Dante and music : musical adaptations of the Commedia from the sixteenth century to the present

Ever since its completion in the 14th century, Dante's great epic poem "Divina Commedia" has been adapted in a variety of musical forms by composers across the world.

Drawing on primary research in sources and recordings and on interviews with contemporary composers, Maria Roglieri provides this introductory survey to the types of musical adaptation that the "Commedia" has attracted, including symphonies, chamber pieces, operas and ballets.

Three categories of adaptation are examined: adaptations of the entire poem, works that focus on a particular character, and pieces which adapt an individual passage from the poem.

Roglieri offers some possible motivations for the composer's choice of a particular passage or character, and examines the ways in which these choices influence the musical form of adaptation.

Common characteristics between works are also identified.