Raffaele Calace
Encyclopedia
Raffaele Calace was an Italian mandolin player and composer.
He was born in Naples
, Italy
as the son of Antonio Calace, a successful instrument maker. Raffaele was initially trained to become a musician
. At the same time, he discovered the possibilities of the mandolin
and soon he became an unequaled mandolin virtuoso
. After Raffaele Calace graduated with the highest honour at the Regio Conservatorio di Musica in Naples, his main intention was to give the mandolin a full and honourable place in music. To achieve this, he toured Europe and Japan giving countless concerts on the Neapolitan mandolin and the liuto cantabile
. It is believed that this bass variant in the Mandolin family was initially created by the famous Neapolitan luthiers of the Vinaccia family in the last decade of the 19th Century and that it was perfected by Raffaele Calace himself. Raffaele Calace made three long-playing records on which he is heard as one of the greatest mandolin virtuosos and an unequaled performer on the liuto cantabile .
Raffaele Calace wrote about 200 compositions that belong to the most beautiful and technically demanding works written for the mandolin. Either concert works for mandolin solo or compositions for mandolin in combination with other instruments like duets with piano; trio combinations with mandola and guitar; the Romantic Mandolin Quartet (mandolin 1 & 2, mandola
, and guitar
); quintets up to/and Concerts for mandolin solo with Orchestra etc.. Calace also wrote pedagogical works, among which are his highly praised mandolin method and the method for playing the liuto cantabile. The mandolin method was published in 1910 and elaborates on the eighteen-century Italian mandolin tutors by Giovanni Battista Gervasio (±1725 - ±1785), Gabriele Leone (±1725 - ±1790) and others and it clearly shows the development of the traditional Italian playing style. The Calace school can also be seen as a bridge between other modern methods for mandolin as there are for instance those by Raffaele Calace's fellow countryman Silvio Ranieri (1882-1956), a Roman
virtuoso who had settled in Brussels
and the American
-based Italian mandolinist Giuseppe Pettine
(1874-1966).
Raffaele Calace and his brother Nicola Calace (1859-1923) were, besides their activities as musicians, also recognized as excellent makers of the instruments of the Neapolitan mandolin family. They introduced improvements in the building techniques and modernized the Neapolitan mandolin by, among other features, enlarging its sound box and - like the Roman master luthier Luigi Embergher - applying a fingerboard that extended over the sound hole to enlarge the range of the mandolin. When Nicola Calace emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1898, Raffaele continued the Calace workshop with his daughter Maria, a gifted mandolin player as well, and his son Giuseppe Calace. Today the Calace atelier is run by Calace's grandson Raffaele Jr.
He was born in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
as the son of Antonio Calace, a successful instrument maker. Raffaele was initially trained to become a musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. At the same time, he discovered the possibilities of the mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and soon he became an unequaled mandolin virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
. After Raffaele Calace graduated with the highest honour at the Regio Conservatorio di Musica in Naples, his main intention was to give the mandolin a full and honourable place in music. To achieve this, he toured Europe and Japan giving countless concerts on the Neapolitan mandolin and the liuto cantabile
Liuto cantabile
Liuto Cantabile is a ten-stringed mandocello first build by Luigi Embergher in the late 19th century. It was used a bass instrument in the mandolin quartet....
. It is believed that this bass variant in the Mandolin family was initially created by the famous Neapolitan luthiers of the Vinaccia family in the last decade of the 19th Century and that it was perfected by Raffaele Calace himself. Raffaele Calace made three long-playing records on which he is heard as one of the greatest mandolin virtuosos and an unequaled performer on the liuto cantabile .
Raffaele Calace wrote about 200 compositions that belong to the most beautiful and technically demanding works written for the mandolin. Either concert works for mandolin solo or compositions for mandolin in combination with other instruments like duets with piano; trio combinations with mandola and guitar; the Romantic Mandolin Quartet (mandolin 1 & 2, mandola
Mandola
The mandola or tenor mandola is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola , a fifth lower than a mandolin...
, and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
); quintets up to/and Concerts for mandolin solo with Orchestra etc.. Calace also wrote pedagogical works, among which are his highly praised mandolin method and the method for playing the liuto cantabile. The mandolin method was published in 1910 and elaborates on the eighteen-century Italian mandolin tutors by Giovanni Battista Gervasio (±1725 - ±1785), Gabriele Leone (±1725 - ±1790) and others and it clearly shows the development of the traditional Italian playing style. The Calace school can also be seen as a bridge between other modern methods for mandolin as there are for instance those by Raffaele Calace's fellow countryman Silvio Ranieri (1882-1956), a Roman
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
virtuoso who had settled in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based Italian mandolinist Giuseppe Pettine
Giuseppe Pettine
Giuseppe Pettine Giuseppe Pettine Giuseppe Pettine (born Giuseppe Antonio Luigi Pettine, 13 February 1874, Isernia, Italy was an Italian-American concert mandolinist, teacher, and composer.-Early life and career:...
(1874-1966).
Raffaele Calace and his brother Nicola Calace (1859-1923) were, besides their activities as musicians, also recognized as excellent makers of the instruments of the Neapolitan mandolin family. They introduced improvements in the building techniques and modernized the Neapolitan mandolin by, among other features, enlarging its sound box and - like the Roman master luthier Luigi Embergher - applying a fingerboard that extended over the sound hole to enlarge the range of the mandolin. When Nicola Calace emigrated to the U.S.A. in 1898, Raffaele continued the Calace workshop with his daughter Maria, a gifted mandolin player as well, and his son Giuseppe Calace. Today the Calace atelier is run by Calace's grandson Raffaele Jr.