Output details

... quel velen che dolcemente ancide...

This piece was the first commission by Trio Atem, acting as a foil to Lachenmann's temA and extends the repertoire for this instrumentation. I develop here commentary techniques begun in my Message from Aiwass series (2002–), quoting here from Luzzaschi's three-voice madrigal 'O dolcezz’amarissime d’amore' (1601): performed for invited audiences in small rooms. This piece translates the expressivity, freedom, performance-intimacy, and ornamentation of Luzzaschi's original into a contemporary musical language. There are few literal quotations of the Luzzaschi here. The intention of this work was to capture the sense of the original as we might hear it now, a ‘memory of the future’ which looks back to previous ages in order to move forward. The instrumental and vocal writing in ...quel velen... creates a dense counterpoint of gestures and ornamentation, exploding the ornamentation of the original from the purely vocal into flute and cello variations, while the soprano flows between foreground expressive vocalisation and quasi-instrumental writing. The soprano also uses finger cymbals—though never while singing—giving her a dual role where she is both inside and outside the counterpoint: either blending voice with the instrumental writing, or using cymbals to frame the interactions as an observer. The intimacy and freedom of the Luzzaschi is also echoed and expanded in the structural treatment of time through notation. The first section is a counterpoint of irrational rhythms and shifting textures, the central interlude for flute and cello (with soprano playing finger cymbals) has an improvisational character from its senza misura marking, while the final section is performed as three independent lines, coming together only for the final 14 bars. The different treatments of time in the score highlight chamber performance and the intimacy of performer interaction, creating similar gestural surfaces with opposing notational strategies.