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Musica d'oggi (Nuova serie)

(Milan, 1958-1965)

Prepared by Elvidio Surian
Online only (2019)

The periodical Musica d’Oggi. Rassegna di vita e di cultura musicale. Nuova serie [MOG] was published in Milan by Casa Ricordi regularly from January 1958 to December 1965. Its forerunners were Musica d’Oggi (1919-1942) and Ricordiana (1955-1957), both published Casa Ricordi. MOG was printed in ten monthly installments—the August and September issues were not published— from 1958 to 1960 and from 1964 to 1965, each issue containing an average of 500 to 600 pages, continuously numbered. From 1961 to 1963 it was published in six bimonthly installments, each consisting of an average of 300 pages. Riccardo Allorto (1921-2015) edited the journal from 1958 to 1963; he was succeeded by Claudio Sartori (1913-1994) for the publication years 1964-1965.

The journal’s primary aim is to document contemporary music and musical life, which in those years were undergoing an ever increasing evolution of the musical language and of the massive new communication media.

The periodical is structured as follows:

1) The opening pages of each issue are reserved for full-page articles of three to six pages dedicated generally to biographies and works of predominantly Italian contemporary composers. Worthy of notice are the essays on G. Petrassi (ottobre 1959), G. F. Malipiero (gennaio-settembre 1961), Renzo Rossellini (marzo-aprile 1961), G. F. Ghedini (settembre-ottobre 1961, ottobre-novembre 1965), E. Varèse (novembre-dicembre 1961), M. E. Bossi (maggio-giugno 1962), M. de Falla (luglio-ottobre1962), M. Zafred (gennaio-febbraio 1963), Hindemith (gennaio-febbraio 1964), J. Napoli (febbraio 1965). Noteworthy as well are the ample essays that report on music instruction practiced in primary and secondary schools in England (dicembre 1959), the United States (gennaio 1960, novembre-dicembre 1961), Austria (febbraio 1960), France, Yugoslavia (marzo 1960), East Germany (aprile 1960), West Germany (maggio 1960), USSR (giugno 1960); and on the various debates and proposals for the introduction of music instruction in Italian public schools (ottobre-novembre-dicembre 1959, gennaio-febbraio 1962). Numerous musicologists and music critics contributed major articles to MOG; among them are John S. Weissmann, Piero Santi, Rodolfo Celletti, M. Mila, F. D’Amico, Eugenio Gara, Riccardo Malipiero, A. Basso, R. Allorto, C. Sartori.

2) Following these articles, various rubrics printed in double-column format are found. The rubric “Vita musicale” is usually arranged in various sub-sections featuring mainly notices and reviews on current operatic and concert events in major Italian cities and abroad, including current music festivals, ballets, radio and television broadcasts of operas. A significant feature of this rubric is the reproduction of scenes, figurini, costumes of current operatic performances. Quite extensive is the number of correspondents from foreign countries: Heinrich Kralik (from Austria), G. Schweitzer and Werner Kaupert (West Germany), Dieter Lehmann (East Germany), Marcel Grilli (Japan), Willi Reich (Switzerland), Lindsey Browne (Australia), Trudy Goth (United States), Arthur Jacobs (England), Marcel Schneider (France), Zdenek Vyborny (Czechoslovakia), Waldemar Voisé (Poland), John Kraglund (Canada), Vasile Tomescu (Romania), Jean Bresson (Bruxelles), Roberto Garcia Morillo (Argentina), Jos Wouters (Holland). The rubric “Recensioni” is also arranged in various sub-sections: reviews of books, music editions, LP recordings, and significantly jazz; under this rubric considerable space is reserved for publications of Casa Ricordi.

Each issue of MOG concludes with a list of new publications by Casa Ricordi.

MOG ceased publication owing to a lack of interest for this specialized journal (cfr. ottobre-dicembre 1965).

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