Sole e Amore by: Puccini

Sole e amore is an art song by Giacomo Puccini, written in 1888.  He repurposed the music eight years later as the main theme in the act III duet, and subsequent quartet in La Boheme.  The author of the text is listed as “Anonymous” but it is presumed that it was written by Puccini himself.  The song first appeared in the magazine Paganini, and it happened that the publisher of the magazine, Camilio Sivori had studied violin with Paganini.  The last line of text is a dedication from Puccini—“Al Paganini, G. Puccini”.

One of the reasons I wanted to write about this piece is its similarities to grand Italian opera, specifically that of Puccini.  Two things come to mind when I am preparing the music of Puccini.  Firstly, everything should be approached orchestrally and secondly, I must be aware of every single marking in the score.

The majority of Puccini’s output is operatic, and the pieces that aren’t operatic are still scored for orchestra.  Puccini had all the colors of a large, grand opera sized orchestra at his fingertips.  When playing Puccini, those colors and textures can and should be imitated on a piano—whether the piece is a piano reduction of an opera, or an art song like Sole e amore.  I would strongly suggest listening to the act III duet and quartet from La Boheme as part of the preparation process for this piece.  The layers of sound within the orchestra will be essential in performance.  What lines do you hear above the rest?  What instruments are sharper, or more legato? For example, the staccati marked in the first five bars of the piece—whether pizzicato strings, or a staccato woodwind the nature of those instruments will vibrate after being played.  The sound resonates in the air.  As a result, I don’t want to play a short, sharp staccato but allow the sound to vibrate a little (a half pedal or quick pedal change really helps to achieve this effect.).  When I listen to the orchestrated version (essential to preparation of an opera score but also incredibly helpful with this piece), I can decide what is most important, what lives in the foreground, the middle ground, and the background, and how I want to best portray those colors.

Puccini is meticulous in the marking of his scores.  Looking at the second page of the score, there are seven tempo markings within just two systems of music.  Because of this, we must be just as meticulous in how we approach rubato with Puccini.  Translate everything!  Sostenuto is different than sostenendo, ritardando is different then ritenuto, perdendosi is different than morendo.  Gerunds carry a different feeling than past participles.  The pianist (and singer) has to know what every tempo marking means as much as the text.  Secondly, the rubato that we all know and love in Puccini’s compositions is already marked in the score.  We must adhere religiously to his markings, and not add to what he has already written.  There is a great temptation to make everything schleppy and saccharine but that only serves to diminish the rubato that Puccini has put in the score.  His music must be approached come scritto at all times.

Speaking to rubato in Puccini, I wanted to throw out one more idea.  Sometimes the amount of tempo markings, or where he has placed them in the score can seem a bit seasick.  The more I have played his operatic rep, and worked with Italian trained maestri, the tempo change or stretch in the music needs to have pieces of the tempo we are coming from and the tempo of where we are going.  Stay with me here, I know this sounds a bit “woo”.  If I stretch a piece of bread dough—the piece in my left hand being the tempo we came from, and the piece in my right hand being the tempo we are going to—the middle bit is made up of both tempi, and is flexible.  We avoid seasickness, and jagged or disparate tempo changes.  Everything is related to where we have come from, and also where we are going.  The result we then present is unified, and coherent as a complete piece, and not various and individual sections strung together without any connective tissue.

I love art song and I love Puccini!  What are some of your favorites, and what would you like to talk about?

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