All’apparir del vero (Opus 24)

All'apparir del vero (When the truth appears), Op. 24, for flute, guitar, harpsichord and strings was written in 1988 to fulfill a request the Gruppo Cameristico Veneto made to Riccardi.

The title is taken from a verse that Giacomo Leopardi included in his poem, "A Silvia"-- a text with a profoundly tragic worldview. To the contrary, this title, "All'apparir del vero", removes any tragic implications and focuses on the sense of surprise of "truth appearing"! It also suggests the waiting that has preceded this appearing.

The work is divided in three movements and exploits the contrasting sounds of the plucked strings, the harpsichord and guitar, and the sustained sounds of the strings played with the bow.

The first movement, without the flute, is divided into two parts: the first, Lento, with a group of strings to which the guitar and then the harpsichord add a melody; the second, Presto brillante, begins with the strings, with the violins repeating a staccato rhythm, and the other instruments contrasting in a different rhythm.

The second movement also consists of two main ideas. In the first part, Adagio ritmico, after a dialog between guitar, harpsichord and plucked strings, the flute enters as a solo. In the second part, Più mosso, and over the sustained sounds of the strings, the flute again has the melody and is joined, in the final bars, by the guitar.

Finally the third and last movement, Vivace e brillante, is characterized by close imitation between the flute and first violins, interspersed with short orchestral tutti. The orchestral tutti are doubled by all the instruments in various octaves, which recall the tutti of Vivaldi's Concerti grossi.