|
|
Was born in 1947 in Palermo and began to compose in
1959. The first public concert of his work took place in 1962. Leaving his
town he moved to Rome (1969), then to Milan (1977), and finally to Citta
di Castello (1983) where he now lives. Sciarrino did not attend any music
schools. In spite of a few important contacts (with Antonino Titone, Turi
Belfiore and Franco Evangelisti) he is self-taught. He won several prizes
and at the age of thirty was appointed artistic director of the Teatro
Comunale di Bologna (197880). The same precocity that revealed his
unmistakable style produced this exceptionally large and diversified
catalogue of works. Sciarrino traits sound as a living organism. His music
begins at the very limits of the imperceptible, where physiology and
silence emerge. The empty space breathes, dramatic tension is created, and
every event (even the most tiny one) fills our mind. Regenerating
perception is the main purpose that Sciarrino1s sound ecology wants to
have. He makes us rediscover the spaces of nature, the daily noises and
also the miracle of the human voice. Sciarrino1s music, whose unorthodoxy
once seemed baffling, can now be set in today1s philosophical and
scientific thought. And yet the term Opsycho-acoustic music1, very useful
in defining its conceptual implications, is either too narrow or vague to
do justice to the complexity of the aesthetic experience generated by his
compositions and stage works. Sciarrino1s discography, which amounts to
almost 50 CDs, is among the richest of any living composer. Teaching plays
an important role in his life. Besides his master-classes, he taught in
various conservatories since 1974: in Milan, Perugia and Florence. In 1996
he retired from official institutions. He has also devoted himself with
energy to theoretical work and to the promotion of music. His books
include Le figure della musica, (Ricordi, 1998), and Carte da suono,
writings 19812001 (cidim Novecento, 2001).
Selected works: Sonata for Two Pianos (1966), String
Quartet No. 2 (1967), Berceuse for orchestra (196768), ...da un
Divertimento for
10 instruments (1970), De la nuit for piano (1971), Grande Sonata da
camera for orchestra (1971), Amor e Psyche, one-act opera (1972), Romanza
for viola d1amore and orchestra (1973), 2 Studi for cello (1974),
Siciliano for flute and harpsichord (1975), Trio for piano, violin and
cello (1975), Clair de lune Op. 25 for piano and orchestra (1976),
Quintettino n. 1 for clarinet and strings (1976), Berceuse variata for
orchestra (1977), Aspern, two-acts singspiel (1978), Two Melodies for
soprano and piano (1978), Che sai guardiano, della notte? for clarinet
concertante and small orchestra (1979), Cailles en sarcophage, opera in
three movements (197980), L1addio a Trachis for harp (1980), Anamorfosi
for piano (1980), Efebo con radio for voice and orchestra (1981), Vanitas.
Natura morta in un atto for voice (mezzo-soprano), cello and piano (1981),
La voce dell1inferno for tape (1981), Autoritratto nella notte for
orchestra (1982), Let me die before I wake for clarinet (1982), Centauro
marino for clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano (1984), Hermes for
flute (1984), Allegoria della notte for violin and orchestra (1985),
Appendice alla perfezione for 14 bells (1986), Explorazione del bianco I
for double bass, II for flute, bass clarinet, guitar and violin, III
for jazz percussion, according to Appendice alla perfezione (1986),
Frammento e adagio for flute and orchestra (198692), Il motivo degli
oggetti for two flutes and piano (1987), Sui poemi concentrici I, II, III
for soloists and orchestra (1987), Tutti i miraggi delle acque for mixed
choir (1987), Fra i testi dedicati alle nubi for flute (1989), Lettura
lontano for double bass and orchestra (1989), 2 Arie marine for
mezzo-soprano and synthetic sounds in real time (1990), Perseo e
Andromeda, opera (1990), Sonata for Piano No. 4 (1992), Mozart a 9 anni
for period-instruments orchestra (1993), Noms des air for live electronics
(1994), Novulario for voice, flute, trumpet, percussion and two violas
(1995), Omaggio a Buri for three instruments (violin, flute and bass
clarinet; 1995), L1immaginazione a sé stessa for choir and orchestra to
texts by Eugenio Montale (1995), Luci mie traditrici, two-acts opera (199698),
La bocca, i piedi, il suono for four contralto saxophones and 100
saxophones (1997), Il cerchio tagliato dei suoni for four solo flutes and
100 flutes (1997), Vagabonde blu for harmonium (1998), Waiting for the
wind for voice and Javanese gamelan to texts by Helen Lucke (1998),
Cantare con silenzio for six voices, flute, live electronics and
percussion (1999), Sophisticated Lady for big band (arrangement of Duke
Ellington1s tune; 1999), Il clima dopo Harry Partch for piano and
orchestra (19992000), Studi per l1intonazione del mare for contralto,
four flutes, four saxophones, percussion, orchestra of 100 flutes and 100
saxophones (2000), 2 Notturni crudeli for piano (2001), In nomine nominis
for eight players (2001), Macbeth, three acts without name (200102),
Altre schegge di canto for clarinet and orchestra (2002), Cavatina e i
gridi for string sextet (2002).
Fra i testi dedicati alle nubi
OIt is quite likely that the words you are reading now are my farewell
with the solo flute, an instrument whose nature is both sacred and bestial.
Not that I have nothing more to say by means of this primeval instrument.
Why a farewell then? In order to distance myself. And because of my
restlessness. One has to change constantly a horizon of one1s interests
and renew oneself all the time. I would lie if I described the flute as an
instrument which was created ideally for me. Naturally, its specific way
of sound production gives a highly diverse range of articulation
possibilities. Having written four pieces for flute I decided to compose a
cycle. Having finished the sixth piece, I again examined this inventory of
diverse sounds. Hence the postscriptum which in its complex character
surpasses what I have so far dispatched into the distance, before the wind
and in the wind. Can it be that the roots of my affinity with the flute
are subconscious, ritual?
My friendship with the flautist Roberto Fabbriciani was a strong
inspiration. His breathing enabled my fancy to take flight. The instinct
of imagination is most important. (...) Any musical concept is defenceless
if it is not based on an interpretative tradition. To give
a musical piece its face... This turns it into a vehicle for cultural
values, in time and space. (...)1
(abridged from a note by Salvatore Sciarrino)
Autoritratto nella notte
Things come to life, in the night. Our mind fills the spaces, makes the
darkness less dull and even the lowest noise becomes a ghost.
Now, we feel the body like it belonged to somebody else the heart. A
breath. That same silence has turned into a rumble and presses on our ears,
to reveal thread-like buzzing of the blood, then drifting echoes of memory,
sound bubbles breaking into shivers. In the night, every night, we are
certain and uncertain of shadows: our ancient pagan soul inquietum. And
the objects all around, in their unchanging decay. And invisible things,
time can you touch time?
I once saw myself like that: a shape dimmed by a long illness, almost
inside a darkness cone. I wrote a work, the umpteenth, where the absence
should have been revealed as alive, and as the shape had been taken away,
the space for which it was intended emptied. An imperfect presence of self.
Salvatore Sciarrino
|
