The Grande Suite, for five musicians (flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano with small percussion) and a voice actor, is taken from the opera Garibaldi en Sicile freely inspired by the direct correspondence of the expedition of the Thousand by Alexandre Dumas father, collected in the 1861 volume of Les Garibaldiens. Commissioned to Marcello Pani by the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, it was staged there in April 2005.

This GRANDE SUITE, reduced for a small ensemble to play pieces from the opera, was created for the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Unity of Italy commissioned by Contempoartensemble in Florence. The first partial performance took place in Florence at the Palazzo Bastogi on November 27, 2010 for the Feast of Tuscany 2010 and the complete version premiered on January 9, 2011 for The Concerts of the Quirinal on Radio 3, which was broadcast live.

 

The Suite is composed of 7 pieces, Aux Armes!, Chanson d´adieu, Ricercare nocturne, Fanfare, Couplets entrecoupés, Ode à la Liberté, Marche des Rouges Chemises, accompanied by the reading of texts by George Sand on the Hero of Two Worlds, by Alexandre Dumas father, and a passage from the famous speech delivered by Victor Hugo in Jersey at a conference to raise funds in support of the Thousand in May 1860. Cavour′s secret correspondence is cited, along with proclamations and songs of Garibaldi′s epic deeds.