(b. 16 November 1956, Bologna).
Italian composer of mostly orchestral and chamber works that have been performed throughout Europe and elsewhere; he is also active as a conductor and writer.
Mr. Caprioli studied composition with Franco Margola and Camillo Togni and conducting with Piero Guarino at the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito in Parma from 1975–83 and choral conducting with Tito Gotti at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna from 1977–79. He then studied conducting with Otmar Suitner at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna from 1979–83, on a scholarship from the Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung of Austria, and attended masterclasses in composition with Bogusław Schaeffer at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg from 1985–87. He later studied humanities with Ezio Raimondi at the Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia of the Università degli Studi in Bologna from 1993–97, where he earned his doctorate.
Among his honours is a mention in the competition Avignon (1985, for A la dolce ombra). His music has been performed in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and the USA. He has received commissions from the Centre de Création Musicale Iannis Xenakis in Paris, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, the festival Warszawska Jesień – Warsaw Autumn, and the festival Wien Modern, among other festivals, organisations and theatres. Portrait concerts have been given at the festival Aspekte Salzburg (1989), the festival Begegnungen in Innsbruck (2001) and the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste in Munich (2003).
As a conductor, he has led performances of contemporary music alongside earlier répertoire with ensembles and orchestras in Austria, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
As a writer, his articles on literature and music have appeared in publications in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Poland, and the USA. He has served on the board of directors of the Società Italiana di Comparatistica Letteraria at the Università degli Studi in Florence since 1994.
He has taught orchestral training and has served as chair of this department at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini in Bologna since 1989.
SELECT LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Sonetti di Shakespeare, child speaker, 2 flutes (1st + piccolo, 2nd + alto flute), oboe, clarinet (+ E-flat clarinet), violin, viola, cello, harpsichord, 1983
L'Ascesa degli angeli ribelli (melodrama, text by Marcello Fois), female actor, flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, 2 French horns, trumpet, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, 1994
...Verweile (danza notturna) (texts by George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Charles Baudelaire, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Torquato Tasso, Giacomo Leopardi), female actor/male actor, flute, violin, cello, piano, percussion, 2001
ORCHESTRAL:
Canto (text by Giacomo Leopardi), male speaker, large orchestra (minimum 72 players), 1998
Elegia per Carlo Michelstaedter, oboe (+ oboe d'amore), small orchestra (13 players), 1998
Fiori d'ombra, 16 or more strings, 2001
Stelle assenti, small orchestra (14 players), 2004
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Trio, violin, cello, piano, 1984
del celeste confine, string quartet, 1985
Serenata per Francesca, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), oboe, guitar, violin (+ viola), piano, percussion, 1985
A la dolce ombra, violin, cello, piano, 1985
Dialogue, double bass, ensemble (2 string quartets), 1986
Symphonia II, violin, 1988
Due Notturni d'oblìo, viola d'amore, ensemble (alto flute, bass flute, oboe d'amore, bass clarinet, basset horn, violin, viola, cello, double bass), 1988
...il vostro pianto aurora o luna (fragment for interlude IV of Aminta, play by Torquato Tasso), flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), clarinet, French horn, guitar, vibraphone, 1988
Symphonia I, violin, 1988
Intermedio I, amplified flute, computer, 1989
Symphonia III, violin, 1989
Vor dem singenden Odem (alla memoria di Luigi Nono), flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), violin, cello, piano, 1990 (also version for flute [+ piccolo], clarinet [+ bass clarinet], violin, viola, cello, piano, 1992)
John Cage Variations, bass flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano, 1991
À quinze ans, cello, 1991
Anges (parafrasi in sogno, da Schumann), alto flute, harp, viola, 1993
Folâtre (Notturno di rosa), 2 guitars (2nd tuned in microtones), 1993
Eværnesto (duo concertante), bass flute, contrabass clarinet, ensemble (3 brass in echo [French horn, trumpet, trombone], 4 strings [violin, viola, cello, double bass] [around hall], percussion [moving around hall]), 1995
Era, alto saxophone, ensemble (French horn, flügelhorn, F-trumpet, trombone, tuba), 1999
Gilles pour Violon et Live Electronics, amplified violin, computer, 2002
CHORAL:
Sette Frammenti dal 'Kyrie per Dino Campana' (texts from the Mass of Paul VI, the Tropoi ad Kyrieleison, Dino Campana), soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, mixed chorus (minimum 36 voices), small orchestra/orchestra (minimum 25/29 players), 1991
Dittico baciato su 'Je ne vis onques', 1994 (its two sections may be performed separately: Capriccio a cinque [text by Giacomo Leopardi], mixed chorus, small orchestra/orchestra [10 winds, minimum 16 strings]; PLENI SVNT CÆLI [text from the Mass of Paul VI], mixed chorus [minimum 32 voices], orchestra)
VOCAL:
Abendlied (omaggio a Gustav Mahler) (text by Friedrich Hölderlin), soprano, orchestra, 1977
PIANO:
Per lo dolce silentio de la notte, piano, computer, 1987
ARRANGEMENT:
Solo (Sylvano Bussotti; all players also sing), flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), clarinet, French horn, guitar, vibraphone, 1989