Giovanni Damiani: Chamber Works
12.90€
- Artist(s): Flavio Virzì, Gaetano Costa, Giovanni Damiani, Joo Cho, Luca Ghidini, Marco Angius, Marco Salvaggio, Marino Nahon, Prometeo ensemble, Zephir ensemble
- Composer(s): Giovanni Damiani
- EAN Code: 7.46160914282
- Edition: Da Vinci Classics
- Format: 1 Cd
- Genre: Chamber
- Instrumentation: Bass Flute, Celesta, Cello, Clarinet, Demijohns, Double-Bass, English Horn, Flute, Guitar, Harpsichord, Horn, Percussion, Piano, Saxophone, Soprano, Viola, Violin
- Period: Contemporary
- Publication year: 2022
Additional information
| Artist(s) | Flavio Virzì, Gaetano Costa, Giovanni Damiani, Joo Cho, Luca Ghidini, Marco Angius, Marco Salvaggio, Marino Nahon, Prometeo ensemble, Zephir ensemble |
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| Composer(s) | |
| EAN Code | |
| Edition | |
| Format | |
| Genre | |
| Instrumentation | Bass Flute, Celesta, Cello, Clarinet, Demijohns, Double-Bass, English Horn, Flute, Guitar, Harpsichord, Horn, Percussion, Piano, Saxophone, Soprano, Viola, Violin |
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Description
The title Tramuta. Riaffiora: refers to an ancient, almost ritual work typical of the Sicilian lands, called tramuta del vino (i.e. the pouring of young wine into a new barrel), each stage of which was accompanied by the strophes of a melos reconstructed by P. E. Carapezza. The composition is dedicated to him. This melos (see Ex. 1) slowly resurfaces here: over the sounds of a slow pouring between demijohns; moreover a very detailed notation evokes the spectrum of five odd harmonics, in their natural intonation, but systematically permuted in their position. (For instance, the twelfth can be the lowest, or also the highest interval, as in the inverted harmonics, or in any intermediate position).
The same harmonic-scalar structure is further explored in the duo Doni fra un risveglio. Here, both the harpsichord and the clarinet (whose very sound is formed by odd harmonics) have been re-tuned on this scale of 15 sounds and 24 aggregates. Both instruments weave, with just this material, a thick net of lines and spectra. The underlying structure is that of an Archimedean solid, a truncated octahedron. The entire work is indebted to several kinds of expressionism, and is also the interpretation of complete and expressive itineraries on the 24 vertexes of that solid.
In Arco di ogni scelta all the musical materials are generated through Pascal’s triangle. In it, the unity generates a series of numbers, where every “child” value equals the sum of the two numbers of the preceding generation. Such a triangle is found almost everywhere in arithmetic, algebra, combinatorics math. Analysed by both Tartaglia and Pascal, it is actually found in the studies of Indian and Chinese mathematicians since the eleventh century. I cited Pascal not only for the sake of following a trend, but because I hope this can lead his esprit de géometrie to converge with his esprit de finesse. Here I wished to explore the generative potential of that Triangle, applying it to the rhythmical values, to the chromatic scale, and to natural intervals and their density. For example, every harmonic aggregate generates another with a range twice the former. Moreover the same algorithm allows them to be arranged in an arc that goes from the complete aggregate to all its subgroups, up to single sound (melodic interpretation) and to no sound (silence; a Pirandellian mask in this multiplication of identities?). If the individual sounds of the aggregate are assigned to different instruments, the algorithm becomes a generator of all possible instrumental combinations. Furthermore, in the finale I use what in combinatorics are called ‘compositions’ (the complete ways of breaking down a number into addends) to create micro-compositions that weave an intense clear rhythmic and chromatic work on a given range, with the least possible polarization: as a noise created with determined discrete elements.
Quanto vivi, splendi is the text found on the funereal stele of Seikilos, where one of the very scanty finds of Classical Greek music is engraved. Most of the sounds played here are double, obtained on the guitar with the tapping technique: by hitting the string, the finger produces two pitches. The principal one is amplified by the sound box, whilst the other, a residual one, is located by the fingerboard. The relations between these pitches constitute a compositional etude. My intention, here as everywhere, is to create a mental map, receptive to symmetries, in an attitude entrusted to intelligence and reflection rather to the unnecessary multiplication of gestures. At times the ancient Epitaph of Seikilos resurfaces, “The thematic cell is buried as the seed in a fertile ground, and is merely intuited; but, dying in this way, it gives life to a grandiose development, almost to an aural oak”. (Paolo Emilio Carapezza, from Sicilo dopo duemila anni).
This anthology of musical works closes with two pieces on the magic squares; they can be defined as dense poems of sounds. In a chosen range, each sound is used only once, every “line” can be read also vertically (i.e. harmonically), and their sum is a constant value (in the rhythmic or interval domain). This is a studied balance, with a magical effect. Webern cited the famous Latin textual square Sator Arepo, for its very powerful analogy with the twelve-tone composition. Here this analogy is further explored, and is extended to chromatic regions of 4×4=16 notes, and to analogous blocks of rhythmic values.
The title of the instrumental Trio Melancolia generosa refers to Dürer’s famous etching Melencolia I (1514), which is reproduced here in the detail where one of the forms of the above-mentioned magic square is depicted (see Ex. 3).
In spite of the disciplines’ affinity, many of the generic mathematical properties have no musical relevance. Conversely, however, there are properties I discovered in these squares and that I did not find even in bulky monographs (such as Andrews’ Magic Squares and Cubes). For instance, every number of the square is used to define at what sound to stop in the same sequence of 16 sounds; I thus generate a truly cruel mechanism, in which this sequence tries to expand, but this growth is frustrated and interrupted 16 times in as many different lengths and pitches, and the breakpoints are nothing but the same series…
If one wished to bring these mechanisms into vocal composition, what lyrics could be more fitting than the ones by Bruno Munari which I recalled from my childhood, and which introduced his surreal Macchine? Macchina per salutare l’aurora was requested to me by the indefatigable Luigi Pestalozza, whose sudden death did not allow him to hear the festival he had organized; it is dedicated to his memory.
Here are the values of the square (see Ex. 2), which anyone can have fun in disassembling and employ them as they best see fit.
Magic squares may be reminiscent of riddles or of poetic acrostics. In order to give an idea of this multi-dimensional form, at the beginning of each new verse the pianist intones a syllable of the first line, as an acrostical spelling which reassembles the latter along the entire piece. At a specific point, in order to give an aural idea of the manifold contemporaneous relations of this square, both performers are requested to sing and play in a thick counterpoint, producing a funny quartet almost for non-professionals!
The last of the scrupulous instructions for professionals, instead, is: “those who read this can simply forget it all.“ Enjoy your listening!
Giovanni Damiani © 2022
Translation: Chiara Bertoglio
Artist(s)
Giovanni Damiani
The first complete compositions of Giovanni Damiani were written in 1982, and were realised by himself on magnetic tape. Among others, he studied with Aldo Clementi in Rome, and attended courses by Nono, Bussotti, Lachenmann and seminars of Stockhausen. In 1990 F. Pennisi invites him at the Festival of Nuova Consonanza as pupil. At the fourth Conferenza Mediterranea he represented the italian composers among 12 countries and 12 composers. He works often with Virgilio Sieni, one of the greatest italian choreographers for custom new productions with live performances. In ‘98 his drama Salve follie precise is performed for the Teatro Massimo of Palermo with an ensemble surrounding the listener. Also often performed is Matrice organon, a sui generis concertante symphony for synthesizer and full orchestra. Invited with a commission at the Darmstadter Ferienkurse 1994; Degree in piano in ‘90; Bachelors of Arts in ’92, from 1994 he is chair of Score Reading at the Conservatorio of Palermo, and organises masterclasses as these with E.Torquati and M.Angius. He organises regulary as teacher and pianist meetings with worldl premieres of new generations as well as decouvertes of treasures of Lybrary of Conservatorio of Palermo (e.g. Raimondi, Pasculli, Incardona, Soriano).
His works, more than eighty and of remarkable engagement, have been performed at the festivals of Traiettorie, Nuova Consonanza, Di Nuovo Musica, Ferienkurse of Darmstadt, Warsaw Autumn, SIMC, and in New York, Buenos Aires, Paris, Wien, Saint Petersburg, Basel, Amsterdam, by musicians such as Angius, Brand, Anna Clementi, Coladonato, Damerini, Dillon, Fabbriciani, Filidei, Formenti, Mondelci, Orvieto, Pizzo, Morini, Porta, Scotese, Zurria. Many of his compositions are published and recorded on CD or multichannel DVD; many dissertation on his music, amongst Autobiography of the musics (L’Epos), a monography with essays, scores and CD.
Born in Seoul, Joo Cho graduated at the “Verdi” Conservatory in Milan and she continued her studies with Peter Schreier and Helmut Deutsch. She has won several International competitions: among them, the “Giulio Neri” Singing Competition in Torrita di Siena (Italy) and the “Haverhill Sinfonia Soloist Competition” (UK). She has performed operas, oratorios and sacred music in venues such as: Opera House in Seoul, Tiroler Festspiele Erl, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Teatro Comunale in Modena, Auditorium della Conciliazione in Rome, Teatro degli Arcimboldi in Milan, Sala Verdi at the Milan Conservatory, Teatro Sociale in Rovigo, Milan Cathedral, Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Messina, Teatro Regio in Parma. She has sung under Gustav Kuhn, Donato Renzetti, Flavio Emilio Scogna, Romano Gandolfi, John Anderson, Christopher Fifield, Carlo Frajese. Among her performances: La Traviata by Verdi, La Bohème by Puccini, Così fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte by Mozart, Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal by Wagner, Messa da Requiem by Verdi, Exsultate, jubilate by Mozart, 4th Symphony by Mahler, Requiem by Mozart, Les Illuminations by Britten, Betulia liberata by Mozart, Stabat mater by Rossini, Mirjams Siegesgesang by Schubert.
Joo Cho is very interested in Lied repertoire and she has sung Lied Concerts in Palacio Marqués de Salamanca in Madrid, Musée Debussy in Paris, Musée Würth in Strasbourg, Festival MiTo in Milan, Salone del Conservatorio in Turin, Großer Saal der Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, Charterhouse in Godalming, Hayward Theatre in Ely, Sala della musica in Lugano, Museum of Art National University in Seoul. She has often sung twentieth century and contemporary music: she performed world premieres by Giacomo Manzoni, Adriano Guarnieri, Vladimir Rannev, Luca Francesconi, Yotam Haber, Stefano Gervasoni, Alessandro Solbiati, Nicola Sani and many others. She sang the posthumous world premiere of Sette by Niccolò Castiglioni (Passionspielhaus in Erl, under Tito Ceccherini) and the Japanese premiere of Il rumore del tempo by Manzoni (Suntory Hall in Tokyo, with members of the Ensemble Intercontemporain). In 2015 she performed La fabbrica illuminata by Luigi Nono in Milan (Musica/Realtà), on the 25th death anniversary of the composer.
She has recorded for labels Bongiovanni, Col legno, Limen, Classica Viva.
Italian pianist Marino Nahon graduated at the “Verdi” Conservatory in Milan; he continued his studies with Piero Rattalino, Michele Fedrigotti and Pietro Soraci, and he attended masterclasses with Paul Badura-Skoda, Dalton Baldwin, Bruno Canino, Phillip Moll, Antonio Ballista, Irwin Gage, Alexander Lonquich.
He has performed as a soloist, as a chamber musician and as a Lied accompanist in various concert halls in Italy (Turin: Sala 500 del Lingotto, Salone del Conservatorio; Rome: Sala Baldini, Villa Torlonia; Parma: Casa della Musica; Genoa: Palazzo Ducale; Orvieto: Teatro Mancinelli; Modena: GMI; Naples: Fondazione Humaniter; Venice: Palazzo Albrizzi; Alessandria: Auditorium Pittaluga; Milan: Sala Verdi and Sala Puccini of the Conservatory, Festival MiTo, Società dei Concerti, Milano Classica, Musica/Realtà), in France (Paris: “Atelier Concerts”, Musée Debussy; Aix-en-Provence: “Concerts d'Aix”; Nice: Auditorium Nucéra), in Switzerland (Geneva: Concerts d’été en Vieille-Ville), in UK (Stratford-upon-Avon: Shakespeare Institute; Godalming: Charterhouse; Ely: Hayward Theatre; Colchester: University of Essex), in USA (San Francisco: Italian Cultural Institute), in Japan (Kyoto: Fumin Hall ALTI; Kumagaya: Sakuramate Theatre), in South Korea (Seoul: Museum of Art National University), in Taiwan (Taipei: National Theatre), in Turkey (Ankara: Hacettepe University Concert Hall). In 2018 he gave a solo recital at the Museo Teatrale alla Scala in Milan, on the piano once owned by Franz Liszt.
He is also an active performer of twentieth century and contemporary music, and he played, in first performances, works by Vladimir Rannev, Yotam Haber, Adriano Guarnieri, Stefano Gervasoni, Dario Maggi, Osvaldo Coluccino, Corrado Rojac, Alessandra Ciccaglioni, Alessandro Melchiorre, Giovanni Damiani, Gabriele Cosmi, Rocco Abate, Luca Cori, Sonia Bo, Gabriele Manca, Giuliano Zosi, Nicola Sani and others.
He has studied composition with Bruno Zanolini at the Milan Conservatory and musicology with Emilio Sala at the Università degli studi of Milan, where he graduated: he is the author of several musicological essays, which appeared in magazines such as «Musica e Storia» and «Musicalia – Annuario internazionale di studi musicologici».
Prometeo ensemble
Giulio Francesconi, flute • Roberta Gottardi, clarinets
Benedetto Dallaglio, horn • Grazia Raimondi, violin • Gabriele Croci, viola
Claude Hauri, cello • Simone Beneventi, percussions • Ciro Longobardi, piano
Conductor: Marco Angius
Antonello Lo Presti, demijohns • Eva Geraci, bass flute
Salvatore Ferraro, english horn • Marco Salvaggio, clarinet in A
Gaetano Costa, soprano saxophone • Giuseppe Brunetto, viola
Fulvia Ricevuto, percussion • Adalgisa Badano, piano
Conductor: Giovanni Damiani
Composer(s)
Giovanni Damiani
The first complete compositions of Giovanni Damiani were written in 1982, and were realised by himself on magnetic tape. Among others, he studied with Aldo Clementi in Rome, and attended courses by Nono, Bussotti, Lachenmann and seminars of Stockhausen. In 1990 F. Pennisi invites him at the Festival of Nuova Consonanza as pupil. At the fourth Conferenza Mediterranea he represented the italian composers among 12 countries and 12 composers. He works often with Virgilio Sieni, one of the greatest italian choreographers for custom new productions with live performances. In ‘98 his drama Salve follie precise is performed for the Teatro Massimo of Palermo with an ensemble surrounding the listener. Also often performed is Matrice organon, a sui generis concertante symphony for synthesizer and full orchestra. Invited with a commission at the Darmstadter Ferienkurse 1994; Degree in piano in ‘90; Bachelors of Arts in ’92, from 1994 he is chair of Score Reading at the Conservatorio of Palermo, and organises masterclasses as these with E.Torquati and M.Angius. He organises regulary as teacher and pianist meetings with worldl premieres of new generations as well as decouvertes of treasures of Lybrary of Conservatorio of Palermo (e.g. Raimondi, Pasculli, Incardona, Soriano).
His works, more than eighty and of remarkable engagement, have been performed at the festivals of Traiettorie, Nuova Consonanza, Di Nuovo Musica, Ferienkurse of Darmstadt, Warsaw Autumn, SIMC, and in New York, Buenos Aires, Paris, Wien, Saint Petersburg, Basel, Amsterdam, by musicians such as Angius, Brand, Anna Clementi, Coladonato, Damerini, Dillon, Fabbriciani, Filidei, Formenti, Mondelci, Orvieto, Pizzo, Morini, Porta, Scotese, Zurria. Many of his compositions are published and recorded on CD or multichannel DVD; many dissertation on his music, amongst Autobiography of the musics (L’Epos), a monography with essays, scores and CD.