by two years in New York and then one in Berlin before settling in Paris in 1968. His first major success came with winning second place in the 1963 International Society for Contemporary Music’s composition competition.
His significant early works - such as the String Trio (1958-9), Quarta occasione (1960) and Fluxus (1961) – show influence from Boulez’s works from the late 1950s. Arrigo’s views on composition changed substantially in 1969, as evidenced by his theatrical work Orden (1969); the work shows Arrigo’s total acceptance of the theory of socially committed music with its aggressive criticism of Spanish fascism. Several of his works since – exemplified by La cantata Hurbinek, Ciascuno salutò nell’aktro la vita and Addio Garibaldi – have shown this same engagement with wider socio-political issues through musico-dramtic contexts acting as what Annibaldi describes as 'a creative participation in the problems of new music'.
His significant early works - such as the String Trio (1958-9), Quarta occasione (1960) and Fluxus (1961) – show influence from Boulez’s works from the late 1950s. Arrigo’s views on composition changed substantially in 1969, as evidenced by his theatrical work Orden (1969); the work shows Arrigo’s total acceptance of the theory of socially committed music with its aggressive criticism of Spanish fascism. Several of his works since – exemplified by La cantata Hurbinek, Ciascuno salutò nell’aktro la vita and Addio Garibaldi – have shown this same engagement with wider socio-political issues through musico-dramtic contexts acting as what Annibaldi describes as 'a creative participation in the problems of new music'.