Vittorio Rieti was an Jewish-Italian

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...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Rieti moved to Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 to study economics. He subsequently studied in Rome under Respighi

Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...

 and Casella

Alfredo Casella

Alfredo Casella was an Italian composer, pianist and conductor.- Life and career :Casella was born in Turin; his family included many musicians; his grandfather, a friend of Paganini's, was first cello in the San Carlo Theatre in Lisbon and eventually was soloist in the Royal Chapel in Turin...

, and lived there until 1940.

In 1925, he temporarily moved to Paris and composed music for George Balanchine

George Balanchine

George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...

's ballet for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes

Ballets Russes

The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...

, Barabau.. He met his wife in Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. He was a cousin of actor Vittorio Rietti

Vittorio Rietti

Vittorio Rietti was an Italian-born stage and movie actor and director who later achieved success in British television...

.

He emigrated to the United States in 1940, becoming a naturalized American citizen on 1 June 1944. He taught at the Peabody Conservatoire of Music in Baltimore (1948-49), Chicago Musical College (1950-54), Queens College, New York (1958-60), and New York College of Music (1960-64). He died in New York on 19 February 1994.

His music is tonal

Tonality

Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...

 and neo-classical

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

 with a melodic and elegant style.

Selected works

Ballet

• Barabau (1925)
• Le bal (1929)
• La Sonnambula (1946)

Orchestral

• Symphony No. 3 (1932)
• Symphony No. 4 (1942)
• Suite "La Fontaine" (1968)

Concertante

• Piano Concerto No. 3 (1955)
• Concerto for harpsichord and orchestra (1952–1955, 1972)
• Cello Concerto No. 2 (1953)
• Triple Concerto for violin, viola, piano and orchestra (1971)

Chamber music

• Capriccio for violin and piano (1941)
• Partita for harpsichord, flute, oboe, 2 violins, viola and cello (1945)
• String Quartet No. 3 (1951)
• Woodwind Quintet (1957)
• String Quartet No. 4 (1960)
• Concertino for 5 Instruments for flute, viola, cello, harp and harpsichord (1963)
• Pastorale e fughetta for flute, viola and piano (or harpsichord) (1966)
• Sonata à 5 for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano (1966)
• Incisioni for brass quintet (1967)
• Silografie for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and basson (1967)
• Sestetto pro Gemini for flute, oboe, piano, violin, viola and cello (1975)

Piano

• Second Avenue Waltzes for 2 pianos (1942)
• Suite champêtre for 2 pianos (1948)
• Medieval Variations (1962)
• Chorale, variazioni e finale for 2 pianos (1969)