April 23, 2022 Concert by William Limonta, pianist Church of Sant’Andrea, Upper Town Bergamo TITLE: Donizetti and the others. The piano in Bergamo from Mayr to the contemporaries The history of music is studded and marked by the great names that have always characterised it, and we always remember them and only them. Beneath this […]
THE COMPETITION 2017 It is painful to announce the cancellation of this important event. We started with the first edition in 2001 with great enthusiasm, thinking that this initiative could not only honour our fellow-citizen Daniele Maffeis, but could even contribute in its own small way to a relaunch of the Italian liturgical choral world. […]
10. LAST COMMITMENTS
The role at the Conservatory Donizetti of Bergamo did not prevent him continuing the service in Venegono, in San Satiro, Beato Angelico and Abbiategrasso. He did not turn down many requests for performances, liturgical accompaniments, especially in the patronal feasts of the various parishes, of concerts, of conducting choirs. His composing activity continued, among which the “Missa Daniel Propheta” and two “Popular Masses” […]
9. TEACHER IN BERGAMO
During the school year 1950-1951 the most awaited event occurred: the return to the cradle of his first education, with the appointment to the chair of organ and organ composition, his preferred one, at the Conservatorio Musicale G. Donizetti of Bergamo. For the Conservatory it was also a long-awaited event, since it was the return of […]
8. WITH POPE RONCALLI
Among the numerous friendships and acquaintances, Maffeis reserved a particular space for prelates and parish priests coming from the cradle of the Lombard clergy as his pupils. He couldn’t miss a special place for that famous don Angelo whom he had met at the Seminarino and then at the Seminary of Bergamo, and who, due […]
7. IN THE 50S
Since 1940 he had added to his various commitments that as the piano and organ teacher at the High School, (of Christian Art) “Beato Angelico” School of Christian Art, in Milan, a post he would keep until his death. The ’40s and ‘50s were the most intense years for teaching, composing and concert activity. He composed […]
6. IN ABBIATEGRASSO
In 1937, thanks to the same Monsignor Andreoni, he obtained the position of organist Chapel Master of the Basilica of S. Maria Nuova in Abbiategrasso. Here he could freely experiment with his new liturgical music, including the first mass, “Missa Mariae Nascenti” inspired by that church, gaining his first successes and acclaim from critics and the press. […]
5. THE CECILIAN REFORM
In 1936 Canon Ascanio Andreoni of the Cathedral Chapter and Rector of the Milanese Seminary of Venegono, discovered the (high) competence of Maffeis the organist and offered him the chair of piano, harmonium and organ in the religious institute which he directed. Nothing could have been more exciting for the musician: besides having a secure job, in the Seminary he […]
4. TEACHING AND HIS FIRST WORKS
During the scholastic year 1925/26, in addition to being a student, he took up the role of substitute teacher of Complementary Organ in the same Conservatory. The following year, with the higher license of piano for which he achieved the excellent grade of 9,79 from the Commission presided over by Ildebrando Pizzetti, he was nominated […]