Dominick Argento's "A Toccata of Galuppi's": a critical analysis and its relationship to the text

Unrestricted Dominick Argento (b. 1927) is a well-known composer living in the United States. He studied at the Peabody Conservatory and Eastman School of Music under such highly-regarded teachers as Hugo Weisgall, Henry Cowell, and Howard Hanson. He had a distinguished career for nearly forty years as a Professor of composition at the University of Minnesota. Argento is most widely known for his success in composing operas and song cycles, however, his choral works are a significant portion of his oeuvre.; Paramount in Argento's musical style is his use of melody. The majority of his music is written for the voice, and his knowledge of that instrument is apparent throughout his repertory. Argento's compositions are tonal, but often employ innovative harmonic progressions, chord clusters, and bi-chordal elements. Tight structure and unusual combinations of performing forces support the content, drama, and emotion of the text.; "A Toccata of Galuppi's" is a twenty-minute work written for chamber choir, string quartet, and harpsichord. This work requires further study for the many interesting musical events created through the use of dodecaphony, the unusual combination of performing forces, and poetic content. There is little written about this work other than a short analysis included in a dissertation of a survey of his choral works.; Argento's vast knowledge of literature is exhibited by his sophisticated choice of texts in his works. Robert Browning's poem allows Argento to draw from three different time periods in "Galuppi": the eighteenth-century, the nineteenth-century, and Argento's twentieth-century. Argento includes quotations from two of Galuppi's keyboard sonatas, and the string quartet provides accompaniment to both the chorus and the harpsichord. The work is dramatic, even theatrical, and recitative and text painting are used to enhance the drama.; This combination of performing forces is unusual in both Argento's repertory and twentieth-century choral repertoire. His use of technique within this work is artful, specifically his writing for voices and his successful merger of different musical time periods. Deservedly, A Toccata of Galuppi's is assured a place in the pantheon of important modern choral works.