Gian Francesco Malipiero (born March 18, 1882, Venice, Italy - died August 1, 1973, Asolo, Treviso, Italy) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor.
His musical production is vast and extended to every genre.
Malipiero is one of the musicians who participated as protagonists in the renewal of Italian music in the twentieth century.
He studied counterpoint with Enrico bossi. Following his teacher to the Bologna Conservatory, he graduated in composition in 1904.
In 1913 Malipiero participated in a competition held by the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome and presented five symphonic scores under five different names and he won the first four prizes.
Always in 1913 he wad greatly impressed by the first performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, discovered Debussy, Ravel and others, and met Alfredo Casella. He trained a whole generation of musicians, including Luigi Nono and Bruno maderna.
Malipiero conceives the form without worrying about pre-established schemes, to which he prefers the free architectures that spring from his whimsical imagination.
His language rejects thematic developments and derivations, disdains exclusively decorative elements, virtuosity as an end in itself.
Malipiero’s harmonic language is influenced by the suggestion of Gregorian chant and ancient modal scales and is characterized by an extreme tonal instability.