Description
Marcia Funebre in Honor of Manzoni
Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–1886)
Modern edition by David Whitwell (1937–)
Date: c. 1873
Instrumentation: Concert Band
Duration: 9:30
Level: 5
Score preview
Notes on Ponchielli’s Marcia Funebre
The Marcia funebre in honor of Manzoni was composed by the great Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–1886). Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873) was a much loved Italian poet, whose I Promessi Sposi (1827) became a symbol of the Italian Risorgimento and contributed to the development of a unified Italian language. Among the other musical compositions composed in his honor was the great Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi.
There are a number of these commemorative funeral marches among the ninetenth century Italian original band repertoire. The style is almost never of a functional nature which might be used in an actual funeral procession. Instead they are more in the nature of an elegy and often of profound emotional depth.
