Contemporary Guitars Blog

Rhys Chatham

2010-03-01T14:38:00.002+01:00

Rhys Chatham: the sound of Gods
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Cd Reviews

- A Crimson Grail di Rhys Chatham, Table Of The Elements, 2007
- An Angel Moves Too Fast to See by Rhys Chatham
- Die Donnergötter by Rhys Chatham, Dossier Records, 1988
- Guitar Trio is my Life by Rhys Chatham, Table of Elements

Scott Johnson

2010-03-01T13:26:00.001+01:00

Biography

Discography

Compositions

Review of Cd "John Somebody, Tazadik

Interview with Empedocle70

Scott Johnson: Biography

2010-03-01T01:00:00.002+01:00

SCOTT JOHNSON (b. 1952)
Composer Scott Johnson has been a pioneering voice in the new relationship being forged between the classical tradition and the popular culture that surrounds it. Since the early 1980’s, he has played an influential role in the trend towards incorporating rock-derived instrumentation into traditionally scored compositions, and the use of taped, sampled and MIDI-controlled electronic elements within instrumental ensembles. His music has been heard in performances by the Kronos Quartet, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Bang On A Can All-Stars, and his own ensembles; in dance works performed by the Boston Ballet, the London Contemporary Dance Theater, the Ballets de Monte Carlo; and in Paul Schrader's film Patty Hearst. His music has appeared on the Nonesuch, CRI, Point, and Tzadik labels.
Trained in both music and visual arts at the University of Wisconsin, Johnson’s early experiments in combining prerecorded tape and electric instruments culminated in the groundbreaking John Somebody (1980-82), in which the pitches and rhythms of recorded speech became the source material for an instrumental score; a technique which spread as digital sampling became common in the mid-1980's. Other efforts in this field include How It Happens, a major work based on the voice of the late journalist I. F. Stone, as well as Convertible Debts, The Value of People and Things, and Americans, all of which combine voice sampling with electro-acoustic ensembles.
Johnson's scores make extensive use of musical materials and sounds drawn from the American vernacular, and he has premiered most of his electric guitar writing himself. He has appeared at festivals, concert halls, and art museums throughout Europe and North America: first with self-performed compositions for solo electric guitar, tape, and electronics; later with an octet modeled on the American big band and rock traditions; followed by an electric quartet of violin, cello, electric guitar, and piano/synthesizer (released on the Point CD, Rock/Paper/Scissors). New York City concert venues for Mr. Johnson's ensembles have included Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, the Knitting Factory, and The Kitchen.
Johnson's commissioned works include Stalking Horse for the American Composer’s Orchestra, Bowery Haunt for the Cygnus Ensemble, The Pietist and The Hedonist for the New Millennium Ensemble (commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation), The Illusion of Guidance for the Bang On A Can All-Stars, How It Happens and Bird in the Domes for the Kronos Quartet; I Am New York City for soprano Dora Ohrenstein (premiered by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra), the score for Paul Schrader's film Patty Hearst, and Before Winter, recorded for the Boston Ballet by Mr. Johnson's own ensemble. He is the recipient of a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship, a Koussevitsky award, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and four grants from the New York State Council on the Arts; as well as grants and commission support from Lincoln Center, the Meet The Composer/Reader’s Digest Commissioning fund, the Jerome Foundation, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Concert Artists Guild, and the Mary Flagler Cary Trust.
Johnson’s recent concert appearances include Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Japan Society, the Lincoln Center Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival, Yale University, the Schleswig-Holstien Festival, a chamber concert with members of the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s “Great Day In New York” series. Other recent premieres include performances by the Bang On A Can All-Stars at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, and Sentieri Selvaggi at Teatro Dell’Elfo in Milan. Johnson has also published articles and essays on contemporary music, one of which is included in Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin’s “Music In The Western World.” He has lectured on his music and ideas at leading conservatories and universities, including San Francisco and Peabody Conservatories, Senzaku Ongaku Daigaku, New York University, The Manhattan School of Music, and Yale.

Website: http://scottjohnsoncomposer.com/

HOW2 feat. PEZ, RIND Vol. II

2010-02-28T17:18:00.001+01:00

Eine Sound-Performance für drei Rinder-Häute, eine Riesen Pferdehaut-Container-Trommel, Metall, drei Schlagzeuger und Elektronik
Eine Gemeinschaftskonzeption und -Komposition von HOW2 und PEZ
Daniel Buess: Schlagzeug/ElektronikDaniel Stalder: Schlagzeug/ElektronikPeter Conradin Zumthor: Schlagzeug/Elektronik

Donnerstag, 4.März 2010: Basel, Bar du Nord, 21.00

UhrSamstag, 6.März 2010: Luzern, Sedel, 22.00 Uhr/w EVEREST (BE-CITY)

Samstag, 27.März 2010: Chur, Stadttheater, 20.00 Uhr

Donnerstag, 1.Juli 2010: Bern, Dampfzentrale, 20.00 Uhr/w Antoine Chessex DUST"

Website DanielBuess/HOW2
Gare du Nord Basel
Dampfzentrale Bern
Theater Chur
SedelLuzern

Marco Cappelli live 25 febbrary in New York

2010-02-24T16:46:00.001+01:00

White Box Gallery
329 Broome Street (Bowery and Chrystie St)
Thursday, February 25th
7:30pm $15

Marco Cappelli - solo guitar

For the occasion I'll go back to my roots playing two " classics" of the contemporary guitar repertoire. Drei Tentos by Hans Werner Henze and Sonata op. 47 by Alberto Ginastera, will be followed by a choice from the celebrated EGP (Extreme Guitar Proejct http://www.moderecords.com/catalog/157cappelli.html): Bird Chant by Ikue Mori , Marked by a Hat by Anne Gosfield and Amygdala by Elliott Sharp, recently edited by Peters Editions (http://www.edition-peters.com/article.php?inno=IN00114§ion=).

Elliott Sharp & Andrea Centazzo - guitar and percussion duo

Marco Cappelli: A classically-trained Neapolitan virtuoso, Cappelli is now a New Yorker who has delved into a fascinating array of collaborations (Anthony Coleman, Michel Godard, Butch Morris, Mauro Pagani, Franco Piersanti, Jim Pugliese, Enrico Rava, Marc Ribot, Adam Rudolph, Elliott Sharp, Giovanni Sollima, Markus Stockhausen, Cristina Zavalloni and more) and is invited regularly as guest in important classical and contemporary music series (Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Associazione A. Scarlatti di Napoli, Ravenna Festival, Festival Traiettorie di Parma, Cinque passi nel '900 al Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Guggenheim Museum in New York, Italian Academy at Columbia University New York, Salzburg Festival, Ruhr Triennale...) as well in jazz and avantgarde music festivals (Saalfelden Jazz Festival - Austria, Pomigliano Jazz - Italy, Grim in Marseille - France, Barnsdall Theatre in Los Angeles, OutPut Festival in Amsterdam) both as a soloist and in ensemble settings. http://www.marcocappelli.com/

Andrea Centazzo: An Italian-born American percussionist and composer, in more than 30 years' career, Centazzo has crossed music genres and artistic expression forms, starting as jazz percussionist and improviser to become later a contemporary composer, a visual artist, a film and theater director and a multimedia artist. His discography includes over 150 LPs, CDs, and DVDs, almost all recorded for ICTUS RECORDS, his own label, founded in 1976 and still active after its 2006 rebirth in California. He has performed and recorded with Don Cherry, Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, John Zorn, Henry Kaiser, Enrico Rava, Tom Cora, Theo J^ rgensmann, Alvin Curran, Lol Coxhill, and others. Most of those musicians were involved in his Mitteleuropa Orchestra, a seminal 16-piece big band active between 1980 and 1983 in Europe. His most famous opera, TINA (1996), was inspired by the life and art of Tina Modotti. Two more operas followed, Memento in 2000 and Simultas in 2001. http://www.andreacentazzo.com/

Elliott Sharp: Sharp is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer and central figure in the avant-garde music scene in New York City for over thirty years. He leads the projects Carbon and Orchestra Carbon, Tectonics, and Terraplane and has pioneered ways of applying fractal geometry, chaos theory, and genetic metaphors to musical composition and interaction. His collaborators include Ensemble Modern; Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; Radio-Symphony of Frankfurt; pop singer Debbie Harry, computer artist Perry Hoberman; blues legends Hubert Sumlin and Pops Staples; jazz greats Jack deJohnette, Sonny Sharrock, Arthur Blythe, Oliver Lake, and Billy Hart; turntable innovator Christian Marclay; and Bachir Attar, leader of the Master Musicians Of Jahjouka from Morocco. Sharp's work was featured in the 2008 New Music Stockholm festival with the premiere of "Sidebands" and at the Hessischer Rundfunk Klangbiennale in May 2007 with the premiere of his orchestral work "On Corlear's Hook". The documentary film about Sharp's work by Bert Shapiro, "Doing The Don't", has just been released on DVD and screened at international film festivals. http://www.elliottsharp.com Tour diaries and other writings:
http://www.repple.se/datacide/writings.html

Contact: Susie Lim - susie@whiteboxny.org
Telephone: 212-714-2347

http://www.whiteboxny.org/

Soloduo - Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli: Biography

2010-02-08T01:10:00.001+01:00

Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli first met in 2000. Since then, they have shared a number of ideas, musical projects, and travels all over the world. In 2002 they formed a duo that has already performed throughout Europe, Asia, the US, Canada and Latin America, and has been acclaimed everywhere – from New York’s Carnegie Hall to Vienna’s Konzerthaus – as one of the best ensembles ever heard. About one of their performances, The Washington Post wrote: “Extraordinarily sensitive, with effortless command and an almost unbearable delicacy of touch, the duo’s playing was nothing less than rapturous – profound and unforgettable musicianship of the highest order.”
In addition to classic, romantic and modern repertoire, Matteo and Lorenzo – joined by lutenist Massimo Lonardi – enjoy exploring the early literature for baroque guitar and theorbo. Together, Matteo and Lorenzo have recorded François de Fossa’s Three Quartets, op. 19 (Stradivarius 2004), a CD of 17th century Italian music for baroque guitar, archlute and theorbo (La Suave Melodia, Stradivarius 2008), Solaria, an anthology of 20th century masterpieces for two guitars (Pomegranate 2007), the Duos Concertants by Antoine De Lhoyer (Naxos 2007), a collection of chamber works by Mauro Giuliani (Amadeus 2008), a collection of 19th century pieces for two guitars (Noesis, Pomegranate 2009), the Sonatas of Ferdinand Rebay (Stradivarius 2010) as well as a dozen solo recordings on the labels Naxos, Brilliant Records, Kookaburra, Mel Bay, and Stradivarius.

For further information, please visit:

http://www.soloduo.it/

http://www.matteomela.it/

http://www.lorenzomicheli.com/

http://www.lonardimelamicheli.com/.

“SoloDuo's Carnegie Hall concert was one of the more memorable concerts of the Weill season. It is hard to say what left more of an impression: their remarkable blend, their sublime artistry or their impeccable technique. Do not miss a chance to hear them.”
The New York Concert Review

Lorenzo Micheli e Matteo Mela in Concert in 2010

2010-01-30T19:11:00.002+01:00

6/2/2010Aosta, Italia, Hotel des Etats
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

20-25/2/2010
Calgary (Alberta), Canada, Mount Royal University
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

26/2/2010
Portland (Oregon), USA, Portland Classic Guitar
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

28/2/2010
Columbus (Georgia), USA, Columbus State University
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

12/3/2010
Pont Saint Martin, Italia, Biblioteca comunale
Lorenzo Micheli & Nino Tagliareni, "Platero y yo"

14/3/2010
Ravenna, Italia, Ridotto del Teatro Alighieri
Lorenzo Micheli & Nino Tagliareni, "Platero y yo"

21/3/2010
Tucson (Arizona), USA, Tucson CGS
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

24/3/2010
Tempe (Arizona), USA, Katzin Hall- Arizona State University
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

26/3/2010
Flagstaff (Arizona), USA, Grand Canyon Guitar Society
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

27/3/2010
Minneapolis (Minnesota), USA, Sundin Hall
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

17/4/2010
Austin (Texas), USA
Lorenzo Micheli

24/4/2010
Bologna, Italia, Sala Mozart
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

13/5/2010
Hingene, Belgio, Cordefactum Festival
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

21/5/2010
Koblenz, Germania, Koblenz Guitar Festival
Lorenzo Micheli

5/6/2010 Aosta, Italia, Chiesa di S.OrsoLorenzo Micheli (tiorba, chitarra barocca) e Massimo Lonardi (arciliuto)

12-20/6/2010
Korea (Seoul, Gwanju) e Giappone (Tokyo)
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

26/6/2010
Cervo, Italia, Oratorio di S. Caterina
Renata Fusco (voce), Matteo Mela (chitarra barocca), Lorenzo Micheli (tiorba), Massimo Lonardi (arciliuto): musiche di Alessandro Scarlatti

9/7/2010
Mikulov, Repubblica Ceca
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

25/7/2010
Greenville (North Carolina), USA, East Carolina University
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

31/7/2010
Fort Worth (Texas), USA, The Modern Museum of Fort Worth
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

9/12/2010
Genève, Svizzera, Théatre Les Salons
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

12/12/2010
Monforte d'Alba, Italia
Matteo Mela & Lorenzo Micheli

Juan Trigos: Concerto N°2 per chitarra Hispano

2010-01-27T16:19:00.002+01:00

For informations and buying: info@promomusicainternational.com

Juan Trigos: Partita per Chitarra Sola

2010-01-26T14:10:00.003+01:00

For informations or buying: info@promomusicainternational.com

Juan Trigos: Concerto N°1 per chitarra Ricercare VI

2010-01-25T13:06:00.002+01:00

For information of buying: info@promomusicainternational.com

Juan Trigos: Biography

2010-01-25T01:02:00.004+01:00

Composer and conductor, creator of the concept Abstract Folklore. This concept is based on principles such as the primary pulsation (understood as “Tempus Primus”), the resonance and the obsessive use of polyrhythmic and polyphonic interlocking musical events and segments of different density and duration. In the Abstract Folklore there is an inclination towards big format works, with numerous groups of instruments (large ensemble and orchestra), characterized by abundant utilization of percussion instruments. It may also be distinguished two main directions: vocal music (opera and sacred music), and instrumental with particular predilection for the Concertante forms.

Among his most representative works are Magnificat Guadalupano, Missa Cunctipotens Genitor Deus, 6 Ricercares de Cámara, a large production for guitar including two guitar concertos and one for four guitars, a piccolo and double-bass concertos, and two triple concertos. Highlight in particular Symphony N. 1 and the creation of a new genre called Hemoficction Opera.

He has presented and conducted his Opera DeCachetitoRaspado (CheekToStubbledCheek) at Festival Internacional Música y Escena (México City 1999,) 22 Music Biennale Zagreb (Croatia 2003,) XXXI Festival Internacional Cervantino (Guanajuato City-México 2003) and at the XXV Foro Internacional de Música Nueva “Manuel Enríquez”(México City 2003.) The work was recorded on CD and DVD in September 2004 in Saint Petersburg (Russia). Participations of the “Academic Choir Saint Petersburg-Concert” and the “State Symphony Orchestra of Saint-Petersburg”.

Mis Dos Cabezas Piensan Peor Que Una (My Two heads think worse than one) had its European and Mexican premieres in October 2005 at the Lisinski Hall (Zagreb City) and at the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City) and Teatro Juárez (Guanajuato City) as a part of the Festival Internacional Cervantino (FIC). In this production, Mexican and Italian soloists participated, the Academic Chorus “Ivan Goran Kovacic” and the Zagreb Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, all conducted by the composer.

He has taught composition courses and lectures on his music in Europe, Canada, Mexico and the United States. His music has been performed in several cities in the following countries:
Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Canada, Mexico, USA, Germany, Croatia, Spain, France, Britain, Holland, Italy, Russia, Switzerland.

He is currently member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Artes (Mexico), and Associated Composer of the Canadian Music Centre since June 2006.

As a conductor, he has specialized in music from the 20th century and particularly in contemporary music. He has premiered and promoted an extensive catalogue of new works, both in live performance and recording. He has worked with numerous choirs, ensembles and symphony orchestras in Canada, USA, Europe, and Mexico.

In May 2009 he recorded for Bridge Records Inc.(New York), a monographic CD of composer Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, conducting the Eastman BroadBand Ensemble of Rochester (NY). With the same group he accomplished a tour in the US and México in September 2008, presenting works of contemporary composers, classics of the 20th Century (Birtwistle, Ligeti, Lutoslawski, Varese), premieres (Laneza, Sánchez Gutiérrez), and his own. In 2007 he has conducted Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon’s Opera Comala and his DeCachetitoRaspado again at the XXVI Festival Spaziomusica in Italy (Cagliari). In this production has participated Mexican and Italian singers, and the Eastman BroadBand Ensemble form Rochester New York.

In July 2008, he carried out another tour in Italy conducting Orff’s Catulli Carmina, and the European premieres of De Profundis of Mexican composer Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras and his Missa Cunctipotens Genitor Deus.

In May 2007 he premiered the chamber opera El Conejo y el Coyote (The Rabbit and the Coyote), by Mexican composer Víctor Rasgado. It was an Italian and Mexican co-production. The six performances at the Festival Humánitas 2007 in Oaxaca City in Mexico. He conducted the Italian Icarus Ensemble.

He was Conductor and Music Director of the Orquesta de Camara de Bellas Artes (National Chamber Orchestra) in Mexico City. In April 2009 with the same orchestra and chorus Solistas Ensamble of the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA). He conducted Haydn’s Symphony n. 26 y The Last Seven Words of Christ.

Founder, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Sinfonietta de las Américas. He recorded with this orchestra for Global Entertainment and BMG Entertainment three CD’s with music by the German composer Gerhart Muench.

He was Principal Associated Conductor of the ensemble “La Camerata de las Américas”. With this ensemble he recorded several CD’s with music by Revueltas, Rasgado and his own.

Music by changes … does music play dice? sixth part

2010-01-23T15:07:00.002+01:00

Chance operations aren't limited to the 'contemporary classical, tradition. With the painter Peter Schmidt, Brian Eno in his Roxy Music period famously evolved a deck of oracle cards called Mblique Strategies", which helped David Bowie out of his coke‑blocked impasse when he recorded Low and Heroes in Berlin (both 1977). The cards were modelled on ‑ you guessed it ‑ the 1 Chíng. He wrote aphorisms on the cards and placed them round the recording studio, to kickstart or reload the creative process; examples include "Retrace your steps", "Don't break the silence", "You are an engineer", "Turn it upside down". Eno wasn't appealing to anything as exotic as supernatural forces: "You can believe that they work on a purely behavioural level, simply adjusting your perception at a point, or suggesting a different perception." Use improvisation, they were a method for altering the dynamics of a creative situation in a way that compositional logic couldn't manage.
But isn't improvisation itself a game of chance? It can seem that way when improvisers aim for the previously unheard and unplayed ‑ perhaps when, like Ornette Coleman, they aspire to play "without memory". But for most improvisers, improvisation is more risk than chance. Improvisers are always looking for ways of maintaining unpreclictability. Conductions by George Lewis with The London Jazz Composers Orchestra, among others, have used numbered cards in a 'mosaic technique', a jazz equivalent of the Boulez/Stockhausen mobile form.
Though Cage condemned the Western classical tradition, it didn't stop John Zorn from bracketing his work with the "dead, lifeless music" of the "boring old farts". For Zorn, who's as much an improviser as a composer, Cage is an anti‑type. Zorn's game pieces take their titles from sports and board‑games such as Lacrosse, Archery, Pool and Cobra. As a conductor, Zorn simply relays changes to the rest of the players with a hand signal. But the players are permitted to try to wrest control from the conductor by 'guerrilla tactics' ‑ an antagonism reminiscent of Xenakis's Duel, though Zorn himself more often mentions Mauricio Kagel as an influence. The cue card system fits with Zorn's 'block structure' or filmic technique of fast~moving juxtaposed sections.
Cage moves towards obliterating the creative will ‑ Zorn tries to engage it differently. Cage, notoriously, wasn't interested in improvisation. At a performance of the late Number piece Five in 1990, the players sustained their notes rather than the silences because, evidently, they felt they had too little to play. "They weren't supposed to improvise!" Cage complained ‑ he didn’t like the limited instructions he gave to be disobeyed. He wasn't interested in the idea of performers expressing themselves, because he wasn't interested in expressing himself. His denial of self‑expression is the outcome that chance ultimately leads to. But few composers or improvisers are egoless enough to follow the Zen Master the whole way. Art, and the intention that goes with it, proves almost inescapable.

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Empedocle70

Music by changes … does music play dice? fifth part

2010-01-22T15:06:00.003+01:00

A genuine radical, no more part of the academy than Cage himself, was self-taught Argentinean composer Mauricio Kagel. Influenced by dada and Surrealism as well as Cage, his Match (1964) features a musical contest between rival cellists, refereed by a percussionist. Like Cage, Kagel rejects "the pure doctrine of improvisation ‑ if indeed this ever existed". Essential to his work is "strict composition with elements which are not themselves pure". In Exotíca, the performers have to try to master the techniques of the non‑Western instruments as best they can; they're left to furnish the prescribed rhythms with pitches in any register. Kagel exploits the fact that where instruments and other sound‑producers are unfamiliar to the performer, this will also introduce an element of unpredictability ‑ any untried instrument is a little 'aleatory' at first. In a way that recalls the roots of the Cage‑Boulez mis‑encounter, Kagel commented about his Saint‑Bach Passion that "totally planned things [as in serialism] and totally arbitrary ones have a similar piece" in the shaping of a piece.

As Kagel's music shows, unpredictable results follow from asking players to perform beyond their capabilities. For this reason some composers experimented with amateur ensembles, such as Gavin Bryars's Portsmouth Sinfonia from the early 70s, which famously murdered Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and other popular classícs. Bryars encouraged his naive and incompetent amateurs to take their roles seriousiy and play with heart, even though he was probably quietly laughing at them himself. lf Bryars had a serious point it probably wasn't shared by his performers ‑ the Sinfonia was an exercise in both dadaism and sadism.

British composer Cornelius Cardew also chose to work with amateurs, but out of a high‑minded politica] impulse as much as a musical one. Cardew started out as a disciple of Stockhausen, before falling under the spell of Cage. For a brief period in the 60s he opted fo the total Improv of AMM, then in 1969 formed The Scratch Orchestra from both professional and amateur musicians, to perform didactic works such as The Great Leaming, for which he supplied both the building blocks of sound and some loose architectural plans. It wasn't just the final outcome that was valuable; how the groups of players variously negotiated his designs itself formed a mode] of social and musical organisation. Cardew became a Maoist and repudiated his mentors. He was killed by a hit‑and‑run driver in 1981 before he had a chance to explain the contradictions between his utopian interpretation of the Great Helmsman's thoughts, and their rather more restrictive application in Mao's China.
The so‑called New Complexity composers have also been concerned with demanding the impossible of performers, only in their case only professional players need apply. In his piano‑piece Mt, composer Chris Dench asks the performer to make a 'tilt' at the right notes, which are technically impossible to obtain; Brian Ferneyhough's works also encourage a "desperate virtuosity". Michael Finnissy has explored the layering technique pioneered by Charles Ives. Australian composer Ross Bolleter, in contrast, places excessive demands on instruments rather than performers.

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Music by changes … does music play dice? fourth part

2010-01-21T15:05:00.003+01:00

The European avant garde were mostly more cautious when it came to taking chances. Boulez and Stockhausen evolved methods of indeterminacy within strictly defined parameters, such as the 'mobile form' pioneered by Ives and Cowell. On Stockhausen's Piano Píece XI (1956), the performer's freedom is fairly limited; they select the order of movements and have some say over internal arrangements, tempo and dynamics. His Momente also permits alternative orderings of material. But Ytem and Aus Den Sieben Tagen are much more open. Clarinettist Anthony Pay reported: "He invites you, for example, [simply] to play in the rhythm of the molecules‑that constitute your body. Or in the rhythm of the universe. There's a story of a second violin player who said, 'Herr Stockhausen, how will I know when I am playing in the rhythm of the universe?' Stockhausen said, with a smile, '1 will tell you'." He's probably still waiting for the nod: by 1970, Stockhausen had returned to exact notation ‑ his most radical work already completed.
Xenakis's 'stochastic composition' was not really chance. But he did write three pieces based on mathematical game theory: Duet (1958‑59), Stratégíe (1962) and Unaia Agon (1972‑82). Duel is a game between two orchestras, with the conductors as active contestants. Xenakis drew comparisons with competitive situations in folk and jazz. Nouritza Matossian suggests that the psychological roots of his interest was the feeling that his own life had been saved in Athens, during the wartime Nazi occupation, only by chance.

Xenakis is sometimes bracketed with Lutosiawski, Penderecki and Ligeti as a 'texture composer’, dealing in sound‑masses rather than individual tones ‑ and it could be argued that, in fact, this attempt to capture a natural phenomenon is the opposite of chance. Polish composer Witold Lutosiawski's Venetian Games was directly inspired by Cage's Concert For Piano And Orchestra. Sections are divided by a fixed percussion signal, and within each section there's a 'collective ad lib'. As the score says, "When the sign for the end of the section is given, the performers must interrupt playing immediately. ff by this time a player has already played his part to the end, he should repeat it from the beginning of the section". The result is an "aleatory (ie chance) counterpoint" ‑ the exact coincidence of individual lines left to chance. (The word aleatoric, by the way, comes from alea, Latin for dice.) Thís is the same concepts that Ives deployed, but with a very different effect. Ligeti's Poème Symphoníque for 100 metronomes from 1962 was a more radical, completely mechanical example of the same idea, while in his Requierrì he writes lines for the chorus which are too difficult to coordinate, reshuffling, like Venetian Games, in random counterpoint.

But for Lutoslawski, the composer had to be left in control: “I firmly believe in a clear delineation of duties between composer and performers," he said, "and I have no wish to surrender even the smallest part of my claim to authorship of even the shortest passage." Cage badmouthed such `experimenting within tradition". In a 1962 interview he complained that 1t doesn't seem to me to radically alter the situation from the familiar convention. It simply takes these new ways of working and consolidates them with the old knowledge... I think we are in a more urgent situation, where it is absolutely essential for us to change our minds fundamentally." But even limited chance was too much for high culture modernist Elliott Carter: "Aleatoric pieces with any degree of free choice," wrote the American composer, "are simply demonstrations of certain general styles or methods of composition without ever becoming concrete individual works in which every detail... contributes some way or other to the total effect." Evidently he didn't understand that, for the texture composers, blurring were an essential part of that total effect.

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Maurizio Pisati SETTE STUDI

2010-01-20T16:53:00.002+01:00

Maurizio Pisati

SETTE STUDI
february 10th 2010 h. 21.15
Milano,
Palazzina Liberty

and

QUATTRO SONATE (Scarlatti-Pisati)
february 13th 2010 h. 21.15
Monza,
Teatro di Corte,
Villa Reale

performed by
Elena Càsoli

Link

Quinteto de Tango Invisibile: Monography

2010-01-11T15:31:00.001+01:00

Biography

Review of the cd Quinteto de Tango Invisibile

Interview with Empedocle70

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Quinteto de Tango Invisible: Biography

2010-01-11T01:04:00.001+01:00

The “Quinteto de Tango Invisible” was founded in 2001, under the direction of the Argentinian pianist Barbara Varassi Pega. It brings together musicians with a solid classical preparation who share an interest in the exploration of Argentinian tango, jazz and experimental music.

This Italo-Argentinian ensemble is dedicated to promoting the culture, the music and the emotions of tango: the programs they propose include original works and arrangements that encompass the entire history and the vast repertoire of this musical genre, starting from the Argentinian “guardia vieja” to European contemporary composers. The interpretation of the “Quinteto de Tango Invisible” treads the line between respect for the original style and a fresh urban take on this melancholy music.

From the day they were founded to today, their performances have taken them across Europe and lead them to work with today’s most important tango dances (Sebastian Romero, Marco Palladino, Roberto Daniel, Michela Beltrami etc.) and singers (Dolores Espeja).

They recorded their first CD in 2005, named after the group itself. It was well received by both the public and the critics. Right now they are preparing their second recording that focuses on the repertoire of contemporary tango authors.

The repertoire includes pieces by G. Zambelli, J. de Caro, A. Troilo, A. Piazzolla, G. Beytelmann, H. R. Potenza, R. Mederos, O. Pugliese, and more.
Concert Programs:

“Un Tango Nuevo”
Program dedicated to the new authors of contemporary tango with music by Beytelmann, Mederos, Mosalini, etc.

“Memorias y Olvidos”
Program dedicated to the traditional Argentinian tango from the beginning to 1950. Music by Pugliese, Troilo, Latasa, etc.

“Adios Nonino”
A tribute to Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla in the 15th year from his death. With music by Piazzolla.

“Histoire du Tango”
Overview of the entire history of tango from 1900 to today. Music by various composers.

Press:

“The “Quinteto Invisibile”’s concert was a real joy: the audience of the “Teatro dei Filodrammatici” was enchanted by their unity, their attention to timbre and phrasing, and the measure and passion of the solos.”
(Eco di Bergamo)

“I really liked it, good CD”
Paolo Carú (Buscadero).

“With grace and elegance the “Quinteto Invisible” has made the passionate and sensual tango genre its own, recording a CD that really deserves our compliments. Their interpretation is absolutely worthy of the great masters of tango thanks to the talent of each musician and to the unity of the sound, which is the result of a profound understanding between the players.”
Ricky Barone (L’isola che non c’era)

Barbara Varassi Pega, Piano
Studied piano in Argentina and Milan, specializing in Argentinean Tango. She has played in numerous tango formations, such as the International Company “Buenos Aires Tango”, the orchestra “Estilo Tango”, trio “Tango del Callejon”, quintet “La Mano”, giving concerts in Argentina, Italy and Europe. She plays regularly in the Tango group “TangoTinto” and in 2001 she founded the “Quinteto de Tango Invisible”.

Gino Zambelli, Accordion, Bandoneon, Accordina
Studied oboe, piano, composition and accordion with R. Galliano, Chucho Valdes and T. Tracanna among others. He has worked with orchestras (first oboe of the “Orchestra Giovanile Europea”), world music ensembles (Fuich, Samadur, and Free Mode), Duo Adar ethno jazz (R. Bertazzi. A. Zanchi) and South American Ensembles (Siete años). He is not only an instrumentalist but also works in these groups as arranger and composer.

Virgilio Monti, Double Bass
He has collaborated in different chamber music ensembles, such as “L’ Ensemble Amadeus” and “L’Orchestra Gomez” and symphony orchestras such as “L’Orchestra Europea”. Apart from classical music, he also works with other styles, including popular music and ethno music. He is also a member of the orchestra “Estilo Tango” and of the trio “TangoTinto. He has participated in many festivals and musical seasons.

Vincenzo Albini, Violin
Since 1998 he has been very active on the classical music scene, but has also studied jazz and deepened his passion for folk music. He plays with Marco Ratti, Claudio Angeleri, Riccardo Bianchi, Luca Sala, Alfredo Savoldelli and Giovanni Monteforte and has taken part in various festivals. He also works with the Fabio Lossani swing Band, the Charlie Cinelli Band, Pincapallina, Fuich, the Ivana Gatti Quartet and the Quartetto Bizzarria.

Emanuele Forni, Guitars

Emanuele Forni's Monography

2010-01-08T11:47:00.004+01:00

- Biography

- Review of Ceci n'est pas une guitare by Emanuele Forni

- Interview with Emanuele Forni

- Photo Gallery

- first part
- second part
- third part

- fourth part

Gilbert Imperial in concert 18 gennuary in Bern

2010-01-05T18:53:00.001+01:00

Gilbert Impérial, final recital

18.01.2010 - 8pm GrosseKonzertSaal

Hochschule der Kunst Bern, Papiermuhlestr. 13/d

Uros Rojko (1954), Micro-ostinati for guitar and clarinet (2002)

I Senza rubato
II Con spirito
III Agitato Molto
avec Valentina Struceli, clarinette

Jacques Wildberger (1922-2006), Los pajarillos no cantan für gitarre (1987)

Hans Werner Henze (1926), Drei Märchenbilder für zwei gitarren (1979)

I Pastorale
II Arietta
III Notturno
avec Virginia Arancio, guitare

George Crumb (1929), Mundus Canis for guitar and percussions (1998)

I Tammy
II Fritzi
III Heidel
IV Emma - Jean
V Yoda
avec Samuel Forster, percussions

Augustin Barrios Mangoré (1885-1944), Julia Florida

avec une guitare de Miguel Simplicio (Barcelona 1928)

Fausto Romitelli (1963-2004), Trash TV Trance for solo e-guitar (2004)

Fausto Romitelli, Prof. Bad Trip, lesson I (1998)

Flute, Agnes Wass
Clarinette, Valentina Struceli
Piano, Natalia Koziarz
Violin, Ivona Krapikaite
Viola, Claudia Mulas
Cello, Fulvia Mancini
Percussions, Samuel Forster
Roman Lerch/ Beat Müller, Electronik

Emanuele Forni in concert

2010-01-05T18:21:00.001+01:00

20 - 22.06.2010
Makriasol, Crete, GR
Casa dei Mezzo Festival

19.06.2010
Dortmund, DE
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

16.06.2010
Kopenhagen, DK
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

14.06.2010
Hamburg, DE
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

06.05.2010
Basel, CH
With Elisabeth Pawelke

05.05.2010
St Peter Kirche, Zurich, CH
With Maurice Steger and ZKO Orchestra

27.04.2010
Waldau Kapelle, Bern, CH
With Hans-Jakob Bollinger and Christiane Lux

16.04.2010
Vitoria, E
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

14.04.2010
Valladolid, E
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

12.04.2010
Oviedo, E
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

10.04.2010
Bilbao, E
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

08.04.2010
San Sebastian, E
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

06.04.2010
Toulouse, F
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

25.03 2010
Villa Bernau, Bern, CH
With Meret Lüthi

24.03.2010
KKL, Luzern, CH
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

21.03.2010
Zagreb, HR
With Scintilla and Cecilia Bartoli

12.03.2010
Herculessaal, München, DE
With Daniel Hope and ZKO Orchestra

11.03.2010
Theater Chur, CH
With Daniel Hope and ZKO Orchestra

10.03.2010
Tonhalle, Zurich, CH
With Daniel Hope and ZKO Orchestra

03.03.2010
Konzerthaus, Berlin, DE
With Daniel Hope and ZKO Orchestra

02.03.2010
Musikhalle, Hamburg, DE
With Daniel Hope and ZKO Orchestra

01.03.2010
Stadthalle, Braunschweig, DE
With Daniel Hope and ZKO Orchestra

08 - 15.02.2010
Recording with Isa Katharina Gericke and Guido De Flaviis
Blue Serge Label

31.01.2010
Zollikofen, CH
With the ensemble Il Desiderio

17.01.2010
Schloss Rapperswil, Grosser Rittersaal
With Emma Kirby, Daniel Taylor, Bozo Paradzik and casalQuartett

10.01.2010
Malters, CH
With the ensemble Il Desiderio

Emanuele Forni's Biography

2010-01-04T01:03:00.002+01:00

My approach to music has always been transversal and I still find myself tackling different repertoires with the same passion and interest of a researcher. The repertoires that have most aroused my curiosity in the past few years have been contemporary electroacustic music and Italian music of the beginning of the 17th century with the arch-lute. However I never miss the opportunity to explore new paths and to meet musicians with whom to communicate and share. A long time ago a plucked string tied me to music and to the act of playing: its resonance has helped me give shape to ideas, to get to know myself and has been a strong rope on which to anchor an important part of my life. But it is perhaps best to start from the beginning with names, dates, … Happy reading and buona visione! I began my musical training as a selftaught musician, concentrating on popular music, rock and jazz. I obtained my diploma in guitar and jazz harmony with Alberto Ferra at the European Music Institute; in classical guitar at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan, with Lena Kokkaliari and Paolo Cherici; and in contemporary music (Concert Diploma) at the High School of Arts in Bern (CH) with Elena Casoli. I studied ancient music and different plucked istruments at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis, composition, performing practice, taking part in masterclasses and advance courses with musicians of great human qualities and musical depth such Jordi Savall, Dave Liebman, Fabio Vacchi, Paul O’Dette and Luciano Berio. The interpretation of contemporary works, for and with the guitar, has enabled me to work with many contemporary composers such as Peter Eötvös, Hugues Dufourt, Maurizio Pisati, Ulrich Krieger, Alessandro Solbiati, Georges Aperghis, Beat Fehlmann, Wolfgang Nening, Lucio Garau, Franco Oppo and Giorgio Tedde. I have gained experience working in different musical contexts, actors (Ottavia Piccolo, Franca Nuti, Gianfranco Dettori), theatrical companies (Cie Buissonniere), world music ensembles (Quintetto de Tango Invisibile, Fuich), with classical soloists (Hilary Summers, Guido de Flaviis, Jason Calloway, Artur Stefanowicz, Daniele Pagella, Fabian Hemmelmann, Iris Malkin, Robert Koller, Akiko Suwanai), with conductors (Pierre Boulez, Peter Eötvös, Andrea Marcon), with orchestras (Lucerne Academy Orchestra, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Orchestra Cantelli of Milan) with chorals groups (Ensemble Tourdion), with jazz musicians (Gino Zambelli, Fausto Beccalossi), with contemporary ensembles (Crossing n°3) and ancien ensemble (Accademia della Selva, Accademia degli Orfei, Cantus Firmus, La Corona Freiburg, RicciCapricci). I have played as soloist as well as in chamber ensembles and orchestras, working in with a variety of festivals, musical institutions and associations. Among these I would like to mention specifically: “Carnegie Hall” New York, “KKL - Lucerne Festival”, “Concert Hall Mito Art Tower” Japan, “ZKO - Haus” Zürich, “Stagione Concertistica dello Spazio Antologico” Milan, “Grosee Saal HKB” Bern, “Konzert Saal Philarmonie” Essen, “Kurhaus” Baden, “Stadtgarten” Winterthur, ”Unicef” Milan, “Schwetzinger Festspiele”. I have recorded for various labels (Stradivarius, Maine), radios (SWR, DRS 2, Radio Classica) and televisions channels (Rai).

2010-01-01T01:18:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year!

Contemporary Guitars Blog

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T13:00:00.001+01:00

Merry Christmas to You All!

Laverna: Una Futuribile Notte d'Inverno 10 december 2009, Photos by Pat Ferro

2009-12-24T01:17:00.001+01:00

Laverna: Una Futuribile Notte d'Inverno 10 december 2009, Photos by Pat Ferro

2009-12-23T16:13:00.001+01:00