70. Inno a Diana

The text of this song was written by Carlo Abeniacar, a rather versatile writer, painter, and sculptor with whom Puccini was in contact during the first months of 1897 at the latest. In addition to the photo Puccini dedicated to him on 25 February 1897 (see 70.D.3), the composer mentioned Abeniacar in letters of 25 and 27 March 1897 (see ENOGP Ep. 2, 26 and 29, pp. 22 and 23-24, and Pintorno 1974, Nos. 28 and 29). They probably became acquainted through their common passion for hunting, especially since the song very clearly refers to it in text and dedication. It is also just as likely that the Inno a Diana was destined from the outset for publication in the hunters’ periodical, Sant’Uberto, edited by the Neapolitan Cavaliere G. Salvati. The “Numero-Strenna” was published after mid-January 1898, since Carlo Abeniacar’s editorial on p. 20 is dated 16 January 1898. Due to the short time between composition and printing, Puccini might not have been able to control the printed version, so 70.B.2 probably represents the composer’s definitive version.
It has occasionally been maintained that this song is an early form of the Inno a Roma (90) or that it even had the same poet. Both of those assertions are incorrect. There is also no obvious reference to other works by Puccini in the music of the song. The four bars of music inscribed by Puccini on the photograph he dedicated to Abeniacar (see 70.D.2) do not figure in the song, which originated months later. However, the words certainly describe the thematic ambience of the piece.