Carnival Of Venice: A Song History

← Back to Browse By Song

IMSLP catalogues the melody behind "The Carnival of Venice" as Neapolitan folk music and lists "O mamma, mamma cara" among its alternative titles.[1] In a study of the tune's history, M. W. Rowe of the University of East Anglia treats it as a long-established Italian folk melody whose real fame came with Le Carnaval de Venise, a ballet first staged at the Paris Opéra in 1816; Paganini is said to have come across it in Venice that same year.[2] Paganini's own set for violin, twenty variations capped by a finale, dates from 1829, the year the Bibliothèque nationale de France also gives.[2][3] Catalogued as his Op. 10 (MS 59), it calls for scordatura, with every string of the violin raised a semitone.[4] Paganini died in 1840, and the piece was not printed until 1851.[2]

Engraving of a crowded square before a domed basilica, with masked revelers dancing, fencing and playing instruments in the foreground

Pieter van der Aa, The Carnival of Venice, from Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, vol. IX, engraving, 1722. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0). Shown for its subject.

Chopin's brief A-major Souvenir de Paganini is believed to date from 1829, after he heard Paganini perform the variations in Warsaw that May; it appeared in print only in 1881.[5] The violinist Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst wrote a burlesque set around 1837 and published it in 1843.[2] Julius Benedict's concert variations appear on Carlotta Patti's New York concert programs in 1869.[6] The soprano Toti Dal Monte recorded his setting as vocal variations for Victor in 1924.[7] In 1894 Francisco Tárrega produced a guitar version with seven variations that run through tremolo, harmonics and other guitar effects.[8]

Early Victor records credit Jean-Baptiste Arban as arranger, among them a 1903 cornet disc by Bohumir Kryl and 1904 sides by the saxophonist Jean Moeremans and the xylophonist Charles P. Lowe.[9] For Herbert L. Clarke's 1909 Victor cornet recording, DAHR names Benedict as composer and notes that the discs credited Arban as arranger while the company's ledgers credited Clarke and added the subtitle "A la Tetrazzini."[10]

Find books with Carnival Of Venice for sale →

Sources

  1. IMSLP: "The Carnival of Venice (Neapolitan Folk Music)".
  2. University of East Anglia Repository: M. W. Rowe, "Carnivals in Venice: The Hoaxing of Théophile Gautier".
  3. Bibliothèque nationale de France (data.bnf.fr): "Il carnevale di Venezia. MS 59".
  4. IMSLP: "Il carnevale di Venezia, Op.10 (Paganini, Niccolò)".
  5. PTNA Piano Encyclopedia: Chopin, "Souvenir de Paganini".
  6. Music in Gotham: Benedict, "Variations de concert sur le Carnaval de Venise".
  7. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix C-31273. Carnival of Venice / Toti Dal Monte".
  8. IMSLP: "Variaciones sobre el Carnaval de Venecia de Paganini (Tárrega, Francisco)".
  9. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "J.-B. Arban".
  10. Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Victor matrix B-6985. Carnival of Venice / Herbert L. Clarke".