3. I figli d'Italia bella (Cessato il suon dell'armi)
Notes
The autograph score was found by Simonetta Puccini and was performed, presumably for the first time, on 6 June 2003 in Lucca. Until then, the work was known as I figli d’Italia bella and was believed to be lost.
Prior to 2003, the only hint of the existence of this hymn had appeared in Carlo Paladini’s early biography of Puccini published in Ricordi’s house magazine Musica e musicisti. According to Paladini, the city of Lucca announced a composition competition for a hymn on the occasion of an exhibition of its antique treasures. The first verse should have been:
De’ tuoi figli Italia bella
Uno il voto e uno il core,
Oh! risorga la tua stella,
Dell’antico tuo splendore!
In addition to Puccini, among the contestants in the competition was his friend Carlo Carignani, who later became the arranger of the piano solo and piano-vocal scores of Puccini’s operas.
In the local newspapers of the day that were accessible to me, there are detailled accounts of a “Fiera” in September 1877 (perhaps the event thought of by Paladini) but those sources do not mention a competition or any musical activities.