Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

432 SGAMBATI SQAMBATI
op. 4), an overture for full orchestra to Cossa's
'
Cola di Rienzi, ' together with other works,
and in the same year he conducted Liszt's
' Dante ' symphony (Feb. 26) with great success
and credit to himself.
In company with Liszt, he visited Germany
in 1869, and at Munich heard Wagner's music
for the first time. Sgambati's talent naturally
attracted the notice of Herr von Keudell, the
well-known amateur and German ambassador
in Eome. At the orchestral concerts which he
conducted at the embassy many of his works
were first heard. Here also, in 1876, he made
the acquaintance of Wagner [in whose honour
the ambassador one evening gave a concert
consisting entirely of Sgamhati's compositions,
including two pianoforte quintets and several
songs. Wagner, much surprised to find in
Rome a composer who made music of this kind,
expressed a wish to hear it again, and on the
following evening the programme was privately
repeated for the deleolation of the master, who
immediately wrote to the publishing-house of
Schott, advising them to purchase and print
Sgambati's works without delay. The firm
then published the two quintets, as well as o.
prelude and fugue for pianoforte.]
Encouraged by this well-merited recognition
Sgambati wrote a Festival-overture and a concerto
for pianoforte and orchestra. His Symphony
in D, produced at a concert in the Sala
'
Dante ' early in 1881 and repeated on March 28
of that year at the Quirinal, being the first work
of the kind ever given at the Italian Court, in
the presence of King Humbert and his Consort,
Queen Margherita, to whom it was dedicated.
In 1882 Sgambati paid his first visit to England
and played his pianoforte concerto at the Philharmonic
concert of May 11. His symphony
was given at the Crystal Palace on June 10
under the composer's direction. Both works
were well received, but the symphony made
mVich the greater impression of the two.
Though original in its ideas and character it
adheres to established forms ; it is at once
thoughtfully worked out and gi'acefully expressed,
with a great deal of effect, and no lack
of counterpoint.
His quartet for strings in D flat, printed
about this time, is one of the works by which
Sgambati is best known. First played in
London by the Kneisel quartet of Boston, it was
afterwards included by Joachim and Piatti,
along with his second pianoforte quintet, in
the repertory of the famous Popular Concerts,
and eventually attained wide popularity throughout
Europe. Two years later (1884) Sgambati
conducted the symphony in Paris, where he had
been invited as representative of Italy at the
International Concerts given in the Trocad^ro.
In 1886 he was named one of the five corresponding
members of the French Institute to
fill the place vacated by Liszt. In 1887 he
was invited to conduct his second symphony,
in E flat (written in 1883 and still unpublished),
and to execute his first quintet at the great
musical festival of the Tonkiinstler-Versammlung
in Cologne.
[In the same year he wrote, in honour of the
wedding of the Duke of Aosta, an Epitalamio
'
Sinfonico,' which takes the form of a suite,
though considerably more developed than is
usually the case in compositions so described.
After its production at Turin the author conducted
performances of the work in Milan and
Eome, and brought it to London on the occasion
of his second visit in 1891, when it was given
at a Philharmonic concert. During the same
season he gave a concert of his own compositions
at Princes' Hall, and was commanded to
Windsor where he played before Queen Victoria.
One of the most memorable journeys made by
Sgambati to foreign countries included a visit
to Russia in the autumn of 1903. Received with
enthusiasm, he gave concerts, consisting chiefly
of his own works, at St. Petersburg, Moscow,
and other places in Northern Europe, with such
conspicuous success that they would have welcomed
him gladly another year.
To commemorate the death of King Humbert
he wrote a Messa ' da Requiem ' for chorus,
baritone solo, and orchestra, which was produced
at the Pantheon, Jan. 17, 1896, and several times
repeated. It was also given in Germany, at
Cologne in November 1906, in the composer's
presence, and at Mayence in March 1907. Its ,
reception on both occasions bore testimony to
German appreciation of Sgambati, whose work
was highly praised. The Requiem is a fine
piece of religious writing, in strict conformity
with the spirit of the sacred text, modem without
extravagance of any kind, and its themes
well developed, though not so diffusely as to
render it unsuitable for performance on liturgical
occasions. It is, perhaps, Sgambati's most ambitious
work, and the author's success as a choral
writer occasions regret that more of his time
had not been given to compositions of the
kind.
He preferred, instead, to devote the energies
of his best years to teaching ; and, as a result,
must be considered the founder, with his
colleague Penelli, of the Liceo Musicale in connection
with the Accademia di S. Cecilia in Rome
(see Rome). Beginning with a free class for
the pianoforte in 1869 he has persevered to the
present day (1907) in giving instruction of the
soundest description. Under him the study of
the instrument in Rome has reached an exceptional
degree of development, and it cannot be
doubted that had Sgambati chosen, as the field
of his labours, a city of central Europe, he would
have attained a far wider celebrity as a master.
His success as a writer for the pianoforte is
due to his rare knowledge of its resources, to
his facility in producing required effects with