Appendix III.10.A.1
Location:
Missing.
4 bars were quoted in Fellerer 1937b, 689 (printed again in Kaye 1987, 223).
Fellerer’s brief incipit is the only evidence for the existence of this mysterious composition. In addition to being a basic skill required for reading music, “solfeggi” were also instructional vocal exercises with simple piano accompaniments. It would have been very strange for Puccini to have written such a work, for apart from giving organ lessons in his student days in Lucca he never had any inclination for teaching. Therefore, doubts about the authenticity of this set of vocal exercises are certainly appropriate. On the other hand, Fellerer surely did not invent the incipit, the source for which was probably in the possession of Puccini’s family in the 1930s. In this case, perhaps Fellerer was shown a manuscript that was not at all by Puccini.
In fact, Fellerer’s statement: “Auch Solfeggien schrieb er ... Eine solche Komposition ist am 20. März 1888 gezeichnet und im Sopranschlüssel geschrieben [He also wrote solfeggios ... Such a composition is dated 20 March 1888 and written in the soprano clef]” actually does not imply a continuous work. It cannot be excluded that Puccini may have made his own copy of such exercises composed by one of his ancestors. At least one example of them is known to exist. In I-PAc (CA-I-10), there is a manuscript dating from 1739 by Giacomo Puccini Sr. (1712-1781) with the title “Solfeggi in chiave di contralto,” comprising 28 vocal exercises on 34 pages. However, it is even more probable that Fellerer examined a manuscript in the hand of Puccini’s brother Michele. In TMP there is a piece at the end of which is written “Seguono N° 6 Solfeggi” (after the old indication D 6 b), which proves that Michele Puccini Jr. actually wrote solfeggi.