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Born in 1956 in Milan, he studied piano
and composition (with Azio Corghi) at the city1s Conservatory. He
continued compositional studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Boston and
Rome, and with Luciano Berio in Tanglewood. In 1990 he founded Oagon
Acustica Informatica Musica1 in Milan, a centre of musical production and
research using new technologies. His compositions have won numerous
international awards including the Kranichsteiner Musikpreis (Darmstadt),
the Ernst von Siemens Prize (Munich) and the Prix Italia (for Ballata del
rovescio del mondo, a radio piece to texts by Umberto Fiori; 1994).
He taught composition as a Visiting Professor at Rotterdam Conservatory
(1990/91). In 1995 he was composer-in-residence in Strasbourg and at
ircam1s Académie d1Eté in Paris. He has also been a guest-professor at
the Young Nordic Music, the Montreal Univer-sity, the OGiuseppe Verdi1
Symphony Orchestra in Milan and the State University in San Francisco.
Many prestigious festivals and institutions have organized concerts
devoted exclusively to his music. His commissions have included those from
ircam, the ensembles Asko, Agon, Nieuw, Ictus, Contrechamps, the Arditti
Quartet, Ensemble InterContemporain, the London Sinfonietta, the Théâtre
de la Monnaie in Brussels, as well as Italian and German radio stations.
Luca Francesconi works regularly with internationally renowned performers
and ensembles. He is also active as a conductor and composition teacher at
the Conservatory in Milan.
Selected works: Passacaglia for large
orchestra (1982), Notte for mezzo-soprano and 19 instruments (198384),
Onda Sofornte for eight instruments (1985), Vertige for string orchestra
(1985), Finta-di-nulla for soprano and 19 instruments (1985), Plot in
fiction for oboe/English horn and chamber ensemble (1986), Trama for
saxophone and orchestra (1987), Attesa per quintetto di fiati (1988),
Aeuia for baritone and 12 instruments (1989), Piccola trama for saxophone
(or viola) and eight instruments (1989), Les barricades mystérieux for
flute and orchestra (1989), Memoria for orchestra (1990), Second Concerto
for Oboe and Orchestra (1991), Riti neurali for violin and eight
instruments (1991), Voci for soprano and amplified violin (1992), Islands,
concerto for piano and chamber orchestra (1992), Miniature for 16
instruments (1992), Richiami II for amplified ensemble (1992), Trama II
for clarinet, orchestra and live electronics (1993), Risonanzo d1Orfeo,
orchestral suite (1993), Etymo for soprano, electronics and chamber
orchestra, to a text by Charles Baudelaire (1994), Ballata del rovescio
del mondo, radio opera (1994), A fuoco for guitar and instrumental
ensemble (1995), Animus for trombone and live electronics (19951996),
Inquieta limina for ensemble and harmonium (1996), Venti Radio-Lied,
3 cycles to texts by Umberto Fiori (1996/97), Sirene/Gespenter, oratorio
for female choir, instruments and electronics to texts by Umberto Fiori
(1996/97), Memoria II for orchestra (1998), Lips, Eyes, Bang for actress/singer,
12 instruments, audio-video tape in real time (1998), Wanderer for large
orchestra (19981999), Cobalt, Scarlet Two Colours of Dawn for large
orchestra (19992000), Terre del rimorso for solo voices, choir and
orchestra (texts by Eschilo, De Martino, Lorca, Buttitta, as well as folk
texts from various regions of Italy) (200001), Aria novella for oboe,
clarinet, bassoon, piano, violin, viola, cello and percussion (2001), Let
me Bleed for a cappella choir (2001), Buffa opera, music theatre to a text
by Stefano Benni (2002), Ballata, opera in two acts to
a libretto by Umberto Fiori (2002).
Cobalt, Scarlet
The piece could be subtitled OStudy of large-scale form1, were it not for
the fact that it has a genuine subtitle of its own: Two Colours of Dawn.
It refers to the occasion that marked its origin: the extraordinary,
ultra-slow, chromatic transformation of the sky as it reveals itself to
anyone who chances to witness a northern dawn. It is an experience not
easily forgotten. For Francesconi it immediately invited a comparison with
the Mediterranean dawn: two very different skies, two different sensations
of time. On the one hand, a sense of imperceptible transformation: slow
and almost unmeasurable. On the other, an iconic vision of time, one that
emerges with the presence of a Greek statue: the moment passes and all is
light, clarity and plasticity. These different perceptions of time and
space constitute the two principles. These principles, Oontological1 as it
were, lie at the source of both the original idea of the piece and the two
contrasting materials that are employed in it. On the one hand, there is a
thematic outline, heard at the beginning as a slow horn melody, and the
countless derivatives of that melody; on the other, a rhythmic outburst,
both sudden and violent.
In governing the varying dynamics of the dialectic relationship between
these principles (interaction / opposition / superimposition / dissolution),
a crucial role is played by the composer1s sense of perception. It is
guided by such diverse factors as his precise studies of extended form,
his administration of the various ideas with the flux of sonorous data and
by the control of what he defines as the Osemantic pressure1, i.e. that
mysterious and unfathomable, yet undeniable quotient of meaning that is
present in every musical material, thanks to its distinct historical and
physiological connotations. In other words, the ways the multiple
relationships between the different materials generate an extended form
like that of Cobalt, Scarlet owe as much to complex preliminary study as
to the observation of perceptual experience. The concrete result of this
meeting between art and psychology, between technique and perceptive
analysis, is a decidedly Ocleaner1 and more transparent sound than that of
Francesconi1s earlier orchestral work Wanderer. It is easier, therefore,
to admire the quality of the melodic outlines (which are indeed especially
notable in this score), the instrumental mastery, the wealth of harmonic
variants, and the way the ideas germinate from one another. In short, each
individual musical parameter acquires a relief which is both cause and
consequence of a formal strategy free of the constraints of tradition. The
Francesconi of this last piece is a composer laid barer. The Oponderous
baggage1 has been finally dispensed with. And the result is that even more
prominence is given to that substantial quota of originality which he has
never lacked and which helps to place him among the more authoritative and
significant voices in the Italian musical scene at the start of this
century.
Enrico Girardi
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