Barblan, Guglielmo
Barblan, Guglielmo
eminent Italian musicologist; b. Siena, May 27, 1906; d. Milan, March 24, 1978. He first studied jurisprudence, then entered the Rome Cons. as a cello student of Forino and Becker; also took courses in theory at the Bolzano Cons. and attended lectures on musicology by Liuzzi in Rome and Sand-berger in Munich. He served as a music critic for La Provincia di Bolzano (1932–50), and concurrently lectured on music history at the Bolzano Cons. (1932–49). In 1949 he became head librarian of the Milan Cons.; in 1965 he was appointed prof. of music history there; also taught at the Univ. of Milan from 1961. Barbián’s principal contribution as a music scholar was in the field of Italian music history. In addition to his books, he ed. works by Bonporti and Cambini.
Writings
Un musicista trentino: F.A. Bonporti (Florence, 1940); Musiche e strumenti musicali dell’Africa orientale italiana (Naples, 1941); L’opera di Donizetti nell’età romantica (Bergamo, 1948); ed. with A. Della Corte, Mozart in Italia: I viaggi e le lettere (Milan, 1956); Guida al “Clavicembalo ben temperato” di J.S. Bach (Milan, 1961); with C. Gallico and G. Pannain, Claudio Monteverdi nel quarto centenario della nascita (Turin, 1967); ed. Conservatorio di musica G. Verdi, Milano; Catalogo della biblioteca (Florence, 1972); with B. Zanolini, Gaetano Donizetti: Vita e opera di un musicista romantico (Bergamo, 1983).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire