Francisco Mignone

Francisco Mignone (1897-1986) was a Brazilian composer whose catalog includes solo songs, piano pieces, chamber, orchestral and choral works, as well as five operas and eight ballets. Trained at the conservatories of São Paulo and Milan, much of his music, with its lyricism, colorful instrumentation and improvisatory style, reveals the influence of Brazilian folk and popular melodies and forms. Some of his most important works are the ballet “Maracatú do Chico-Rei” (1934), the symphonic poem “Festa da Igrejas” (1942), his sextet for winds and piano (1935), and his 1958 piano concerto. However, later in his career he began to incorporate polytonal, atonal and serial elements into his compositions. For example, in “Six and a Half Preludes” (1972), the brief “half prelude” begins with three measures of tone clusters, which, according to David Appleby, harken back to the musical humor of Satie.

Maestro Mignone’s Compositions