BOSSI, MARCO ENRICO. – Organist and composer, born in Salò on 25 April 1861; died aboard ship on 20 February 1925, while returning from America.
His father Pietro, a good organist, instructed him in the elements of musical art. In 1861 he joined his brother Adolfo in Bologna, where he attended the liceo musicale and, in 1873, enrolled in that of Milan. In the autumn of 1878, he took part as pianist and composer in the concerts at London’s Crystal Palace. Returning to his homeland, he won the competition for organist at Como Cathedral, and in the Gazzetta musicale di Milano began a series of articles in which he advocated the need for reform in the study of the organ, whose inferior condition he pointed out in relation to the progress of the reform of sacred music. Through a large number of highly acclaimed organ concerts in Italy and abroad, he indicated the path to be followed. In 1890 he assumed the chair of organ and harmony at the conservatory of Naples; from 1895 to 1902 he directed the liceo musicale of Venice, teaching organ and composition; in that same year he succeeded Martucci as director of the liceo musicale of Bologna, where he taught advanced composition and founded and directed the P. Martini Choral Society. In 1911 he left the liceo musicale of Bologna to devote himself exclusively to composition and organ concerts; in 1916 he was appointed director of the S. Cecilia conservatory in Rome, a position he held until 1920.
His activity as an organist was extraordinary and earned him an outstanding international reputation. As a composer,
he initially attempted the theatre, but soon abandoned this genre to devote himself to symphonic music, and through various works of grand style made his worth as a composer known throughout the world. Il Cantico dei Cantici (Leipzig 1900) and Paradiso perduto (Augsburg 1903) are among his larger-scale compositions and received repeated performances to great acclaim. Giovanna d'Arco (mystery in the form of a symphonic poem), to verses by L. Orsini, in a prologue and three parts, was performed in Cologne on 20 January 1914 and repeated in Turin, Berlin, New York, and Rome. His compositions for organ occupy a highly important place in the modern repertoire, and many of them are frequently included in the programmes of organ concerts: two Sonatas in D and F, two Scherzos in G minor and F, Theme and Variations, Symphonic Study, Pastoral Scenes, Heroic Piece, Legenda, Alleluja, Franciscan Moments, etc. For the teaching of organ he wrote a theoretical-practical method in collaboration with G. Tebaldini. For organ and orchestra he wrote: Concerto in A minor, Concert Piece, Symphonic Fantasy, etc. His compositions for liturgical use are numerous: Masses, motets, hymns, etc., and they made a notable contribution to the progress of the reform of sacred music.