PIETRO MASCAGNI Cavalleria Rusticana
Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana is an iconic melody famous for its use as a theme tune in the 1980 film Raging Bull. Bridget Mermikides has arranged it for solo classical guitar.
Bridget Mermikides arranges the Intermezzo from this famous piece, as used in Raging Bull.
Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) was an Italian composer and conductor whose 16 operas and operattas, impressive portfolio of orchestral, vocal and sacred works, plus a busy conducting schedule manifested into an extraordinarily successful life. The pinnacle and initiation of this success came early in Mascagni’s career with his first opera, Cavalleria Rusticana. Premiered in 1890 in Rome, when Mascagni was just 26, it was an instant success. His expressive, accessible but profound melodic writing supported the one-act opera’s story of love, betrayal and tragedy. It became immediately popular, and six other opera houses across Italy swiftly staged performances.
There is something very familiar and appealing about the music, and its influence can be heard in classic Hollywood movies, and it even made its way to the ears of Louis Armstrong who reportedly learnt all of its trumpet solos. In addition to the opera being staged 100s of times to this day, its music – and in particular the famous Intermezzo (a short connecting instrumental piece) has been used in many films and TV shows from Watchmen, Godfather Part III, and The Sopranos. Most memorably perhaps it is used as the theme tune in the 1980 Martin Scorsese Raging Bull film starring Robert de Niro, where its sincere passion and serenity in the
“Mascagni’s expressive, accessible but profound melodic writing supported the one-act opera’s story of love, betrayal and tragedy”
face of challenge perfectly counterpoints the film’s storyline and context.
Here I’ve taken the short but extraordinarily poignant piece, composed for orchestra, and arranged it for solo guitar by transposing it down from F Major to D Major with drop D tuning to allow the appropriate warmth and resonance. Emulating orchestral strings on solo classical guitar is challenging and there are two main approaches: one is to play blocked chords in as sustained and fluid way as possible - which is what I have done for the 19-bar introduction. Another approach to achieve a string-like sustain is through the use of tremolo technique, where the picking hand thumb plays a bass-line and the fingers play a repeated note in quick but measure succession. Once a fluency is achieved it creates the aural illusion of a continuous sustained line, and that’s how
Intermezzo’s lush melody has been arranged here from bars 20-46. Both these approaches take focused but relaxed and patient practice but are well worth the effort when you witness Mascagni’s profoundly beautiful rustic melody come to life on your guitar.
NEXT MONTH Bridget arranges an transcribes Johannes Brahms’s superb Waltz In A Flat