Sources
40. Storiella d'amore (Melodia)

40.A.1

I-Li
 (

N.IV.10b

)

1 double leaf (1 page of music), 2° (45 × 30 cm) with 30 staves, comprising the first 16 bars of 40.A.2.

40.A.2

I-Li
 (

N.IV.10a

)

1 leaf (1 page of music), 2° (37 × 26.5 cm) with 20 staves.
Autograph title: “Noi leggevamo insieme ... Parole di A Ghislanzoni”. Tempo indication “And[an].tino mosso”. D major, 4/4, “con semplicità”.

32 bars (probably Puccini’s first jotting), with numerous corrections and changes, different from the final version (40.C.1); further page(s) have been lost.

40.B.1

Missing.

40.C.1

US-CA
 (

bMs Mus 79

)

6 pages, 2° (4 pages of music) with 12 staves.

Music and lyrics in a copyist’s hand, with some additional expression marks in another handwriting (perhaps Puccini’s). Title: “Storiella d’amore — Noi leggevamo insieme..... / (Parole di A. Ghislanzoni)”. Tempo indication: “Andantino Mosso”. At the end of the music, Puccini signed and dated the manuscript: “Giacomo Puccini / 8.6.83 / Milano”. On the fifth page is the autograph dedication: “Alla Gentile signorina / Emilia Sanpietro / Giacomo Puccini”; below, in another handwriting: “Contessa / Emilia Sanpietro / Ved. Caraffa dono / all’Avv. Giovanni Battista Careri / Siena / Il 18 Dicembre 1903”. On the sixth page, the copyist has written the text of the poem in six strophes, headed: “Noi leggevamo insieme”.

40.C.2

Location:

Last in Gonnelli Libreria Antiquaria's auction of 8 April 2016, no. 866.


Auction Date: 08/04/2016

8 pages, 4° (30 x 22.5 cm) with 12 staves, 5 pages of music. 
At the end of the music, Puccini signed and dated the manuscript: "Giacomo Puccini / Milano Giugno 1883".

40.D.1

Copied source Portion Bibliographic reference Page number
40.A.2 Mostra 1974

p. 19

40.D.2

Copied source Portion Bibliographic reference Page number
40.A.2 Magri 1974

p. 40

40.D.3

Copied source Portion Bibliographic reference Page number
40.C.2

last page

Catalogue Gonelli Libreria Antiquaria, 7-8 April 2016

40.E.1

First edition: in La Musica Popolare (the periodical issued by the publishing house of Sonzogno, Milan), Anno II, No. 40, 4 October 1883, after p. 158 (PN E.S. 350). Title: “Storiella d’amore (Melodia)”. 4 pages, without any indication of the poet’s name.

40.E.1a

Kaye 1987, pp. 50-54.

Identical with 40.E.1.

40.E.2

Canti. Edited by Riccardo Pecci.
Carus Verlag, Stuttgart, 2010.
PN CV 5.301, pp. 34-37.

40.E.2a

Critical edition:
Liriche per canto e pianoforte. Edizione critica a cura di RIccardo Pecci. 
Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Giacomo Puccini, series Opere musicali, vol. III/3.
Carus Verlag, Stuttgart, 2025.
PN CV 56005, pp. 12-15.

Nota