Life
Trained at the height of Verdian Romanticism, his mature career unfolded in the complex climate of the Fin de siècle, an era in which Realism poetics and the new sensitivity of Decadentism coexisted.
Born in Ancona in 1841 to a Sephardic Jewish family, Federico Consolo studied violin with Ferdinando Giorgetti in Florence and with Henri Vieuxtemps in Brussels, furthering his composition studies with Fétis and Liszt. His dual Italian and Central European training led him to cultivate both classical repertoires and Jewish traditions.
In 1894 he composed the National Anthem of the Republic of San Marino, inspired by a medieval monastic chant. His most significant work remains the Shire Yisrael (Book of the Songs of Israel, 1891), a collection of Sephardic melodies with two original compositions. He was attentive to the rediscovery of Jewish musical roots, translating them into a learned language.
He also composed oriental cycles and chamber music. His activity, imbued with ethnic and religious sensitivity, made him a unique figure in the Italian musical scene. He died in Florence in 1906.
Aneddoto
The San Marino anthem
The official Sammarinese anthem, still in use today, was born from a rediscovery of a medieval monastic chant that Consolo transformed into national music.Works
National Anthem of the Republic of San Marino (1894), Shire Yisrael (Florence, 1891), oriental cycles, violin concertos, chamber music, and other compositions inspired by the Sephardic tradition.
Briciole di storia
Italy is made, now let the laws be made
A few years after Unification, Italians were still governed by a mosaic of different laws, a legacy of the old states. To create a true nation, a single law for everyone was needed. The feat was accomplished in 1865 with the approval of the first Civil Code of the Kingdom of Italy, a monumental work that unified and modernized the law, regulating every aspect of citizens' lives, from property to contracts, from family to succession. One of the most revolutionary innovations, and one bitterly opposed by the Church, was the introduction of civil marriage, which for the first time recognized as valid only the bond celebrated before a state official rather than a religious one.
Pubblico dominio (Commons)
