Emy Bernecoli and Elia Andrea Corazza are proud to announce the first live recording of the rediscovered Sarabanda P015a by Ottorino Respighi.
The Sarabanda for violin and piano (P015a) is a short composition consisting of three pages dated 1897, here published for the first time. The original manuscript is part of the private archive of Potito Pedarra, cataloguer of Ottorino Respighi’s legacy. Ottorino Respighi composed this work during his juvenile years, together with the Sonata in D minor (1897, P015), the Giga (P015b) and the Allegretto vivace (P015c), all of them for violin and piano.
This is a live recording of the composition based on its manuscript. It has been recorded during an Italian tour of the violinist Emy Bernecoli and the pianist Elia Andrea Corazza
UNQUESTIONABLE ANSWERS is pervaded by a chorale played by strings, which expands and contracts. Some tinkling glockenspiels and heavily filtered white noise are added in the highest part of the spectrum. The elaboration of the parts generates tensive crescendos which culminate in explosions. The decays of the blasts are characterized by arpeggi of synthesized plucks, in stochastic major/minor chords. All the music materials are based on the tone row discovered by Anton Webern in his unfinished opus 32. The title is a reversed quotation of Unanswered Question by Charles Ives. In my composition I testify the complete overturning of the meaning of Ives’ masterpiece. The contemporary human being can not ask questions, can not search for answers, can not pursue a higher meaning and can not seek for a teleological meaning of the existence. The real questions are banned. The answers are pre-established, inculcated in the masses and in every human being since its conception. While incapable of questioning, the contemporary human being must follow ready-made answers, with operose passiveness, as imposed by the contemporary society. We are running frantically in order to stay still while the universe and the immutable celestial stars evolve. The piece takes inspiration from, and thus is dedicated to, Aldous Huxley (for his Brave New World Revisited) and to Giorgio Agamben (for his Homo Sacer).
ATTRAVERSO (THROUGHOUT) Luigi Russolo’s writings, paintings and thoughts about the futuristic orchestra gave birth to the modern poetics of composition. The noise of urbanized cities, of technology, and also of weapons, is integrated in the so-called “classical” music. Everything is noise, or the silence is noise… the boundaries between organized sound and noise are overcome. From a philosophical perspective, randomness (indetermination) is absolute, and the idea itself is overcome by the concept of integration of a deterministic randomness, or by a rational indetermination. My sound experimentations begun with a survey on noise: random noise, pseudo-random noise (as generated by computers), or “unrepeating random noise”, in which all samples are unique. I generated one second of an unrepeating random noise at 48KHz, which I used as a ground for the ideas of this composition. It is an interesting concept, since the randomness of the samples following the first sample decreases with the number of samples generated, until the last one which is necessary. I downsampled this second of generated unrepeating noise, finding a tone row, and I evaluated the potential of the pitch classes. After deciding the structure of the piece and some tone colors, I composed freely. Eventually I used some previous samples of mine which fitted with the overall sound/noise. The first part is sidereal. A few kinds of glockenspiels are generated from the noise passing throughout some filters with self-resonance and resonators. The crescendi are made by granular delays. At minute 3 there are some stable pitches made with a reversed reverbered granular harp, with stretched waveforms. Over this, around 4 minutes and 30 seconds there is chorale played by a string orchestra, made upon the tone-row of the previous glockenspiels and resonators. Around minute 8 there is an arpeggiator on randomized minor chords and a random drum. This piece is a tribute to the composer from Portogruaro, to his coherence, to his vitality and dynamism, to his theories and artistic output, which, throughout times, still inspires us.
Finalmente Alighieri is the first track of the Trittico Dante, a set of three pieces which won the international competition made by SIMC (Italian Society for Contemporary Music) held in 2021 to celebrate the anniversary of Dante Alighieri. Finalmente Alighieri! is in three sections. In the first part, the verses are gradually creating a choir based on the time-stretch of the vowels of the words. The middle section is dramatic. Verses and words are fragmented, the hums are scattering, the transients of the words are predominant, voices are superimposing. The parts are made with granular synthesis and with stochastic processes. The high luminous pitches and the low dark booms are generated by the transposition and re-enveloping of the previous materials. In the final part, the fragments and hums are gradually extinguished, and the corale of the beginning in back. There are no words, but the main pitches of the voice are resonating in quasi-sinusoidal waveforms. Metaphorically, it is evoked the celestial harmony and the convergence of the universe into pure energy.
Tre brani sperimentali composti da Elijax su versi tratti dalla Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri. Sono realizzati sulla rielaborazione elettronica della voce di Emy Bernecoli. I brani sono risultati vincitori del concorso internazionale “De Institutione Musica” indetto dalla SIMC (Società Italiana di Musica Contemporanea) per celebrare i settecento anni dalla morte di Dante Alighieri.
Immagine di copertina di Emy Bernecoli basata su “In Silva Veritas”, 24×18, olio su tela, di Emidio Bernecoli, 2014.
l’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle. Paradiso, XXXIII, v. 145 rime d’amor usar dolci e leggiadre; Purgatorio, XXVI, v. 99 E una melodia dolce correva Purgatorio, XXIX, v. 22 come del sole stella mattutina. Paradiso, XXXII v. 108 tin tin sonando con sì dolce nota, Paradiso, X, v. 143 udire in voce mista al dolce suono. Purgatorio, IX, v. 141 che solo amore e luce ha per confine, Paradiso, XXVIII, v. 54 de’ remi facemmo ali al folle volo, Inferno, XXVI, v. 125 E già la luna è sotto i nostri piedi: Inferno, XXIX, v. 10
Ho composto il Trittico Dante nella prima parte del 2021 per partecipare al concorso internazionale di musica elettronica promosso dalla SIMC (Società italiana di musica contemporanea) in occasione dei settecento anni dalla scomparsa di Dante Alighieri. I pezzi hanno vinto la selezione e sono stati eseguiti in prima assoluta il 6 gennaio 2022 all’auditorium Cantelli di Novara, a cura di Dante Tanzi con l’Acusmonium Audior di Eraldo Bocca. Maggiori informazioni sull’esecutore e sull’acusmonium: https://dantetanzi.bandcamp.com/ e https://www.audior.eu/
Il primo brano, Finalmente Alighieri! è in forma tripartita. Nella prima parte la lettura dei versi è accompagnata da un corale che gradualmente si genera dall’allungamento di alcune vocali man mano che sono presentate nel testo parlato. La parte centrale è di maggior tensione: i versi e le parole sono frammentate, compaiono i respiri isolati, i transienti delle consonanti appaiono in rilievo, le voci si sovrappongono. La generazione delle sequenze è qui realizzata attraverso la sintesi granulare e alcuni procedimenti stocastici. Le luminescenze acutissime e i colpi gravi nascono dalla trasposizione dei materiali e dal loro re-inviluppo, sia in ampiezza che in altezza. Nella parte finale i frammenti e i respiri gradualmente si estinguono e riemerge il corale basato sull’allungamento dei materiali. Diversamente dall’inizio qui le parole scompaiono lasciando risuonare soltanto le componenti armoniche della voce e che metaforicamente richiamano l’armonia celeste e la convergenza dell’universo verso l’energia pura.
Il secondo brano, Passacaglia Poetica, vuole rappresentare il tempo misurabile, metronomico, inesorabile, limitato, finito, umano. Gli elementi costitutivi sono due: un corale realizzato dall’allungamento di alcuni campioni vocali e la loro trasposizione, quasi una passacaglia, che muove l’ harmonia mundi. Sul corale si innestano i frammenti della voce, prima simili a gocce di suono, poi via via più definiti. Queste pulsazioni creano dei ritmi binari e ternari in collisione tra loro. In sottofondo emergono gradualmente i versi, appena percettibili e disturbati dal pulviscolo di frammenti vocali. La voce è infine assorbita dal ritmo ossessivo e culmina in un potente crescendo, ossatura di tutto il brano.
Il terzo brano, Beatrice Glitch, è un’interpretazione dello spazio sonoro, una possibile visione prospettica creata dal sonogramma. Il corale del pezzo precedente è rielaborato in modo organico anche se non sempre percepibile. Esso ritorna udibile in seguito agli ampi glissati a tutto spettro che corrugano la superficie musicale. Il mio omaggio è rivolto al grande Fausto Romitelli e al suo di An Index of Metals, conosciuto durante i miei studi alla Fondazione Cini di Venezia che ospita il Fondo Romitelli. La voce costella le volute sonore che disegnano uno spettrogramma di paesaggi metropolitani, profili montuosi, la sezione del cervello umano come anche il gheriglio di una noce. Compaiono in lontananza due elementi strumentali estranei: delle onde triangolari acute, strettamente legate all’altezza dei campioni vocali, e delle onde sinusoidali gravissime generate da un vocoder vincolato alla voce.
Three experimental tracks by Elijax based on verses from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, performed by Emy Bernecoli and Elia Andrea Corazza. Winners of the SIMC international electronic music competition “De Institutione Musica” to celebrate the 700 anniversary of Dante’s death.
The first track Finalmente Alighieri! is in three sections. In the first part, the verses are gradually creating a choir based on the time-stretch of the vowels of the words. The middle section is dramatic. Verses and words are fragmented, the hums are scattering, the transients of the words are predominant, voices are superimposing. The parts are made with granular synthesis and with stochastic processes. The high luminous pitches and the low dark booms are generated by the transposition and re-enveloping of the previous materials. In the final part, the fragments and hums are gradually extinguished, and the corale of the beginning in back. There are no words, but the main pitches of the voice are resonating in quasi-sinusoidal waveforms. Metaphorically, it is evoked the celestial harmony and the convergence of the universe into pure energy.
The second track, Passacaglia Poetica, is representing the measurable time: metronomic, relentless, limited, finite, and human. The main elements are two: a choral made by the time-stretching and transposition of the vocal samples, repeated as a passacaglia, which metaphorically moves the harmonia mundi. The chorale accompanies the voice fragments, at the beginning presented as sound drops, then gradually more discernible. These pulses generate binary and ternary rhythms which are colliding. In the background there are the verses, barely perceivable and disturbed by the dust of the voice fragments. The voice itself, at the end, is absorbed by the relentless rhythm which culminates in a powerful crescendo, the backbone of the track.
The third track, Beatrice Glitch, is an interpretation of the sound-space, a possible perspectical vision of the sonogram. The choral of the previous piece is re-elaborated, sometimes barely perceptible, sometimes in first-sight after wide glissati. This is my tribute to the great Fausto Romitelli and his An Index of Metals, which I discovered during my studies at the Cini Foundation in Venice. The soundscape recalls a metropolitan landscape, the contour of the mountains, the section of a human brain or the kernel of a walnut. Two extraneous instrumental elements are far away in the background: some high-pitched triangular waves, strictly related to the pitch of the vocal samples, and some very low sinusoidal waves generated by a vocoder.
I composed Dante-Reset during the COVID-19 pandemic, in the spring of 2021. I selected some verses from the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, to celebrate the 700 anniversary of his death. The Italian violinist Emy Bernecoli performed the vocals. All the samples then are generated from the electronic elaboration of her voice. The composition was born out of the disillusion that a new and better society would be born. The painting used in the cover is ESPLOSIONE, oil on canvas, by Emidio Bernecoli (www.emidiobernecoli.it)
Dante-Reset nasce nella primavera del 2021, mentre l’epidemia di COVID-19 devastava il mondo e l’Italia. Ho utilizzato alcuni versi tratti dalla Divina Commedia di Dante Alighieri, in occasione delle celebrazioni del 700 anno dalla sua morte. La violinista italiana Emy Bernecoli ha recitato i versi, tutti i suoni si basano sull’elaborazione elettronica dei campioni vocali. Il pezzo nasce dalla disillusione sulla nascita di una nuova e migliore società. Il quadro nell’immagine di copertina è ESPLOSIONE, olio su tela, di Emidio Bernecoli (www.emidiobernecoli.it)
I composed the first version of Supercollider in the winter of 2014, in one night. I remember I used in an unconventional mode the distortion (well abused) and the limiter… instead of using faders I automated a limiter on the single tracks. The track was then sitting on my hard drive, waiting to be polished. This autumn I decided to re-record and re-program all the synths, trying to retain the aggressive unpolished sound I had in the first version. I hope you will enjoy!
Elia (aka Elijax)
Ho composto la prima versione di Supercollider nell’inverno del 2014, in una notte. Ricordo di aver usato in maniera non convenzionale distorsori (meglio dire: abusato…) e i limitatori, questi ultimi utilizzati al posto dei volumi del mixer. La traccia è poi rimasta nel mio disco fisso per alcuni anni, in attesa di essere rifinita. Durante questo ultimo autunno ho deciso di registrarla da capo, cercando di mantenere l’aggressività della prima versione. Spero vi piacerà.
I composed Ghosts and Lizards using a “found sound” in my sample library, which I recorded randomly a few years ago. It is a sort of a techno track, in which, towards the end, I develop a stochastic rhythm of percussions. After working on the piece, I found some of the music scary, and thought of the things that could possibly scare me the most (idiosyncrasy), or scare the less… at the end is the same.
Elia (aka Elijax)
Ho composto Ghosts and Lizards basandomi su un vecchio campione, una sorta di suono ritrovato, che avevo registrato alcuni anni fa. È una traccia techno, verso la fine sviluppo dei ritmi stocastici nelle percussioni. Fantasmi e lucertole che possono spaventare… o possono attrarre: alcune idiosincrasie in un titolo che ha un significato particolare.Ho voluto poi comporre dei brani che offrissero una duplice modalità di ascolto: distratto, come avviene per la musica di sottofondo, oppure attento e concentrato, alla ricerca di similarità nelle melodie e nei ritmi.
Music by Elijax
Violin: Emy Bernecoli
Label: Elijax Records
Time-lapse by Letizia Sacchi
Freely arranged from Arcangelo Corelli, Sarabanda op. 5 no. 7.
