90. Inno a Roma

This patriotic hymn was commissioned by the mayor of Rome, Principe Prospero Colonna, who (during a banquet on 1 February 1919 after the first performances of the Trittico in Italy) persuaded Puccini to write it. At that time, a text for the hymn already existed, provided by Fausto Salvatori (1870-1929), a rather modest, over-prolific writer. It was to be taught to all elementary school children in Rome, so they could sing it on solemn occasions.Note: *That was the objective explained to the poet Fausto Salvatori by the Roman officials (“che agli alunni delle scuole elementari sia fatto imparare, per poi essere cantato in occasioni di solenni ceremonie, un Inno a Roma”; see Marchetti 1975, p. 397).  Initially, the mayor considered inviting Pietro Mascagni to provide the music, then thought about proposing a national competition for Italian composers, before Puccini (reluctantly) accepted the assignment. Puccini procrastinated, and after two entreaties from the mayor, he finally criticized Salvatori’s text (which originally contained ten verses) for being too effusive. The poet immediately penned a new, much shorter text and Puccini finished setting it to music on 26 March 1919. He was more embarrassed by it than he was with certain of his earlier occasional works.Note: *See Pintorno 1974, No. 220, Carteggi 1958, No. 751, and Puccini’s letters to Maria Bianca Ginori-Lisci in Critica 1976, No. 21. Two days later, Puccini had the young musician Icilio Sadun make a fair copy of the score (90.C.1), which was sent to Rome for preparations for the first performance.
The performance was scheduled for 21 April 1919, first on the Palatino, then rescheduled to occur on the grounds of the Villa Borghese with several thousand singers comprised of school children, soldiers, and the chorus of the Teatro Costanzi. They were supplemented by the municipal band, all of the military bands of Rome, and a fanfare ensemble of the Carabinieri, for whom Puccini’s original piano accompaniment for the Hymn was orchestrated by Alessandro Vessella (1860–1929), the most prominent conductor of concert and brass bands in Italy.Note: *In 1929, Sonzogno published the full score of Vessella’s arrangement, indicated as “Trascrizione per banda di A. Vessella”; see the copy in US-Wc (M 1258.P94I5S).  Puccini was in attendance, but bad weather and torrential rains caused the performance to be suspended shortly after it began. The same day, due to a labor dispute, all of the Roman orchestras went on strike so the festive performance of the Inno a Roma scheduled that night at the Teatro Costanzi did not take place.Note: *See Puccini’s unpublished letter to Carlo Clausetti of 25 April 1919 (I-Mr). The first complete performance of the work was eventually given on 1 June 1919 in the National Stadium (Stadio Nazionale) on the Via Flaminia.
Different versions of the text were published (see Kaye 1987, pp. 132-133); some had political implications, particularly from the use of Puccini’s composition as an anthem of the Fascist regime. It is unclear why the Inno a Roma was not published by Puccini’s usual publishing company of Ricordi instead of Ricordi’s rival, Sonzogno. Furthermore, the publication was very much delayed. It was more than two years after the first performance, on 12 September 1921, that Puccini entered into a contract with Sonzogno to publish the hymn, and an additional one and a half years passed before it was finally issued (albeit with an incorrect title, which was only corrected many years later).Note: *See Morini, Ostali, and Ostali jr. 1995 II, p. 684.
Despite Puccini’s intentions for this music, an instrumentation for full symphony orchestra was supplied by the composer Domenico Alaleona (1881-1928).Note: *See Quaderni 1985, pp. 217-222. It was followed by numerous arrangements for the most diverse combinations of instruments, including the much later German versions (see 90.E.1a).