Pippo Barzizza

Giuseppe "Pippo" Barzizza (; 15 May 1902 – 4 April 1994) was an Italian composer, arranger, conductor and music director. Giuseppe Barzizza, called Pippo, was born in Genova on 15 May 1902, and died in Sanremo on 4 April 1994. He became famous in the 1930s and 1940s, at the beginning with Blue Star Orchestra and then with Orchestra Cetra. He composed songs and film soundtracks. His treatise, "Barzizza's method" was printed in 1952. His basics and exercises "are so clear that's it's enough to read this little book to overcome any doubts or hesitation!” Franco Franchi said, "Barzizza was among the first to be interested in jazz music and swing and he became for many years, together with his friend and rival Cinico Angelini, a great example for his fellows, both for his extraordinary compositions and his skills to find out new talents and songs, and for his attempt to give a modern mark to Italian music".

Pippo Barzizza was born in Genova, 15 May 1902, to Luigi and Fortunata Battaglieri. He was a child prodigy. At age six he entered the Camillo Sivori Institute to study violin and quickly passed the exam and took his first award. Pippo could hardly read words but he was already able to write a Mozart symphony "with nor a pale errors". After attending primary and secondary schools he went to Cristoforo Colombo High School, where he studied violin at the Conservatory with professor Biasoli. He listened to his father's phonographic cylinders, creating a passion for classical and symphonic music. Followed by his uncle, he often went to the Carlo Felice Theatre, where he saw, 'from a very comfortable stage position',

Blue Star's debut show was 25 July, at Sempioncino; then at Cova with great success and at Olimpia; it became known as one of the greatest Italian orchestras. Thanks to Eugenio Pugliatti, Blue Star performed in France and Switzerland. They played at Casino de Cannes, at Saint Raphael, at Ciro in Paris, at Palace Hotel in Saint Moritz. Accompanied by Pugliatti, they played in Costantinople part of a financially successful tour. He purchased a flat for his parents in Pegli and a Fiat 507 Torpedo. He played in Genova at Grand'Italia. In the following years he performed in Cannes, Saint Raphael and again in Paris and Milan (at Olimpia, Cova, Birra Italia). The Blue Star Orchestra broke up in 1933.

From 1931 36 Pippo focused on making recordings. He worked with the labels Fonit, Columbia, La Voce del Padrone, Odeon, Brunswick and Fonotipia. In 1934, Carisch released Pippo Barzizza, King of Italian Jazz; and then New series of Blue Star arrangements. In 1935 he was noticed for jazz recording sessions. In 1936 he received from EIAR a proposal to conduct Cetra Orchestra in Torino. He moved there with his family.

Cetra Orchestra, under Claude Bampton's direction, a good English musician and conductor, debuted with 16 musicians, growing to 28, producing "strong form and special characteristic, so to be soon considered the best among big Italian orchestras talking jazz language".

In his honor, "Centro Studi Stan Kenton" in Sanremo, instituted an award for arrangers (interrupted since 2004) whose jury was formed by Morricone. The winners were Enrico Blatti (Roma) and Stefano Zavattoni (Perugia) and in 2002 and Antonello Cpuano (Campobasso) in 2003. Arranger award recipients were Virgilio Savona, Piero Piccioni, Gianni Ferrio, Roberto Pregadic and Riz Ortolani.

In 1936 Barzizza signed with broadcaster EIAR to conduct Cetra Orchestra, inherited by Claude Bampton. Pippo immediately substitutes some members and totally reforms the line up and modern arrangements. In the early 1940s Cetra was considered the best among Italian jazz orchestras.

In 1951 Barzizza moved to Rome; the Cetra Orchestra disbanded, leading to the Modern Orchestra, with 56 members. He conducted almost fifty four successful broadcasts, like "Red and Black".

In 1936 Barzizza composed and arranged a piece for Orchestra: "Marilena", and it will become their theme song. It was a: a swing piece. Another piece was "Il boscaiolo", a happy country song made with Rabagliati and Lescanos.

"The enormous discography of Cetra Orchestra conducted by Barzizza between June 1936 and the end of 1948 it hasn't been rebuilt yet, because of the great difficulty of such a great opera. Bombing of Second World war destroyed the archives of Italian labels, losing the originals".

"Modern Orchestration in popular Music" called the Barzizza Method, first edition, Curci, 1952.