The music of Luigi Zaninelli is known to performers and audiences around the world for work that excites the senses and stimulates the mind. He has become known as a composer of great craft and powerful emotional statement. Mr. Zaninelli was born in Raritan, N.J., in 1932. At the age of 17, he played his music for renowned composer Gean Carlo Menotti, who then accepted him as a student at the Curtis Institute of Music. Two years later, the Curtis Institute sent Mr. Zaninelli to study composition with the legendary Rosario Scalero, the teacher of Menotti and Samuel Barber. Upon graduation, he joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute, and in 1958, began his long relationship with Shawnee Press as composer, arranger, pianist, and conductor. Zaninelli returned to Rome in 1964 to compose film music for RCA Victor Italiana.In 1968, he was appointed composer-in-residence at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Returning to the United States in 1973, he became composer-in-residence and professor of music at The University of Southern Mississippi.
Mr. Zaninelli's honors include a Steinway Prize and numerous ASCAP Awards. He is a five-time recipient of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Music Award. With over 300 published works to his credit, he has received commissions to compose for virtually all mediums, including opera, ballet, chamber music, orchestra, band, chorus and solo voice. He has created several movie and television scores, including the major Italian motion picture Una moglia Americana (An American Wife) and PBS documentaries The Islander, Passover, and The Last Confederates. As his music evolves, Zaninelli continues to find an ever-enlarging audience for his work.
Critical Comments
The Music of Luigi Zaninelli"His music has the rare quality of being listenable and original."
Valadimar Sokoloff, The Curtis Institute of Music"His music is haunting, beautiful, and powerful. The sounds are mystical and magical and touches the listener deeply."
The Hattiesburg American"The appeal of Zaninelli's work lies in a successful integration of intellectuality and emotion. So often contemporary works seem almost scientific, but in this case, honest sentiment was compatible with the contemporary idiom."
Madeleine Bernier, The Tribune, Montreal"Zaninelli's music is always original and provocative … introspective, ethereal, and at times, elusive. Free of pretensions, it is very personal music. Long, sustained, unhurried melodic lines with the sense of other things happening inside, outside and all about."
Jamie Portman, Calgary Herald"Luigi Zaninelli's compositions are unique among those of the 20th century composers writing for bands and wind ensembles. The originality of his musical language had its beginnings in his Italian heritage, his Catholicism, the church's centuries of music, and his remarkable skill at the keyboard. While he studied with many composers, his work belongs solely to him, demonstrating a continued growth through the constant avoiding of the familiar."
Thomas Fraschillo, The University of Southern Mississippi
Choral
A 0937 • All the Pretty Little Horses (Folk Song)
SATB • 1968
A 7338 • Alleluia, Let Us Sing
SATB • 2000
A 0847 • Americana (Folk Song Suite)
I• Shenandoah
II • Skip to My Lou
III • Sweet Betsy from Pike
SATB • 1966
[SEE BAND & ORCHESTRA ALSO]
A 0588 • At the Gates of Heaven (Folk Song)
SATB • 1960
A 0963 • Autumn Reverie
SATB • 1968
A 1572 • Ave Verum
SATB • 1980
A 0594 • Barbara Frietchie (Poem by John G. Whittier)
SATB • 1960
A 1270 • Carols Three (A Christmas Overture)
I • Away in a Manger
II • The First Noel
III • Angels We Have Heard on High
SATB • 1974
A 0935 • Come All You Fair and Tender Ladies
SATB • 1968
GA 5045 • Five American Gospel Songs
I • His Eye is on the Sparrow
II • The Sweet By and By
III • Old Time Religion
IV • Amazing Grace
V • Shall We Gather at the River?
SATB • 1999
A 1862 • For Spacious Skies (Folk Song Suite)
I • Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean
II • Amazing Grace
III • Battle Cry of Freedom
IV • America, the Beautiful
SATB • 1988
[SEE BAND & ORCHESTRA ALSO]
A 6113 • Garden Hymn
SATB • 1984
A 0859 • Go Way from My Window (Folk Song)
SATB • 1966
A 0732 • I Know Not What the Future Hath (Folk Song)
SATB • 1964
A 0919 • Jubilate Deo (a cappella)
SSAATTBB • 1967
A 2103 • Lagan Love (Irish Folk Song)
SATB • 2000
A 1043 • Liturgical Suite
I • Holy, Holy, Holy
II • Lamb of God
III • Lord Have Mercy
IV • Glory to God in the Highest
SATB • 1970
TBA • Lorena (A Civil War Ballad)
SATB (a cappella) • TBA
A 0905 • Lullaby for Seafarers
SATB • 1967
A 1152 • Mystic Trumpeter (Poem by Walt Whitman)
SATB • 1972
A 0715 • Never Seek to Tell Thy Love
SATB (a cappella) • 1963
A 0971 • Nightingale, The (Folk Song)
SATB • 1968
A 6405 • Now We Thank You Lord Our God
(Bach-Gounod/Zaninelli)
SATB • 1988
A 6236 • O Come Sweet Spirit (Folk Melody)
SATB • 1986
TBA • O Dearest Love
SATB (a cappella) • TBA
A 1846 • Peace and Good Will
SATB • 1988
A 6522 • Praise My Blest Redeemer (Bizet/Zaninelli)
SATB • 1989
A 0584 • Psalm 148
SATB (a cappella) • 1960
A 6563 • Rejoice, Sing Praise (Handel/Zaninelli)
SATB • 1990
A 1349 • Sea Song (Folk Melody) Merman/Zaninelli
SATB • 1976
A 0777 • Seasons
SSATBB • 1965
A 6302 • Seek Thou This Soul Of Mine (Franck/Zaninelli)
SATB • 1986
A 0698 • Sing Hosanna (Chaplin/Zaninelli)
SATB • 1963
A 0692 • Song of Hope
SATB • 1960
A 0714 • Speak Up (mini-choral opera)
SATB • 1963
A7232 • Two Carols from the Nazarene
I • And They Shall Call Him Emmanuel
II • While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
SATB • 1998
A 1903 • Two Scott Joplin Pieces
I • How Softly and Gently
II • Bethena
SATB • 1990
A 1418 • Veni Creator Spiritus
SATB • 1977
A 0616 • Water Is Wide, The (Folk Song)
SATB • 1961
A 6401 • What Child Is This (Folk Carol)
SATB • 1988
TBA • Wonderful Wilde (5 Pithy Pieces)
[Text: Oscar Wilde]
I • The Old Believe Everything
II • Only the Shallow Know Themselves
III • Public Opinion Exists Only Where There Are No Ideas
IV • Those Whom the Gods Love Grow Young
V • To Love Oneself is the Beginning of a Life-Long Romance
SATB (a cappella) • TBA
A 0596 • World Hymn
SATB • 1961
B 0588 • Alleluia
SSAA (a cappella) • 1999
B 0606 • Alleluia, Silent Night (Folk Carol)
SSA • 2001
B 0278 • Go Way from My Window (Folk Song)
SSAA o 1968
B 0247 • I Know Where I'm Going (Folk Song)
SSA o 1965
B 0252 • May Day Carol (Folk Song)
SSA • 1965
B 0222 • Water is Wide, The (Folk Song)
SSA • 1964
MF0974 • Wonderful World
SSA • 2002
C 0196 • British Grenadiers, The (Folk Song)
TTBB • 1968
C 0191 • Water is Wide, The (Folk Song)
TTBB 8 1966
D 0093 • Go Way from My Window (Folk Song)
SAB • 1968
D 0077 • Water is Wide, The (Folk Song)
SAB • 1965
E 0120 • Americana (Folk Song Suite)
I• Shenandoah
II • Skip to My Lou
III 8 Sweet Betsy from Pike
SA8 1973
E 0083 • Water Is Wide, The (Folk Song)
2 Part • 1971
MP0001 • Songs from the Magic Place (Song Cycle)
Unison (Sc.) • 1993
MP0002 • Songs from the Magic Place (Song Cycle)
Chorus Book • 1993
MP0003 • Songs from the Magic Place (Song Cycle)
I • The Magic Place
II • People Are People
III • Family
IV • Our Good Senses
V • Down on the Farm
VI • Seasons
VII • Transportation, Past, Present and Future
VIII • Energy
IX • Hello, Neighbor
A/P Cassette • 1993
GF0029 • Youth Praises (Zaninelli/Hutson)
[Graded Choir Series for Young Voices]
Unison Coll. • 1963
GE0030 • Youth Praises (Zaninelli/Hutson)
[Graded Choir Series for Young Voices]
Unison/SA • 1963
GE0031 • Youth Praises (Zaninelli/Hutson)
[Graded Choir Series for Young Voices]
SA • 1963
GE0032 • Youth Praises (Zaninelli/Hutson)
[Graded Choir Series for Young Voices]
SA/SSA • 1963
CANTATA
A 6932 • Nazarene, The (Christmas) Soprano & Baritone
Solos/Narrator (Optional Percussion)
SATB/Organ • 1993
TBA • Nazarene, The (Christmas) Soprano & Baritone
Solos/Narrator • CDPIANO
HB0253 • Fantasma
Piano Solo • 1983
HE0023 • Lexicon of Beasties, A
(26 Children's Piano Solos from A-Z) [Text: Edward Lear]
Teacher's/Sdt. • 1968
TBA • The Magic Ballroom
I • Theresa's Two-Step
II • Pamela's Waltz
III • Tango Della Rosa
Piano Solo • TBA
HB0257 • Sonatina
Piano Solo • 1986
HE0039 • Three Infinitives
I • To Begin
II • To Love
III • To Be
Piano Coll. • 1978ORGAN
HH5030 • Ricercare for Organ
Organ (Secular) • 1983VOCAL
IA0079 • Beginnings (Text: Eudora Welty)
I • Father
II • Mother
III • Reading
IV • Alphabet
V • Lightning Bugs
VI • The Moon
VII •The Music Box
VIII • On the Train
IX • The Memory
Medium Voice • 1992
IA5085 • Five American Gospel Songs
I • His Eye is on the Sparrow
II • Amazing Grace
III • Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
IV • Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me
V • Shall We Gather at the River
Medium Voice • 1986
IA5095 • Five American Revival Songs
I • Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
II • Old Time Religion
III • Sunshine in My Soul
IV • Just As I Am
V • The Sweet By and By
Medium Voice • 1991
IA0068 • Five Folk Songs
Medium Voice • 1979
IA0070 • Five Folk Songs
I • The Water is Wide
II • Come, All You Fair and Tender Ladies
III • Go 'Way from My Window
IV • I Know Where I'm Goin'
V • All the Pretty Little Horses
Low Voice • 1984
IA0074 • Five Folk Songs, Volume II
I • Shenandoah
II • The Nightingale
III • He's Gone Away
IV • Sweet Betsy from Pike
V • Skip to My Lou
Medium Voice • 1989
TBA • Joseph Songs (Dramatic Narrative For Soprano)
I • The Meeting
II • The Offer
III • The Announcement
IV • The Birth
Medium Voice • 2002
IA5089 • Seek Thou This Soul Of Mine (Franck/Zaninelli)
Medium Voice • 1987
TBA • Seven Epigrams of Emily Dickinson
I • Had I a pleasure you had not
II • Who knows where our hearts go
III • I trust this sweet May Morning
IV • We wouldn't mind the sun dear
V • I am studying music now
VI • Till it has loved
VII • You might not know I remembered you
Sop. & Piano • 2002
IA5090 • Seven Sanctuary Songs
I • O God, Unseen Yet Ever Near
II • When Jesus Was Here
III • O Love Divine
IV • There Is a Green Hill Far Away
V • Come, Gracious Spirit
VI • God of Mercy, God of Grace
VII • While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
Vocal Coll./Medium Voice • 1987
IA0077 • Three Songs by Stephen Foster
I • Why No One to Love
II • You've Only Got a Moustache
III • May the Red Rose Live Always
Medium Voice • 1991
IA5101 • Three Wedding Songs
Medium Voice • 1995
GN5055 • Three Wedding Songs
I • Where You Go I Will Go
II • O Come Sweet Spirit
III • Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind
Book & Cass. • 1995
ORCHESTRA
J 0160 • Americana (Folk Song Suite)
I • Shenandoah
II • Skip to My Lou
III • Sweet Betsy from Pike
Orch (88555) • 1989
(PLEASE SEE RENTAL LISTING FOR MORE ORCHESTRAL TITLES.)
BAND
K 0346 • Americana (Folk Song Suite)
I • Shenandoah
II • Skip to My Lou
III • Sweet Betsy from Pike
Symph. Band • 1975
TBA • Autumn Music
Eb Alto Sax or Bb Trumpet/Symph. Band • TBA
K 0565 • Battle Hymn of the Republic
Symph. Band/Optional Chorus • 1998
K 0450 • Capriccio Spiritoso
Symph. Band • 1983
K 0591 • Carols Three (A Christmas Overture)
I • Away in a Manger
II • The First Noel
III • Angels We Have Heard on High
Symph. Band • 2001
K 0421 • Danzetta
Symph. Band • 1981
K 0439 • Dark Forest
Symph. Band • 1982
K 0505 • Fantasia Veneziana
Symph. Band • 1986
K 0135 • Festa (March)
Symph. Band • 1963
RENTAL • For Spacious Skies (Folk Song Suite) [RENTAL ONLY]
Symph. Band w. Opt. Chorus or Orch. • 1990
K 0577 • Hosanna
2 Symph. Bands or 1 Symph. Band (Divided) • 1989
K 0598 • Hymn and Pavane
Symph. Band • 2002
K 0126 • Hymn and Variations
Symph. Band & Opt. Chorus • 1963
K 0582 • Jubilate
Symph. Band • 2000
K 0575 • Lagan Love (Irish Folk Song)
Symph. Band • 1999
K 0181 • Margaret's Suite
I • The City by Night
II • The City by Day
III • A Little Girl Filled with Sadness
IV • A Little Girl Filled with Joy
Symph. Band • 1965
K 0401 • Musica Sacra
Symph. Band • 1979
TBA • The Magic Ballroom
I • Theresa's Two-Step
II • Pamela's Waltz
III •Tango Della Rosa
Symph. Band • 2002
K 0583 • The Water Is Wide (Folk Song)
Symph. Band • 2000
K 0386 • Trinity (Sacred Suite)
I • Angels from the Realms Of Glory
II • How Firm a Foundation
III • We Plow the Fields and Scatter
Symph. Band • 1978
SOLOS & ENSEMBLES
TBA • Fantasia Concertante
Trumpet Solo • TBA
LA0118 • Autumn Music
(SCORE and STRING PARTS on RENTAL)
Trumpet Solo • 1973
TBA • Autumn Music
(SCORE and STRING PARTS on RENTAL)
Eb Alto Sax Solo • TBA
LA0200 • Deliverance
Clarinet Solo • 1983
LA0094 • Dialogue for Violin and Piano
Violin Solo • 1970
LA0217 • Visions for Violin and Piano
Violin Solo • 1986
LD0104 • Arioso
Flute/Cello/Pno. • 1971
LD0378 • Berlin Suite
Tpt./Trmb./Tba. • 1989
LD0186 • Burla and Variations
Wwd. Quartet • 1977
LD0020 • Dance Variations
Wwd. Quintet • 1962
LD0023 • Designs for Brass Quintet
Brass Quintet • 1963
LD0081 • Jubilate Deo
Brass Choir • 1969
LD0069 • Musica Dramatica
Wwd. Quintet • 1968
Perc. Oboe/Bassn./Piano • 1983
LD0373 • Rome Suite
Flt./Clar./Bassn. • 1988
LD0102 • Three Children's Dances
I • Gay Dance
II • Melancholy Dance
III • Mirror Dance
Wwd. Quintet • 1971
RECORDINGS
PC0086 • The Music of Luigi Zaninelli
I • Tarantella
II • Lagan Love
III • Three American Gospel Songs
IV • Dark Forest
V • Concertino for Piano and Symphonic Wind Ensemble
VI • Jubilate
VII • A Crown, a Mansion, and a Throne (Soprano & Wind Ensemble)
VIII • The Water is Wide
IX • The Battle Hymn of the Republic
X • The Star-Spangled Banner
Band CD • 2000
TBA • The Nazarene - A Christmas Cantata and Three Carols
RENTAL
Aria Festiva
Solo Tpt and Orchestra • 2001
Autumn Music
Eb Alto Sax or Bb Trumpet and String Orchestra • TBA
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Orchestra and Optional Chorus
Beginnings (Solo Voice and Orchestra) [Text: Eudora Welty]
I • Father
II • Mother
III • Reading
IV • Alphabet
V • Lightning Bugs
VI • The Moon
VII • The Music Box
VIII • On the Train
IX • The Memory
Orch. Score/Pts • 1992
(A) Bevy of Beasties (13 Pieces for Child Pianist and Orch.)
[Text: Edward Lear]
Orch. Sc./Pts. • 1984
Capriccio Spiritoso
Orch. Sc./Pts. 1983
For Spacious Skies (Choir and Orchestra) [Folk Song Suite]
I • Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean
II • Amazing Grace
III • Battle Cry of Freedom
IV • America, the Beautiful
Orch. Score & Parts/with Optional Chorus or Orchestra & Band with Optional Chorus
Jubilate
Orch. Score/Parts & Chorus • 1991
(A) Lexicon of Beasties (26 Pieces for Child Pianist, Orchestra & Narrator)
[Text: Edward Lear]
1968
Night Voices (Symphonic Orchestra)
Orch. Score/Pts • 1980
Steadfast Tin Soldier
(Text: Hans Christian Anderson/adapted by composer)
4 Instrs./Narr. • 1983
Steadfast Tin Soldier
(Text: Hans Christian Anderson/adpt. Zaninelli)
Chbr. Orch. Ver. • 1983
Tale of Peter Rabbit
(Narrator & chamber Orch./Text: Beatrice Potter)
Chbr. Orch. Ver. • 1976
Tale of Peter Rabbit
(Narrator & Chamber Orchestra/Text: Beatrice Potter)
Orch. Version • 1976
Through Eudora's Eyes
(Text: Eudora Welty)
String Orch., Perc. & Narrator • 1998
OPERAS (RENTAL)
(1 Act for 3 Characters/Sopr., Bar. & Ten.)
Orch. Sc./Pts. • 1998
Mr. Sebastian
(1 Act for 2 Characters/Soprano & Baritone)
Orch. Sc./Pts. • 1995
Snow White
(Opera in 3 Acts)
[Based on Original Text by the Brothers Grimm]
Orch. Sc./Pts. • 1991