Mulet

réf. 27132 — 1 page. Quarto ca. 275 x 221 mm. Two measures from the first act of Mulè's opera Dafni. Notated in black ink in treble clef on one hand-drawn staff. In 3/4 time with text "O mia bella Sicilia!" underlaid. Dated Rome May 6 1928. Creased at folds with two short tears not affecting text or notation. Dafni first performed at the Teatro dell' Opera in Rome on March 14 1928 to a libretto by E. Romagnoli was among Mulè's most celebrated operas. "Though not his most perfect work. it contains some of his finest music particularly in Act 1 which expresses in more complex terms the same archaic atavistic spirit that pervades the best of the Syracuse scores." "Mulè's music was at first influenced by the verismo school and in particular by Mascagni; but he soon came under the spell of the folksongs and landscape of Sicily and of the island's ancient Greek heritage. He wrote some of his most characteristic music for Greek plays performed in the open-air theatre at Syracuse." Alfredo Casella and John C.G. Waterhouse in Grove Music Online. Silvia de Bondini a talented amateur painter was the wife of the French economist and politican Jean Monnet. In 1919 Monnet was made Deputy Secretary General of the newly formed League of Nations and went on to an international career in politics and finance. unknown books