Guido Chigi Saracini
[5][4] In 1908 he established the "Quintetto Senese" (the Siena Quintet, a pianoforte and string quartet ensemble led by violinist Piero Baglioni), whose concerts he funded and the income from which was distributed beneficently.
Among various events arising periodically or for special occasions, he promoted the celebration of the Giuseppe Verdi centenary in 1913 by the publication of a volume of scholarly studies on Verdian subjects, and a performance of the Requiem under Edoardo Mascheroni at the Basilica of San Francesco, Siena, with the assistance of Arrigo Boito.
The Lauda, set to words attributed to Jacopone da Todi, is a substantial work for soloists, choir, a sextet of pastoral wind instruments, and four-handed pianoforte.
It was for outstanding young pupils, and the instruction was intended to instil confidence and approval in their abilities, to apply the stimulus of positive encouragement, and the enthusiasm associated with the fulfilment of a dream, as the Count himself expressed it.
[14] The studies included courses in conducting, composition, piano, organ, violin, cello, and lyric vocalization, and Fernando Germani, Arrigo Serato, Arturo Bonucci, Alfredo Casella, Giulia Varesi Boccabadati[15] and Gemma Bellincioni were among the original instructors.
[17] In 1939, with Casella, Chigi Saracini set up the "Settimane musicali Senesi" ("Musical Weeks of Siena") of the Accademia, to be held in September at the conclusion of the courses of instruction: the first was devoted entirely to Vivaldi.
[20] All through Count Chigi Saracini's life, the Accademia Chigiana (through the "Micat in Vertice" Society) and the Siena "Settimane musicali" hosted the most influential international soloists, among whom the Dizionario Biografico, in a formulation of inclusivity, mentions the pianists Walter Gieseking, Wilhelm Kempff, Arthur Rubinstein, Vladimir Horowitz and Alfred Cortot, the violinists Bronislaw Huberman, Nathan Milstein, Gioconda de Vito and Salvatore Accardo, the cellists Gaspar Cassado, Enrico Mainardi, Pablo Casals and André Navarra, the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska, the guitarist Andrès Segovia, and singers Suzanne Danco and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
[5] The particular accent upon advanced chamber music instruction and the education of instrumental ensembles, caused Count Chigi Saracini in 1939 to establish the Quintetto Chigiano, a pianoforte and string quintet dedicated especially to the repertoire for that combination.
[25][26] For his own music, he enjoyed composing to lyrics from the nineteenth-century poets (principally Trilussa and D'Annunzio),[10] and with a lauda for Our Lady of Providence (Maria Santissima Madre della Divina Provvidenza) in her sanctuary at Pancole near San Gimignano.
[4] Among the items of interest, in addition to the autograph manuscripts of composers mentioned above, there are the letters which Chigi Saracini exchanged with eminent figures in world culture (including Ezra Pound, Sibilla Aleramo, Bernard Berenson and Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli),[4] and all the documentation relating to the activity of the Accademia: diaries, reports and letters from leading musicians of the 1900s (such as Mascagni, Anna Moffo, Sergiu Celibidache and Alfred Cortot, and many, many others).
