An Artistic Score Engraving update from December 2024

Dear all,

Welcome back to the monthly update, the last one from 2024. It has been a wild year for me so far, with plenty of ups and downs, and unexpected turnarounds.

How has this year been for you, both musically and otherwise? I used to joke that even years were bad ones but, from this year, I should change my label from “bad” to “unpredictable, potentially devastating”!

The Gratitude Corner

When it comes to personal relationships, November has been a tough month, full of disappointment and bitterness. On the last possible chance, though, on 11/30, came the turnaround. We went to a guided tour of a famous palace in Torino which, being freely offered by the Architecture and Engineering University, needed to be booked months in advance. The passion, the level of preparation, and the dedication of the architect who guided us through the 80-min-long tour was remarkable. This made me think of how often we Italians fall into the prejudice of our country lacking “quality people, passionated with what they do”. Then, working in education, I realised what I had been surrounded with for my whole life. In my path as a student from elementary school to university, and now after thirteen years in education, I can count on the fingers of one hand public sector teachers who:

Are happy with what they have—a permanent contract—and where they are
Are not frustrated about their careers
Do not spend every waking hour of their day complaining about their situation

At least in Italy, getting to a permanent contract in the public sector is the Golden Fleece of the vast majority of people. How to blame them? It is the door to a series of benefits that freelancers like me can only dream of. Once they eventually get there, though, they transform, becoming anger-driven shadows of their former selves. I could fill a novel-sized document with the tales of teachers who spent our entire time together complaining. I can only hope they realised how deeply irrespective that was: they had a permanent contract, 13 wages per year, 2 months of paid vacation, a very generous working schedule (12–24 hours per week according to sector), and yet they chose to complain of their situation in front of a freelancer working 40+ hours a week without any of their benefits.

In all honesty, I feel sorry for them. Why can’t they just be happy? They got to the best place their formation can offer them; they have a stable income that allows them to apply for credits and mortgages—spoiler: I cannot! And yet, they are clearly frustrated, they believe they deserve more for what they do, that some supernatural power is conspiring against them. I have lived surrounded by this kind of frustration from my earliest days: my parents and grandparents, their colleagues, my teachers from elementary to middle to high school, so many of my music university professors. Every one of them connected by this inner frustration that something had wronged them. That architect, instead, had clearly found something else, another path—though I am sure not without struggling too, meaning that the general frustration I had been swimming through for thirty years had to be either relegated to or peculiar of the public education system.

If only they could drive all that negative energy towards the betterment of themselves, I am convinced they would at least feel better, or, they would understand that something needs to be changed. One thing is certain, though: I solemnly vowed not to become like them, that if frustration would strike, I would fight it or change something.

So, this month’s lengthy gratitude corner is dedicated to all those who struggle in their profession—whatever it is; to those who suffer, knee-deep in frustration, and that find—with of without external help—the strength to fight for a higher purpose, to improve and ultimately transcend to become a better version of themselves. This is also my wish to you for the next year: may you find the strength to face your frustrations; may you strive to improve a single aspect of yourself each day; may you always look forward to the morrow with a renewed trust in yourself and in your qualities. And remember: you are not alone in this fight!

NEWS

Professional satisfaction

A couple of weeks ago, I was teaching music theory to a young student and, as one does, was using the metaphor of the pizza as the whole note, then cut into halves and quarters to explain the divisions of a common time bar. Since the student is studying to become a cook, I explained the hand movement of the 6/8 time with “the pizza that you keep on the bench (1)” and “the pizza that you lifted on the counter to be brought to the table (2)”, each one divided into three equal parts.

After a while, seeing what a positive effect this had on him, I exclaimed:

You see? Solfège makes no sense without pizza!

To which he promptly replied:

Neither does life!

After a moment of silent anticipation, I concluded:

So solfège equals life!

There was a sudden feeling of peace in the room, as if planets had finally aligned, and we eventually reached the nirvana of music theory. Silence reigned supreme for a while, before both of us looked at each other and understood we were ready to move on.

This newsletter originally included an extra 5 minutes of reading content and another, entirely different title. I eventually decided to cut that part out and make a separate post of it, as it is a strong topic. You will be able to read it in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

NEW EDITIONS

Digital titles

On November 29th, the Black Friday, we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the death of Giacomo Puccini. Back in summer 2023, the late and sorely missed Maestro Antonio Meneses confided to his cellist friend Raïff Dantas Barreto, 1st cello of the Orchestra of São Paulo do Brazil, that he wanted to make a project on Puccini in occasion of his 100th anniversary. Sadly, he would not be able to see the realisation of his idea but, together with Raïff, we joined forces to do our best to honour M° Meneses’s last big project.

The Projeto Puccini is composed of seven arrangements of some of the most famous arias from Puccini’s operas. While the initial idea was to have only cellos, we went a bit further. Now, every aria starts with the original vocal part accompanied by at least five cellos, allowing singers who do not have an orchestra available at the snap of their fingers to just sing their favourite arias in a chamber music setting. Then, each aria also has the solo vocal part arranged for cello, and every female aria has the solo part arranged for violin. This will hopefully bring the project into as many hands as possible, spreading M° Meneses’s beautiful idea into the world!

Here below, you will find direct links to where to purchase the digital version of each single aria, while a printed version is being built as you read it. This will come as a single book embracing all arias in a single unity, alongside all necessary parts.

ASE 0082 O mio babbino caro from the opera “Gianni Schicchi”
ASE 0083 Mi chiamano Mimì from the opera “Bohème”
ASE 0084 Vissi d’arte from the opera “Tosca”
ASE 0085 E lucevan le stelle from the opera “Tosca”
ASE 0086 Nessun dorma from the opera “Turandot”
ASE 0087 Recondita armonia from the opera “Tosca”
ASE 0088 Un bel dì vedremo from the opera “Madama Butterfly”

You will notice, upon clicking on any of the links above, that they are not being hosted on my usual Gumroad page. While the possibility of purchasing through Gumroad remains, their recent behaviour is forcing me to consider new options.

If you are part of my mailing list, you will (have) receive(d) the solo cello part in the weekly gift program. Besides that, you always get the chance to add your exclusive discount code received upon sign-up.

Printed titles

Four new titles are joining the library of ASE printed scores this month, and here they are, alongside links to get them on the HNE Store.

ASE 0004

Carlo Alfredo Piatti — Quartettino “In Vacanza” for four cellos.

Links: printed edition – digital edition – view on nkoda – listen to how it sounds. Access the Editorial Notes here.

ASE 0035

Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer — Twelve Original Pieces for two cellos, Op. 35.

Links: printed edition – digital edition – view on nkoda – listen to how they sound. Access the Editorial Notes here.

ASE 0052

Carlo Alfredo Piatti — Canto sopra uno studio di Duport, for voice, cello, and piano.

Links: printed edition – digital edition – view on nkoda – listen to how it sounds. Access the Editorial Notes here.

ASE 0074

Gaetano Donizetti — Larghetto “Una furtiva lagrima” for piano solo.

Links: printed edition – digital edition – listen to how it sounds. Access the Editorial Notes here.

With these, the number of available printed titles rises to 18! I am very proud of the print quality, of the paper, and I hope you will too! Please let me know what you think of them if you decide to get any of them for yourself.

Bottom Line

Thank you for reading so far. As always, I value your input, comments, and feedback but, as a dear friend told me, if already you are not unsubscribing, it means you are interested in what I do.

You can join my mailing list here to get weekly gifts and promotions, browse my editions here, and check what’s available for print in the HNE Store. My YouTube channel, finally, contains video renditions of most of my editions.

See you next month for the October update, and I would love to hear from you about what you are doing and where your more or less musical endeavours are bringing you.

Michele

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