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Remembering Alessandro Cicognini, 1906-1995
Composer Alessandro Cicognini died ten years ago today in Rome on November 9, 1995, at the age of 89.
One of the most important figures in the development of Italian film music, Cicognini was particularly associated with the great post-war neorealist films of Vittorio De Sica, including Shoeshine, Bicycle Thieves, Miracle in Milan and Umberto D. He also enjoyed significant collaborations with Alessandro Blasetti and other leading Italian directors, writing music for more than 100 feature films during a career spanning three decades.
Cicognini was born in Pescara on January 25, 1906, and spent much of his youth in nearby Francavilla al Mare. As a teenager he accompanied silent films on the piano at local cinemas, an experience that provided an unusually direct introduction to the relationship between music and moving images. Although his father encouraged him to pursue a conventional profession and he obtained a degree in law, Cicognini continued studying music, attending the Milan Conservatory under Giulio Cesare Paribeni and Renzo Bossi.
His early ambitions were in concert and operatic music. The cantata Saul appeared in 1932, followed by the three-act opera Donna Lombarda, which won recognition in a competition organized by Italian radio. Cinema soon became his principal occupation, however. His first film assignment was I Due Sergenti in 1936, followed by The Black Corsair the following year, and during the 1940s he developed an important relationship with Alessandro Blasetti on films including The Iron Crown, Four Steps in the Clouds and Prima Comunione. Read more…
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