Verdi and politics in 19th century Italy. Reception of Verdi and the legend of ́Va pensiero ́ in...

Karl – Franzens University of Graz

Institute for Musicology

Verdi and politics in 19th century Italy

- Reception of Verdi and the legend of ´Va pensiero´ in the time of Risorgimento -

Date of submition: 11.07.2014

Name of the author: Jelena Čupić

Hofgasse 8, 8010 Graz Student ID number:1173269

( [email protected]) Date of birth:07.03.1991

Current semester of lecture: 3rd semester Name and type of the lecture: PS Fallbeispiele zur historischen

Musikwissenschaft Lecture professor: Univ. -Prof. Dr. Michael Walter

Content:

1 Abstract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

3 Italian Risorgimento in connection with music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

4 The legend and reception of ´Va pensiero´. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

5 Verdi - patriotic or political composer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1

Abstract

Time of Risorgimento in Italy was, not only historically, but also politically and culturally very

important. At the beginning of the 19th century, national consciousness began to rise among the people

of Italy. In this paper, it will be shown how this phenomenon influenced cultural, and especially

musical life at the time. One of the most important figures of the 19th

century Italy was Giuseppe Verdi

(further in text: Verdi), an opera composer. A lot of intrigues were attached to him, mostly because of the

content of his operas. It seems it could not be decided if his operas were purely national and patriotic, or

political. One chorus in particular - ´Va pensiero´ - became the focus not only for journalists of that time,

but also in last fifteen to twenty years, where scholars are dedicating a lot of attention to it. On that note

this paper will also be focused on the reception and meaning of that part of the opera Nabucco.

Keywords:

Risorgimento, opera, Verdi, Nabucco, ´Va pensiero´, politics Introduction

In the time 1815 – 1870, Verdi wrote the opera Nabucco (1841). This era was known as the

time of Risorgimento – time when the Italians wanted to form their fatherland and separate

Italy from Habsburg monarchy. During the restoration period (1814 – 1846-47), there were

attempts at revolution, but mostly driven by the small minorities, moved by universal ideals.1

Even before Verdi there were composers whose operas were considered nationalistic,

but Verdi is, after all, the biggest and the most important example of those nationalistic ideas.

A lot of intrigues were attached to him, mostly because of the content of his operas. It seems it

could not be decided if his operas were purely national and patriotic, or political. “The

accepted view – which is only now beginning to be questioned – is that he was a nationalist

from the start, that his operas gave voice to straightforward Risorgimento nationalist feeling,

and that contemporary audiences understood them to do so.”2 The biggest issue, as it will turn

out to be, is chorus ´Va pensiero´ from the third act of Nabucco opera, later unofficial

1See John Rosselli, Music and Nationalism in Italy, in: Musical Constructions of Nationalism: Essays on the

History and Ideology of European Musical Cultures 1800 – 1945, ed. Harry White and Michael Murphy, Cork 2001, p. 183 – 184. 2See John Rosselli, Music and Nationalism in Italy, in: Musical Constructions of Nationalism: Essays on the

History and Ideology of European Musical Cultures 1800 – 1945, ed. Harry White and Michael Murphy, Cork 2001, p. 185.

2

national hymn of Italy, where it is sang about nostalgia and sadness for lost fatherland.3 After

´Va pensiero´ there will be some other choruses from Verdi´s operas which will also have an

important role, as the one from Nabucco, but in this paper main focus will be on the myth and

the reception of this particular chorus, as well as the meaning and understanding of it. But at

the very beginning, in order to understand the work of Verdi, we must first understand the

political and social environment in which this composer lived and created.

Italian Risorgimento in connection with music

The term Risorgimento can be explained in two ways. On one hand it can be understood as a

synonym for the Italian national movement, and on the other hand as a name for a certain

period of Italian history, in which case, the precise moment of the beginning and overall

duration, was never agreed on among the scholars.4 Either way, “this historical process that

led to the founding of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th century seems inseparable from

music.”5 That is also why the mentioned urge of the Italians reflects itself in work of opera

composers, but not only that, it has also left the mark among the writers of that time.6 In this

paper, however, the focus will be on the relation between Risorgimento and music.

The mentioned conjunction appears in a work of Giuseppe Mazzini - in Filosofia della

musica (1836) to be precise - where he encourages the composers to replace their

individuality with a new musical style by giving the bigger role to the chorus, and by using

themes or motives in order to achieve more precise characterization.7 This music-theoretical

publication is one of the few to be written on the basis of the idea of Risorgimento, and also

was dedicated to one unknown genius, who will, hopefully create ´Musical drama of the

future´.8 It is one of the mystifications from the older Risorgimento literature, that Verdi was

the one to be considered to be this unknown genius, although that was never confirmed by

3See John Rosselli, Music and Nationalism in Italy, in: Musical Constructions of Nationalism: Essays on the

History and Ideology of European Musical Cultures 1800 – 1945, ed. Harry White and Michael Murphy, Cork 2001, p. 188. 4 See Martina Grempler, Italien zwischen Restauration, Risorgimento und nationaler Einheit, in: Verdi

Handbuch, eds. Anselm Gerhard and Uwe Schweikert, Kassel a.o. 2001, p. 34. 5 Anselm Gerhard, Verdi und die politische Bedeutung der Oper.. Musiktheater und ´Risorgimento´ in der ersten

Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Groniek. Historische tijdschrift 38 (2005), p. 11. 6See Martina Grempler, Italien zwischen Restauration, Risorgimento und nationaler Einheit, in: Verdi

Handbuch, eds. Anselm Gerhard and Uwe Schweikert, Kassel a.o. 2001, p. 34. 7See Mary Ann Smart, Verdi Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to

Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 30. 8See Martina Grempler, Italien zwischen Restauration, Risorgimento und nationaler Einheit, in: Verdi

Handbuch, eds. Anselm Gerhard and Uwe Schweikert, Kassel a.o. 2001, p. 35. 3

Mazzini himself.9 Had that been pointed out, there were few composers more whose names

were associated with the national movement, such as Bellini, Rossini or Pacini,10

but in fact

none of them had the amount of attention, none of them was watched so closely, and none of

them was written about as much as it was about Verdi. Therefore “until this day, as a living

image of the ´political´ composers, Verdi presents a convincing supporter of the Italian

national movement, which would have through his works, namely due to performances of the

operas from Nabucco, to La battalgia di Legnano, provided an important contribution to the

unity of the country.”11

However, there are some things that are just not consistent with this claim. First of all,

in three of his operas (Ernani and In due Foscari, 1844, and Macbeth 1847) Verdi did follow

Mazzini´s advice, and had experimented with the themes for main characters, which is why

these operas were so distinguished from his earlier work in Nabucco (1842) and I Lombardi

(1843).12

The content itself is different in them, too – while Ernani, In due Foscari and Macbeth indeed can be allegorically interpreted in a way to describe the current situation

between Italians and Austrians at the time, Nabucco and I Lombardi, on the other hand have

religious content.13

In fact, the only opera ever written specifically for the purposes of

Risorgimento is La battaglia di Legnano (1849),14

and that was after the revolutionary year of

1848. Later in time, Verdi did compose Inno popolare (“Suona la tromba”) after the text with

patriotic content which was given to him by Mazzini, and afterwards, disappointed by retreat

of the Italian revolutionists who were not anymore in need of the new hymn, he completely

retired himself from political scene in Italy, and moved away to Paris, where he wrote the

opera Les vêpres siciliennes (1855), which does not take any sides in the current political

conflict.15

“A decade later, in Don Carlos (1867), Verdi reexamined his own youthful

revolutionary fervor, so the opera could be heard as a summation of Verdi´s relationship to

9See Martina Grempler, Italien zwischen Restauration, Risorgimento und nationaler Einheit, in: Verdi

Handbuch, eds. Anselm Gerhard and Uwe Schweikert, Kassel a.o. 2001, p. 35 10

See Martina Grempler, Die Rolle der Politik, , in: Verdi Handbuch, eds. Anselm Gerhard and Uwe Schweikert, Kassel a.o. 2001, p. 106. 11

Martina Grempler, Die Rolle der Politik, , in: Verdi Handbuch, eds. Anselm Gerhard and Uwe Schweikert, Kassel a.o. 2001, p. 105. 12

See Mary Ann Smart, Verdi Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 31. 13



See Mary Ann Smart, Verdi Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 32.

4

politics, as multi-voiced as Verdi´s own statements.”16

Now, after taking in consideration all

these information, one question still remains, and it repeats itself constantly – why is then, if

everything happened this way, Verdi considered as a supportive revolutionist, and his chorus

´Va pensiero´ as a representative music of Risorgimento?

The legend of ´Va pensiero´ “Nabucco (first performed at La Scala, Milan in March 842) has always held a special

position among Verdi´s early operas.”17

We are constantly reminded by the lack of original

documentation, which is the case with this opera, that the opera itself was the reason why the

composer became known for it.18

With the absence of first-hand material, authors were

unfortunately obligated to follow different narratives to be able to “put all the pieces

together”, in order to get the whole story on what really happened during the time of

composition of Nabucco, where the hardest part was actually the fact that, most likely, Verdi

himself told, or gave permission for the accounts to be told.19

So-called Autobiographical

Sketch, which was, as far as the belief goes, dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi on 19th

October 1879 by the composer personally, represents the most valuable of the mentioned

accounts and, although it turned out unreliable in many occasions, it must be considered that

it is very hard to ignore the imagination that public created over time.20

With the very first

big success that Nabucco brought to the young composer, it is only natural for the most

known of the Risorgimento anecdotes to date back from this moment in Verdi´s life.21

As far as the legend goes, “[…] details vary, but stories of the political uses of Verdi

during Risorgimento tend to concern choruses, and they usually center around spontaneous

outpouring of emotion, moments when Verdi´s music enabled the populace to express

patriotic sentiments.”22

Now, the words of ´Va pensiero´ were actually about Hebrew slaves,

but at the same time, the audience could recognize the real meaning and the purpose of this

16

Mary Ann Smart, Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 32 – 33. 17

Roger Parker, Árpa dór de fatidici vati´. The Veridian patriotic chorus in the 1840s, Parma 1997, p. 31. 18

See Roger Parker, Árpa dór de fatidici vati´. The Veridian patriotic chorus in the 1840s, Parma 1997, p. 32. 19

See Roger Parker, Árpa dór de fatidici vati´. The Veridian patriotic chorus in the 1840s, Parma 1997, p. 32 – 33. 20


See Mary Ann Smart, Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 33. 22

Mary Ann Smart, Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 33.

5

chorus, which was to express the overall feeling among the people of Italy – the sadness and

nostalgia for their fatherland.23

On the other hand, even with knowing the “truthful” meaning,

and seeing through composers intention, audience was never rebellious, because “the patterns

of melodic repetition create musical symmetry and closure, but never attempt to illustrate

individual words or ideas from the text, and as nostalgic invocation of nation ´Va pensiero´ is

exemplary, but it carries no impulse toward action, change, or movement that might inspire

supposed patriotic outbursts.”24

The topic of Verdi´s role as vate del Risorgimento is very much discussed among the

authors of the recent time, especially because it seems it cannot be decided when exactly the

composer earned this cognomen. “Roger Parker asks “Does it matter vitally whether Verdi´s

reputation as vate del Risorgimento began in 1842, or 1848 or 1859?””25

Parker is also

pointing out that, during the time of preparing the first critical edition of Nabucco, he came to

the discovery that on the opera´s premiere, encore was not ´Va pensiero´, but instead it was

completely different chorus, ´Immenso Jeovha´, which was the Hebrew prayer.26

The

explanation, why after all, Verdi biographers kept the illusion of the ´Va pensiero´ encore,

could be heard in a first few phrases of each chorus, and therefore understood, especially

knowing the contents of them, where there are no political potential, and the pastoral nostalgia

is missing.27

One other peculiar thing happened in 1840s – “in the Gazzeta musicale di

Milano, the house organ of Verdi´s publisher, Ricordi, show that following the Cinque

Giornate, when La Scala closed for several months, opera was replaced by concerts of newly

composed patriotic hymns and military music, but strangely […], Verdi´s name was nowhere

to be found on concert programs.”28

Also, the record publications are showing the same –

during those few months when freedom of speech was at its highest, journalists were writing

almost only about patriotic anthems.29

Nevertheless, name of the vate del Risorgimento is

somehow also not appearing, and what is even more surprising, there are no signs of reprints

of the chorus which was once considered to represent the Risorgimento - ´Va pensiero´ was

23

See Roger Parker, Verdi politico, in: Journal of Modern Italian Studies 17 (2012), p. 428. 24

Mary Ann Smart, Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 34. 25

Roger Parker, Verdi politico, in: Journal of Moder Italian Studies 17 (2012), p 434. 26



Mary Ann Smart, , Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 35. 29

See Mary Ann Smart, Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 35.

6

not reprinted, not even individually from the opera, for which there is no explanation if it was

indeed as popular as it is believed it has been.30

Verdi – patriotic or political composer? Before entering the details about Verdi and his connection with the Italian national movement,

it is important to point out the diverse definitions that were used by scholars when it came to

the political engagement – “from private interest in the events of the Risorgimento […], to

anecdotes of operatic music, and at the end, once myths and sentimental attachments are

dispelled, what kind of evidence remain?”31

In recent researches there were a lot of approaches regarding this subject, but it is also

important, and at the same time interesting to mention and consider why, even with such lack

of documentation, have the scholars devoted so much of their attention to Verdi´s early career,

and going back in time, even before the 1848.32

It is a long way between assenting that the

composer, among other revolutionists, felt a strong condemn toward Austrians, and wished

them gone from Italy, to the today´s perception of Verdi, in which he and his music are

representative for the national movement, and was therefore singled out from a pool of other

artists, who were also active at that time.33

“With Nabucco and I Lombardi alla prima

crociata – in other words with his first great successes – Verdi began to practice political

action with his music.”34

However, was it really Verdi the one who placed himself in the

political milieu and made himself important figure, or was that the act of the supporters of Risorgimento?

In the year 1848-49, in Rome, Verdi composed two pieces after Mazzini´s desire,

namely the anthem Suona la tromba, as well as the “Risorgimento-oper” La battaglia di

Legnano.35

Thanks to this two works, and the fact that the Italian people were writing “Viva

V.E.R.D.I” (which actually stands for the king´s name - Vitorio Emanuele Re D´Italia) on the

30


Mary Ann Smart, Magical thinking: reason and emotion in some recent literature on Verdi and politics, in: Journal of Modern Italian Studies 17 (2012), p. 437. 32

See Mary Ann Smart, Magical thinking: reason and emotion in some recent literature on Verdi and politics, in: Journal of Modern Italian Studies 17 (2012), p. 437 – 438. 33


Roger Parker, Verdi politico, in: Journal of Moder Italian Studies 17 (2012), p. 429. 35

See Martina Grempler, Die Rolle der Politik, , in: Verdi Handbuch, eds. Anselm Gerhard and Uwe Schweikert, Kassel a.o. 2001, p. 106.

7

walls of their homes and shouted it at the same time, the composer got the following

reputation of Maestro della Revoluzione Italiana. Nevertheless, the well-known phrase “Viva

Verdi” first appeared in 1858, when the actual liberation of Italy finally came to realization,

and in fact could not be invented earlier, with the idea of unification so far away from

happening, under the King of Savoy´s leadership.36

Back to the year 1848 and so-called

Cinque Giornate, when Austrians were driven form Milan, there was surprisingly little effort

in this city to perform Verdi´s operas, as contrast to the period after the return of Austrians.37

”Milan had by this time experienced several weeks of political and artistic freedom,”38

which

was all more the surprise why Verdi´s name was not appearing, especially being considered as

the Risorgimento symbol. Furthermore, it is undeniable that some of Verdi´s work was, prior

to 1848, suitable for patriotic purpose, and that the composer fully supported the 1848

revolutions.39

At the beginning of January 1861, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, former Minister

of the Kingdom of Savoy wanted to form a new Italian government, including politicians and

artists; therefore, on January 10th

he wrote a letter to Verdi, inviting him to join first national

Parliament.40

During his candidature Verdi had problems with another candidate, Giovanni

Mingehli Vaini and did not want to participate, so, as he wrote in his letter to the conductor

Angelo Mariani in the end of January 1861, he wanted to give his resignation, but even so on

February 6th

, when he was elected, he accepted.41

His work in Parliament was not that long.

After hearing about Cavour´s death, Verdi was no longer a devoted member, his participation

was minimal, and besides that, he had planned already a new opera for the Imperial Theater at

Sankt Petersburg.42

“[…] The image of the man and composer may have been exaggerated in

the later part of the 19th

century and however true Verdi´s statement was that his biography

should show that as a “Deputato” he did not exist, it must also show that he was quite rightly

considered by his countrymen one of the leading figures in the Italian Risorgimento.”43

36

See Philip Gossett, Giuseppe Verdi and the Italian Risorgimento, in: Studia Musicologica 52 (2011), p. 242. 37


Roger Parker, , Verdi politico, in: Journal of Modern Italian Studies 17 (2012), p. 430. 39

See Roger Parker, Verdi politico, in: Journal of Modern Italian Studies 17 (2012), p. 431. 40



See Philip Gossett, Giuseppe Verdi and the Italian Risorgimento, in: Studia Musicologica 52 (2011), p. 256 – 257. 43

Philip Gossett, , Giuseppe Verdi and the Italian Risorgimento, in: Studia Musicologica 52 (2011), p. 257. 8

Conclusion

Giuseppe Verdi was undeniably the most popular composer of 19th

century Italy. In this

period, operas were way of communicating, therefore, mostly because of the content of his

operas, Verdi was unequivocally considered to have big and important role in 1848

revolutions. The question that stays, and will still be present after all these years is: was Verdi

purely patriotic oriented in his operas or the politics played part in his work, too?

Unfortunately, absence of the original documents from the time when he wrote Nabucco does

not let us conclude whether is the today´s image of him correct. The only thing in the present

time known for sure is that he was always a great patriot in love with his country, and he

indeed was a political person at one point in the Italian history, but that was after the 1848

revolution for which he is considered to be representative for, and beeing known for his great

patriotism, and considering time of big changes when Verdi lived and composed, it is obvious

that his operas were used for political purposes as much as it was possible.

A lot of questions were also raised when it came to the chorus ´Va pensiero´, but one

event in particularly testifies about its success and its fame, and that is Verdi´s funeral. In the year

1901, under the conductor´s baton of Arturo Toscanini, along with ´La Scala´ choir and orchestra,

the greatest Italian composer of 19th

century was accompanied on his last journey.44

Today, Verdi´s personal opinion and his intentions may not be fully understood and

familiar, but one thing about him never changed - he was loved and respected during the time

he lived and created, and he is still respected for his work. When and why he got the

cognomen vate del Risorgimento, and whether his operas were in political spirit will probably

never be known for sure, but he is definitely going to stay the composer who loved and

supported his nation and his country.

44

See Mary Ann Smart, Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o., 2004, p. 37.

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Bibliography: Gerhard, Anselm: Verdi und die politische Bedeutung der Oper.. Musiktheater und

´Risorgimento´ in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts, in: Groniek. Historische tijdschrift

38 (2005), p. 11 – 28.

Gossett, Phillip: Giuseppe Verdi and the Italian Risorgimento: in Studia Musicologica 52

(2011), p. 241 – 257.

Grempler, Martina: Italien zwischen Restauration, Risorgimento und nationaler Einheit, in: Verdi. Handbuch, 2. Revised and expanded edition, Stuttgart 2013, p. 30 – 41.

Grempler, Martina: Die Rolle der Politik, in: Verdi. Handbuch, 2. Revised and expanded

edition, Stuttgart 2013, p. 98 – 110.

Parker, Roger: Verdi politico, in: Journal of Modern Italian Studies 17 (2012), p.427 – 436.

Parker, Roger: ´Arpa d´or dei fatidici vati´. The Verdian patriotic chorus in the 1840s, Parma

1997.

Rosselli, John: Music and Nationalism in Italy, in: Musical Constructions of Nationalism:

Essays on the History and Ideology of European Musical Cultures 1800 – 1945, ed. Harry

White and Michael Murphy, Cork 2001, p. 181 – 196.

Smart, Mary Ann: Magical thinking: reason and emotion in some recent literature on Verdi

and politics, in: Journal of Modern Italian Studies 17 (2012), p. 437 – 447.

Smart, Mary Ann: Verdi, Italian Romanticism, and the Risorgimento, in: The Cambridge

Companion to Verdi, ed. Scott L. Balthazar, Cambridge a.o. 2004, p. 29 – 45.

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