From Verse to Voice to Silence: Giovanni Pascoli, Enrico Bossi, and the Pursuit of Lyric Drama

Abstract: Giovanni Pascoli’s ventures into lyric theatre, particularly with composer Marco Enrico Bossi, reveal his attempt to transcend poetry’s expressive limits through la parola fatta musica . Focusing on Bossi’s setting of ‘Il cieco’ and the unfinished Anno Mille , the article examines premieres, reviews, revivals, and the stalled collaborations with Enrico Bossi and his son Renzo Bossi. These projects expose tensions between poetic autonomy and musical authority, and they reflect broader fin de siècle debates over verismo , the hierarchy of word and music, and the constraints of interdisciplinary creation, highlighting Pascoli’s unfulfilled ambition to craft a modern Italian Literaturoper .