Conservatori in scena - Conservatorio "Arlia" di Nocera Terinese

The “Saverio Arlia” State Conservatory of Music in Nocera Terinese comes to Cremona Musica 2026 with two events devoted to the tambourine in European art music between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries: the presentation of Andrea Piccioni’s book Il tamburello in Europa tra 1700 e 1800. Aspetti sociali, performativi e musicologici (Squilibri), the first title in the Symphonia series, and a concert featuring a complete performance of Muzio Clementi’s Douze Waltzes, Op. 38, for piano, tambourine and triangle (London, 1798). The two events are independent and may be scheduled on different days or in different venues.

FIRST PART — BOOK PRESENTATION

Speakers
Andrea Piccioni (author) · Danilo Gatto (author of the preface; Head of the Department of Traditional Music of the Mediterranean)

Duration and format
Approx. 60 minutes, with projections of iconographic and documentary material · venue for 50–80 people

For the first time, the book provides a comprehensive account of the history and development of the tambourine and frame drums in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, combining archaeological, iconographic, organological, compositional and socio-cultural perspectives. It also documents a repertoire of art music — including works by Clementi, Steibelt and Dale — that has remained largely overlooked in musicological literature.

Two aspects are of particular interest to the Cremona audience: the instrument’s historical organology (surviving examples made in London and Paris, Joseph Dale’s 1799 royal patent, screw-tensioning systems, calfskin heads and large-diameter brass jingles) and its notation: the book proposes a unified notation system for the tambourine, derived from a comparison of the three historical methods by Dale, Frey and Bolton.

SECOND PART — MUSIC

Muzio Clementi (1752–1832), Douze Waltzes for the Piano Forte, with an Accompaniment for a Tamburino & Triangle, Op. 38 (London, Longman & Broderip, 1798) — complete performance

Nico Fuscaldo, piano · Andrea Piccioni, tambourine

Clementi’s Douze Waltzes, Op. 38, were entered in the register of London’s Stationers’ Hall on 30 June 1798 — the registration procedure used to protect printing rights — and published by Longman & Broderip shortly before Clementi took over the firm. The Paris edition by B. Viguerie provides evidence of the work’s circulation on the European continent.

The collection is one of the most significant examples of the tambourine’s introduction into European salon music. The performance reconstructs the percussion part according to the system of signs found in the eighteenth-century source, interpreted in the light of the unified key developed in the book. For the triangle part, wooden crotales will be used, in accordance with documented contemporary performance practice.

THE BOOK

Andrea Piccioni, Il tamburello in Europa tra 1700 e 1800. Aspetti sociali, performativi e musicologici, Squilibri, Symphonia series of the “Saverio Arlia” Conservatory, 2026.

Preface by Danilo Gatto; contributions by Lorenzo D’Erasmo and Lionello Morandi; musical transcriptions by Caterina Chiarcos; revision of the modern tambourine notation by Davide Ciafardoni.

The volume is divided into two parts: History, Iconography and Contexts (nine chapters, 66 illustrations, 103 bibliographical entries) and Notation, Edition and Transcriptions (comparative study, key to strokes, editorial criteria, scores and parts, synoptic table). Format: 15 × 21 cm; forthcoming.

Danilo Gatto — Head of the Department of Traditional Music of the Mediterranean at the “Saverio Arlia” Conservatory and author of the book’s preface.

Nico Fuscaldo, piano — Professor of Piano at the Conservatory of Nocera Terinese. He graduated with honours and special distinction under the guidance of Filippo Arlia. A prizewinner in national and international competitions, including the Clementi Competition in Spoleto, he has recorded for Sony Classical and Brilliant Classics.

Andrea Piccioni, tambourine — internationally recognised as one of the leading exponents of frame drums and the Italian tambourine. He teaches Frame Drums at the “Saverio Arlia” Conservatory, where he established an academic programme devoted to Mediterranean frame drums. He has collaborated with Bobby McFerrin, Richard Bona and Wu Man and is a Master Musician of the Aga Khan Music Programme.