Physical Release: 21 November 2025
Digital Release: 28 November 2025
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| Composer(s) | Daniele Venturi, Ellen Lindquist, Frédéric Chopin, Gabrio Taglietti, Giuseppe Mario Finocchiaro, Herman Beeftink, Katia Tiutiunnik, Renzo Paniccia, Rocío Cirugeda, Toru Takemitsu, Wilhelm Popp |
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This recording originates from a long artistic, personal, and cultural journey that began in my homeland, the Republic of San Marino, and has since carried me, together with my flutes, to many parts of the world. Its title, Armonies, is a playful anagram that entwines the name of San Marino with my own surname and that of my beloved teacher Annamaria Morini (1950–2016); at the same time, it recalls the very harmonies of sound, those universal symbols of beauty, peace, and intercultural dialogue that transcend borders and epochs.
The instruments employed—the C flute, the alto flute, and the bass flute—serve here as companions in this journey, opening pathways across compositional styles, sonic languages, and artistic visions. Far from being confined to the traditional repertoire, they become voices of experimentation, memory, and renewal, instruments through which composers have sought to embody narratives, landscapes, and emotions.
Renzo Paniccia’s S’ode ancora il mare (1992), recorded here for the first time, is emblematic in this regard. Inspired by the poetry of Salvatore Quasimodo and dedicated to Annamaria Morini, the work is conceived for both C and alto flute. Its sonorities, shaped by breath-infused sounds, flutter tonguing, harmonics, trills, tremolos, key clicks, and slap tonguing, are structured to evoke the waves of the sea—a metaphor for the ebb and flow of human existence and for the inner voice that resounds in silence.
No less evocative is Mon (2024), dedicated to Monica Moroni, written by Daniele Venturi, after a long period of illness. Here the solo flute narrates a delicate awakening, a rebirth symbolised by semi-closed embouchures, vibrato inflections, oscillations of the instrument’s body, whistle tones, glissandi, and vocal-like timbres. What emerges is music that moves between fragility and resilience, embodying both the intimacy of convalescence and the promise of dawn.
The dialogue between voice and instrument is taken to its limits in Nakoda (2002) by Ellen Lindquist. Written for alto flute, the work recalls the tragic fate of Nakoda, an alpha female wolf legally killed in Canada. Through boccola glissandi, breath sounds within the embouchure, slap tonguing, and whistle tones, the piece dramatizes the pursuit, the howl, and the end—a lament dedicated to the cause of predator conservation.
The theatrical dimension of sound is equally central to Toru Takemitsu’s Voce (1971), for C flute. Here the flutist speaks directly into the instrument—“Qui va là? Qui que tu sois, parle, transparence!”—transforming language itself into resonance. Combined with flutter and double tonguing, whistle tones, harmonics, and wide dynamic variation, this becomes a meditation on the porous boundaries between voice, breath, and instrument.
In sharp contrast stands Gabrio Taglietti’s Canzoni delle libellule elettriche (1988), a playful and ironic dance where tremolos, glissandi, trills, flutter tonguing, and whispered breath animate an oneiric world of dragonflies. Their fragile wings become sonic images of suspended, imaginary landscapes, full of shimmering contrasts and dreamlike suggestions.
Placed alongside these contemporary explorations are works that link past and present in surprising ways. Herman Beeftink’s Celtic Suite No. 2 (2015), with its sequence of Adagio – Moderato – Andante scherzando – Allegro animato, is inspired by Celtic modality and rhythm, combining meditative breadth with lively vitality. Rocío Cirugeda’s Melodia Sentimental (2023), for bass flute, is a deeply personal tribute to the composer’s late mother: the instrument’s warm resonance conveys nostalgia, intimacy, and luminous simplicity. Giuseppe Mario Finocchiaro’s Anime (2024, world premiere), for alto flute, sets two souls in motion, their voices intertwining in poetic flight before merging into a single suspended song.
The Romantic legacy is reimagined in Fryderyk Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2, here in a recent transcription (2024) by Elzabieta Podolak for bass flute. What is familiar to the ear becomes transfigured: the nocturne’s lyricism acquires unexpected weight and depth in the instrument’s darker register. A similar act of re-voicing occurs with Wilhelm Popp’s Russisches Zigeunerlied Op. 462 No. 2 (1896), adapted for solo flute from a celebrated Gypsy song, blending nostalgia with dramatic impulse.
Katia Tiutiunnik’s A Friend in the East (2025, world premiere), for solo flute, closes the circle in a spirit of intercultural dialogue. Dedicated to Monica Moroni, it celebrates the friendship between San Marino and China. Its modal inflections and meditative lines embody music as a meeting point between cultures, echoing the overarching theme of Armonies.
Together these works form not a mere succession of pieces but a coherent itinerary through sound. They reveal the flute as an instrument capable of extraordinary versatility: capable of embodying the sea’s immensity, the fragility of dragonflies, the howl of a wolf, the intimacy of grief, and the joy of rebirth. They invite the listener to recognise in music not only virtuosity, but also testimony—an art of memory, transformation, and dialogue.
Questa registrazione nasce da un lungo percorso artistico, personale e culturale iniziato nella mia terra d’origine, la Repubblica di San Marino, e che da allora mi ha condotta, insieme ai miei flauti, in molte parti del mondo. Il titolo, Armonies, è un anagramma giocoso che intreccia il nome di San Marino con il mio cognome e quello della mia amata maestra Annamaria Morini (1950–2016); al tempo stesso richiama le stesse armonie del suono, simboli universali di bellezza, pace e dialogo interculturale che trascendono confini ed epoche.
Gli strumenti impiegati — il flauto in do, il flauto contralto e il flauto basso — fungono qui da compagni di viaggio, aprendo varchi attraverso stili compositivi, linguaggi sonori e visioni artistiche. Lungi dall’essere confinati al repertorio tradizionale, diventano voci di sperimentazione, memoria e rinnovamento, strumenti attraverso i quali i compositori hanno cercato di incarnare narrazioni, paesaggi ed emozioni.
S’ode ancora il mare (1992) di Renzo Paniccia, qui registrato per la prima volta, è emblematico in tal senso. Ispirato alla poesia di Salvatore Quasimodo e dedicato ad Annamaria Morini, il brano è concepito per flauto in do e per flauto contralto. Le sue sonorità — modellate da suoni intrisi di respiro, frullato di lingua, armonici, trilli, tremoli, colpi di chiave e slap tongue (schiocco di lingua) — sono strutturate per evocare le onde del mare: metafora del flusso e riflusso dell’esistenza umana e della voce interiore che risuona nel silenzio.
Non meno evocativo è Mon (2024), dedicato a Monica Moroni e scritto da Daniele Venturi dopo un lungo periodo di malattia. Qui il flauto solo narra un delicato risveglio, una rinascita simboleggiata da imboccature semi-chiuse, inflessioni di vibrato, oscillazioni del corpo dello strumento, whistle tones (suoni fischiati), glissandi e timbri di natura vocale. Ne scaturisce una musica che si muove tra fragilità e resilienza, incarnando insieme l’intimità della convalescenza e la promessa dell’alba.
Il dialogo fra voce e strumento è portato ai suoi limiti in Nakoda (2002) di Ellen Lindquist. Scritto per flauto contralto, il brano rievoca la sorte tragica di Nakoda, lupa alfa uccisa legalmente in Canada. Attraverso glissandi d’imboccatura, suoni di respiro all’interno dell’imboccatura, slap tongue e whistle tones, il pezzo teatralizza l’inseguimento, l’ululato e la fine — un lamento dedicato alla causa della tutela dei predatori.
La dimensione teatrale del suono è altrettanto centrale in Voce (1971) di Tōru Takemitsu, per flauto in do. Qui la flautista parla direttamente dentro lo strumento — «Qui va là? Qui que tu sois, parle, transparence!» — trasformando il linguaggio stesso in risonanza. In combinazione con frullato e doppia articolazione, whistle tones, armonici e ampie escursioni dinamiche, ne nasce una meditazione sui confini porosi tra voce, respiro e strumento.
In netto contrasto si collocano le Canzoni delle libellule elettriche (1988) di Gabrio Taglietti, danza ludica e ironica in cui tremoli, glissandi, trilli, frullato e respiro sussurrato animano un mondo onirico di libellule. Le loro fragili ali diventano immagini sonore di paesaggi sospesi e immaginari, colmi di contrasti scintillanti e suggestioni sognanti.
Accanto a queste esplorazioni contemporanee compaiono lavori che legano passato e presente in modi sorprendenti. La Celtic Suite n. 2 (2015) di Herman Beeftink, con la sequenza Adagio – Moderato – Andante scherzando – Allegro animato, si ispira alla modalità e alla ritmica celtiche, combinando ampiezza meditativa e vivace vitalità. Melodia Sentimental (2023) di Rocío Cirugeda, per flauto basso, è un tributo profondamente personale alla madre della compositrice: la calda risonanza dello strumento veicola nostalgia, intimità e luminosa semplicità. Anime (2024, prima assoluta) di Giuseppe Mario Finocchiaro, per flauto contralto, mette in moto due anime le cui voci s’intrecciano in volo poetico fino a confluire in un unico canto sospeso.
L’eredità romantica è reimmaginata nel Notturno op. 9 n. 2 di Fryderyk Chopin, qui in una recente trascrizione (2024) di Elzabieta Podolak per flauto basso. Ciò che è familiare all’orecchio viene trasfigurato: il lirismo del notturno acquisisce peso e profondità inattesi nel registro più scuro dello strumento. Un’analoga rilettura timbrica si riscontra in Russisches Zigeunerlied op. 462 n. 2 (1896) di Wilhelm Popp, adattato per flauto solo da un celebre canto zingaro, fondendo nostalgia e impeto drammatico.
A Friend in the East (2025, prima assoluta) di Katia Tiutiunnik, per flauto solo, chiude il cerchio in uno spirito di dialogo interculturale. Dedicato a Monica Moroni, celebra l’amicizia fra San Marino e la Cina. Le sue inflessioni modali e le linee meditative incarnano la musica quale punto d’incontro tra culture, in consonanza con il tema portante di Armonies.
Insieme, questi lavori non compongono una semplice successione di brani, ma un itinerario coerente attraverso il suono. Rivelano il flauto come strumento di straordinaria versatilità: capace d’incarnare l’immensità del mare, la fragilità delle libellule, l’ululato di un lupo, l’intimità del lutto e la gioia della rinascita. Invitano l’ascoltatore a riconoscere nella musica non soltanto la virtuosità, ma anche la testimonianza — un’arte della memoria, della trasformazione e del dialogo.
Monica Moroni
Born in Pesaro (Italy) and a citizen of the Republic of San Marino, she graduated in flute from the “G. Rossini” Conservatory in Pesaro and in Music Education. She specialised in Music Therapy (Assisi) and in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (Nice). She pursued advanced studies with Ancillotti, Lisi, Danesin, Vendramelli, Aisemberg and Mazzanti, and deepened her training—from Baroque to contemporary repertoire—with Maestro Morini.
She serves as Ambassador for San Marino to the NeoFlautArmonia – World Orchestra project at Maestro Leonardo Grittani’s “International Flute Academy”. She also acts as representative of the city of Beslan (North Ossetia) to the Republic of San Marino.
Her artistic mission is to present repertoire for concert flute in C, alto flute, bass flute and piccolo in original programmes, offering a distinctive and richly textured listening experience. She collaborates with various composers, including D. Venturi and Katia Tiutiunnik (Australian Music Centre). She has released the album Respiri Sacri with Donemus Composers’ Voice (The Hague), available on major streaming platforms.
She was awarded First Prize for “Contemporary Music” in Lamezia Terme and at the “Città di Stresa” International Chamber Music Competition. As a music therapist, she received the research award “The Perimeter of the Setting”, published in a specialist journal.
She is the author of articles for The Babel Flute (“The Magnificence of the Bass Flute”; “The Beauty of the Alto Flute”) and teaches masterclasses at the FALAUT Campus and the International Grittani Academy (2023–2024).
She has performed in Bosnia (Sarajevo), Russia (Saint Petersburg; North Ossetia, Beslan commemoration), China, the United States (Low Flutes Festival; Babel Flute Day), Transnistria, at the Kyrgyz Embassy and the Russian Embassy in Rome, as well as in various Italian cities and in the Republic of San Marino, including the 20th anniversary of the Beslan tragedy (2024). She appears both as a soloist and in ensembles, presenting all four flutes to international audiences.
Daniele Venturi was born in Porretta Terme (Bologna – Italy) in 1971. As a composer and choir director he is among the most established of his generation. He studied composition with Gérard Grisey, Giacomo Manzoni, Fabio Vacchi, Ivan Fedele and Luis de Pablo, and orchestral conducting with Piero Bellugi. He is the founder and director of “Coro Gaudium” (1992) (Italian folk songs) and “Arsarmonica Ensemble” (2006). Since 1987 he has done ethnomusicological research in the Bologna and Modena areas, finding interesting ideas for his original compositions. In 2000 he became the assistant director of Pier Paolo Scattolin’s “Choir Voices of Europe”, Bologna (European City of Culture).
He has to his credit numerous international composition prizes including: “Gino Contilli”, Messina 2003 (second prize ex-aequo, and honourable mention), “IAMIC”, Toronto 2009, (prize shared between the two Italian composers who participated), “JSCM”, Tokyo, 2010, (the only European finalist), “ISCM”, Belgium 2012, (only Italian composer selected), ISCM-WMD, Slovenia, 2015, (Italian selection SIMC), Soundscape, Maccagno, 2015, (composer in residence), ISCM-WMD, Sud Korea, 2016, (Italian selection SIMC), San Diego New Music, 2016, USA, (Italian composer selected), etc..
His works have been performed in Italy and abroad, and broadcast by several radio and television channels (“Rai Radio Tre”, “Radio Cemat”, “Concertzender Radio”, “Radio Klara”, “Radio France”, “Vatican Radio”, “RAI Italian Television”).He has received commissions from major organizations and concert seasons and his music has been performed in prestigious concert halls such as: Italy: Milan, “Royal Palace”, “Teatro Dal Verme”, “Aula Magna of the Università Bocconi”, Turin, “Gam”, “Lingotto Auditorium”, Genova,”Tursi Palace”, Padua, “Auditorium Altinate/San Gaetano”, Pescara, “Pescara Music Academy Auditorium”, Messina, “Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art” and abroad, Slovakia: “Church of St. Michael Archangel”, Bratislava-Cunovo. Belgium: “STUK Labozaal”, Leuven. Japan: “Bunka Kaikan Hall”, “Tokyo Opera City”, Tokyo. China: “Nie Er Concert Hall”, Chengdu. Thailand: “Chiang Mai Auditorium”. Canada: “Canadian Music Centre”, “Placebo Space”, Toronto, “McGill University”, “Tana Schulich Hall”, Montreal. USA, Columbia University, Auditorium of the Italian Academy, New York, St Botolph Building, Room 01 – New England Conservatory, Boston, EDT Concert Hall at the Haven, Charlottesville, Virginia, Concert Hall, The Arts at UMBC, Baltimora, The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, San Diego. Estonia, “Peetri Kogudus”, Tartu. Argentina: “Sala La Vidriera the Direcion General de Ensenanza Art”, Buenos Aires, “Institute Superior de Musica”, Santa Fe, Argentina “J. Alvarez Library”, Rosario. Uruguay: “Escuela Universitaria Music”, “Universidad de la Republica”, Montevideo. Azerbaijan: “Fund Zibal Az”, Baku, etc.
He has collaborated with international artists, performers and ensembles such as: Dacia Maraini, Germano Sartelli, Irvine Arditti, Garth Knox, Lisa Cella, Mark Menzies, Arne Deforce, Paola Perrucci, Pier Damiano Peretti, Luisa Sello, Takashi Aoyama, Tadayuki Kawahara, Solomiya Moroz, Liu Kai, Elizabeth Farnum, Dan Lippel, William Anderson, Jeremy Bass, Carlos Aguilar, “Pomus Ensemble” from “I Pomeriggi Musicali” – Milan, “Eclectica choir” – Bologna, “Interensemble” – Padova, “Cygnus Ensemble” – New York, “Noise Ensemble” – San Diego, “Le Centre Henri Pousseur” – Brussels, Maria Felix Korporal -Amsterdam, Istvan Horkay – Budapest, etc..
In September 2009, he issued his first Compact-Disc by Bongiovanni (Bologna) entitled “Quattro lembi di cielo” (Four sky pieces) consisting of 12 chamber works, with a preface by the wellknown Italian composer and teacher Giacomo Manzoni, and programme notes by Sandro Cappelletto.
In 2010 he taught Choral Conducting and Choral Composition at the “F.Venezze” Conservatoire – Rovigo, Italy.
In march of 2013 he has been invited by the “Electronic Music department” of the “SCCM Conservatory” (Chengdu, China) to give a series of lectures on his music.
In July 2013 he was commissioned by the “Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music” of Washington and the “ISCM Mid-Atlantic” the composition “Alla luna” for soprano, mandolin and guitar on text by Giacomo Leopardi.
In the summer of 2013, the Association “Musica/Realtà” – Milan has commissioned the piece “NOGI” for three pianos, a tribute to Luigi Nono.
Among his most recent compositions are included “Achernar” (2014) for piano and orchestra, written at the request of the Venezuelan pianist and composer Marianela Arocha, former president of “SVMC” (“Sociedad Venezolana de Música Contemporánea”), “Aden” (2015) for strings chamber orchestra, written for the “Amadeus Chamber Orchestra” of the “Polish-Radio” directed by Agnieszka Duczmal, and “Nibiru” (2015) for marimba and electronics, piece written at the request of the French percussionist Laurent Mariusse, and will be performed as a world première in autumn 2016 in Argentina.
He has recently completed the compositions: “Circus sounds” (2016) for solo flute, dedicated to American flutist Lisa Cella, “Studio sulla lontananza” (2011-2016) for piano, and “11 Haiku” (2016) for coloratura soprano and piano, dedicated to French pianist Pascale Berthelot.
In May 2016 Daniele Venturi he was appointed Director responsible of Artistic Committee “AERCO” (“Associazione Emiliano-Romagnola Cori”) which is part of “Feniarco” (“National Federation of Italian Regional Choral Associations”).
His compositions have been published by “M.A.P.”, “Rugginenti”, “Sconfinarte”, “Taukay”, “Isuku” and “Da Vinci” Editions.
From the 1st of September 2013 his artistic activity is followed by the “Brennecke-Art Management” in Vienna.
Frédéric Chopin: (b Żelazowa Wola, nr Warsaw, 1 March 1810; d Paris, 17 Oct 1849). Polish composer and pianist. He combined a gift for melody, an adventurous harmonic sense, an intuitive and inventive understanding of formal design and a brilliant piano technique in composing a major corpus of piano music. One of the leading 19th-century composers who began a career as a pianist, he abandoned concert life early; but his music represents the quintessence of the Romantic piano tradition and embodies more fully than any other composer’s the expressive and technical characteristics of the instrument.
Toru Takemitsu
(b Tokyo, 8 Oct 1930; d Tokyo, 20 Feb 1996). Japanese composer. A month after his birth he was taken to China, where his father was working. In 1938 he returned to Japan to attend elementary school, but his formal education was interrupted by conscription in 1944. It was during his military service that he had his first encounter with Western music, which had been banned in Japan during the war; a military officer played a gramophone recording of the French chanson Parlez-moi d'amour to him and a group of fellow-conscripts. The song left a deep impression, and when, after the war, Takemitsu was employed at an American military base, he took the opportunity to listen to a good deal of Western music on the radio network set up for the US armed forces. At the age of 16 he decided, notwithstanding his lack of musical training, to take up composition. He received intermittent instruction with Kiyose from 1948, but was otherwise essentially self-taught.
Early on he identified Debussy as a mentor, and his fellow-composer Ichiyanagi introduced him to the music of Messiaen. Messiaen's influence is already apparent in Takemitsu's first performed work, Lento in due movimenti (1950) for piano, which was given at the seventh concert of the New Group of Composers, headed by Kiyose. The work already embodied what would became characteristic elements of Takemitsu's musical language – modal melodies emerging from a chromatic background, the suspension of regular metre and an acute sensitivity to register and timbre. The première was received rather coldly, but there were two enthusiastic supporters in the audience, Yuasa and Akiyama, who were to remain his friends. In 1951, together with other musicians and artists, the three founded a new group, the Jikken Kōbō (Experimental Workshop), for collaboration on mixed media projects. For this association Takemitsu composed Saegirarenai kyūsoku I (‘Uninterrupted Rest I’, 1952) for piano, written in irregular rhythm without barlines, and the Chamber Concerto (1955) for 13 wind instruments. He then turned to electronic music in Relief statique (1955) and Vocalism A·I (1956); the latter uses only the phonemes ‘a’ and ‘i’ (‘ai’ being the Japanese for ‘love’) pronounced in various ways by two actors. Material is similarly restricted in Mizu no kyoku (‘Water Music’, 1960), formed exclusively from recorded water sounds. Many of Takemitsu's works from the early 1960s are characterized by textural fragmentation. In works such as Ring (1961) and Sacrifice (1962) non-sustaining instruments – such as terz guitar, lute and vibraphone – predominate, and the texture is pointillistic, featuring pizzicato, harmonics and wide intervals.
13.76€
