Uccelli [née Pazzini], Carolina Uccellini, Marco

Uc de Saint Circ [Saint Sixt]

(b Thégra, nr Rocamadour, 1190; d c1253). French troubadour. He was the younger son of a poor vavasour and was active in Toulouse and certain courts in Spain before travelling to Italy in about 1218. He appears to have married in Italy and worked in the courts of Turin, Treviso and Auramala. He wrote the vida of Bernart de Ventadorn, and has been credited with many others. He composed a few chansons before his marriage but concentrated thereafter on sirventes, tensos and strophic exchanges (see Jeu-parti). His partners included Guillem of Baus, 4th Count of Orange, the Count of Rodez and probably Raimondo III of Turin. Only three of his 43 surviving songs have melodies (Anc enemics qu’eu agues, PC 457.3; Nuls hom no sap d’amic, tro l’a perdut, PC 457.26; Tres enemics e dos mals seignors ai, PC 457.40): all are in a regular AAB form and survive uniquely in I-Ma R.71 sup.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Jeanroy and J.-J. Salverda de Grave, eds.: Poésies de Uc de Saint Circ (Toulouse, 1913/R)

H.-E. Keller: ‘Italian Troubadours’, A Handbook of the Troubadours, ed. F.R.P. Akehurst and J.M. Davis (Berkeley, 1995), 295–304

E. Aubrey: The Music of the Troubadours (Bloomington, IN, 1996)

For further bibliography and music editions see Troubadours, trouvères.

IAN R. PARKER

Uchida, Mitsuko

(b Atami, nr Tokyo, 20 Dec 1948). Japanese pianist. She studied with Richard Hauser at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik and made her début at the age of 14 with a recital in the Brahmssaal of the Musikverein. At the 1975 Leeds International Piano Competition she was awarded second prize. In 1982 she gave cycles of all the Mozart sonatas in London and Tokyo (later also in New York) and followed them with all the Mozart concertos, in the same two cities, in 1985–6 and 1987 respectively. Her Mozart recordings, in particular her set of the 18 sonatas with some of the fantasies, rondos and other pieces (issued in 1989), brought her acclaim as a leading Mozartian of the day. It was perhaps inevitable that they hid for a while the full range of her gifts and favoured repertory, which includes all the great Austrian and German composers who were associated with Vienna, from Haydn to Schoenberg, as well as much of Chopin, Debussy and Bartók. To all of these she is an exemplary guide, with a commitment to unusually imaginative programmes, as was shown by the series of Schubert and Schoenberg recitals she gave in the mid-1990s in six cities worldwide. She is also a notable interpreter of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto. Her playing is characterized by concentration, poise and a wide range of dynamics: there are few who are capable of such sustained intensity and eloquence while playing so quietly and contemplatively, although to some she has made Schubert retreat to a world that is too ethereal and idealized. The conviction and amazing dexterity displayed in her recording of the Debussy Etudes, issued in 1990, can be set against this, where her refinement of sonority, accentuation and characterization proclaim her a virtuoso of uncommon calibre. There has been wide agreement that this is one of the finest Debussy piano records ever made.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

H. Smith: ‘The end of one road …’, Gramophone, lxxvii/Sept (1999), 18 only

STEPHEN PLAISTOW

Uçi, Koço

(b Korça, 21 Jan 1923; d Tirana, 7 Apr 1982). Albanian composer and choral conductor. Born into a rural family, he went to Tirana during the Italian occupation, where he received musical training from Vittorio Allogio, a ballroom pianist and bandleader. After the 1944 liberation, he directed a musical and theatrical group affiliated to the Directorate of Popular Culture, conducted the State Theatre Orchestra (1946–9) and was a choral trainer with the State Chorus (1949–51). He is, however, primarily associated with the Ensemble of the People's Army, which rose to prominence in the 1950s. As its conductor and principal composer he toured with the ensemble throughout the Communist world (including the USSR and China) before poor health forced his retirement in 1976.

Uçi was one of the most prolific composers of the early Albanian socialist period. An early exponent, along with Trako, of the Albanian cantata, he was also among the first to adapt folksongs, those of central and southern Albania especially, to patriotic and political texts. His large output, almost exclusively vocal, includes settings of some of the best-known Albanian poets (including Naïm Frashëri, Andrea Varfi and Ismail Kadare) and covers almost every significant occasion in the national life of the period. His songs are simple and direct in their appeal, with an instinctive melodic elegance and sober but effective harmonizations.

WORKS

(selective list)

Dramatic: Vlorë 1920 (choreographic scene), 1962; Ushtari i popullit [People's Soldier] (choreographic fantasy, 1), 1963; Qemal Stafa (film score), 1964; Të paepur na kaliti partia [The Party has Forged us to Become Indomitable] (choreographic scene), 1965; Katërmbëdhjetë vjeç dhëndër [The 14-Year Old Bridegroom] (incid music, A.Z. Çajupi), 1966; Jemi mbrojtës të bregdetit [We are the Guardians of our Coast] (choreographic scene), 1967; Batalioni partizan ‘Hakmarrja’ [Partisan Battalion ‘Vengeance’] (choreographic poem, choreog. F. Shaqiri) (Tirana, 1970)

Choral-orch: Ushtria jone popullore [Our People's Army] (cant., ?Uçi), solo vv, male chorus, orch, 1963; Partia ne na thirri [The Party has Invited Us] (cant., A. Varfi), solo vv, male chorus, orch, 1965; Kanga krenare [Proud Song] (T. Miloti), B, 4-pt male chorus, orch, 1966; Ma i zjarriti hymn [The Most Fervid Hymn] (L. Siliqi), 4-pt mixed chorus, orch, 1966; Hymni i Republikës [Hymn of the Republic] (I. Kadare), male chorus, orch, 1969; Yjet partizane [Partisan Stars], suite, SATB, orch, 1969; Choral Suite no.7 (trad.), T, Bar, male chorus, orch, 1970; Riviera jonë [Our Riviera] (L. Deda), 1v, male chorus, orch, 1970, rev. for 1v, 3-pt mixed chorus, pf, 1973; Choral Suite no.8, 1v, male chorus, orch, 1972; Vdekja e ndërlidhësit [The Liaison's Death] (ballad, H. Koçiu), B, male chorus, orch, 1973

Other choral: Luftë dhe fitore [Struggles and Victories] (cant., Uçi), Bar, male chorus, pf, 1964; Digjet zjarr e digjet flakë [Raged the Fire and Raged the Flames], ballad, male chorus, pf, 1966; Një tufë lule mbi varrin e dëshmoreve [A Bunch of Flowers on the Grave of the Nation's Martyrs] (cant., S. Kasapi), Mez, female chorus, pf (Tirana, 1966); O sa bukuri ka tufa [Oh How Fair is the Flock] (musical panorama, N. Frashëri), male chorus, pf, 1967; Nën hijene Tomorit [Under the Shadow of Mount Tomori] (folksong suite), female v, male v, mixed chorus, pf, 1971; Shqiponja e Labinotit [The Eagle of Labinot] (cant., L. Qafëzezi), solo vv, male chorus, 1973; Histori, ti hapi fletët [The Pages of History are Open to You] (trad.), 4-pt male chorus; Shkëlqe, o toka ime [Bright Up, O my Country] (P. Tase), 4-pt male chorus

50 Songs for 1v, pf

GEORGE LEOTSAKOS