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MUSICA RITROVATA Gianluca Verlingieri has the title of his CD Musica Ritrovata chosen. He has placed his chamber music of the last fifteen years under this motto, as music that has been rediscovered from other epochs, rediscovered and recomposed in the musical language of our time. According to him, it has thus experienced a new interpretative interpretation with creative means, with a decisive medium of our time: electronics, which he understands as the transformation of reborn, rediscovered music into the present day. Verlingieri refers to Ligeti's programmatic work Musica ricercata. This refers back to Ligeti as a sound researcher in the context of a traditional formal language, which can be seen in his important works Adventures and Novel Adventures. Following this self-image means learning to understand Verlingieri's way of composing. Verlingieri's individual approach differs from that of Ligeti simply in that the structure of his non-electronic music is based on electronic algorithms; but very similarly, namely discursively and thus dialectically, they both work on existing music. Through his understanding of electronic music, Verlingieri matured into one of the most prominent spatial sound experts, but he is even more special: the space is also a geographical, an ethnological space and is structurally measured as such in an allegorical sense. From this arise very complex structural shapes of the room up to electronic spatial sound sculptures. And because they are based on a composed structure, they are not arbitrary like conceptual art, nor do they follow a modular principle. Of course, these structures are not consciously perceptible as a kind of inner architectural outline of the building of this music, but concealed below the electronic envelope of the sound, which they formally hold together, usually unnoticed by the listener, in the sense of an architecture of electronic composing. This covert shares Verlingieri's music with much other densely structured music in the tradition (see, for example, in J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations) as in modern times. The sculptural composition in space is, of course, multidimensional. Verlingieri is a virtuoso, almost a juggler of changing presence of visual and auditory acuity, sometimes very clear, sometimes diffuse with many intermediate shades. To do this, he masterfully uses the parameters of dynamics, those of timbre and those of sound layers and overlays – the latter tend to be of electronic provenance – in which he has an enormously wide musical palette at his disposal. He also uses these resources structurally. His composing in the electronic field and in a corresponding, very complex structure that not only furnishes the room but also shapes it, also determines the instrumental chamber music work, which, however, is usually also haptically connected to the electronic medium. In the chamber music work, its structure is also based on algorithmic axiomatics. As a result, his composition is based on an »electronic« consciousness. As an electronics engineer, he is in fact an "instrumental composer" who uses compositional techniques rooted in tradition and develops them further in line with our times. In Verlingieri's work, the structural elements are always condensed into a musical form, which often corresponds to the traditional model or that of the selected music from other cultures in »Music about Music«. And the compression into one form is guaranteed even in semi-improvisational passages, which appear again and again in his works. Verlingieri strictly avoids adapting the musical template, he always deals with it discursively and sensitively engages with the idioms, even more with the musical axiomatics, of the »other« culture chosen for the composition. An important variant of this discourse is the high art of variation, which Verlingieri, like Morton Feldman, masters with virtuosity, which constitutes the "minimalist building block" in his music. It compresses the inner structure of his composition, which is already very dense due to the spatial sound operations, immensely, which only seems so light. Verlingieri calls it a »compositional virtuosity« (virtuoso), which can never be equated with »performance virtuosity«. At first glance, this aspect makes his music more accessible than that of some of his colleagues of complex provenance. Verlingieri never colonizes through adaptation, but behaves with integrity towards the other. This mode of composing consequently leads to very different "stylistic" or aesthetic results, but only apparently. What they all have in common is the way they compose, the structural and analytical approach and the respectful handling of the material. In this respect, he is very close to Horațiu Rădulescu in the sense of a truly intercultural approach and far from the much-deplored Eurocentrism. In the field of composing with "other music" in dialogue, Verlingieri has a unique selling point that has not been achieved so far, and this accounts for his still-to-be-discovered great importance as a composer. About the individual works on this CD Elegos IV for basset horn solo (2005 / 2017), a Greek lament. The connection between the words of the underlying text, the subject »Élegos« and the music is created by the basset horn in the form of an eerie lament. The work is inspired by the myth of Medusa, the deadly bond of the three terrible sisters, those snake-haired creatures. The Piano Trio Schubert fragments (2006–2007) deals with a historical form and reflects its undoubted influence on today's composition in the musical axiomatics, the compositional technique and in the content of his work. This influence refers to the way such music is performed, its social component to a change in traditional concert forms, and the logic of its reception as that of a new composition in the sense of a »sociology of culture«. From this perspective, Verlingieri's Piano Trio is conceived as a kind of suite of eleven miniatures, inspired by fragments and musical gestures from Franz Schubert's Scherzo String Quintet in C major, D 956. Verlingieri also uses heterophonic counterpoint technique – as well as in early music and very often in Franz Schubert. Shift for accordion solo (2008) is based on two opposing phenotypes of music that are diametrically opposed in character. For reasons of spatial sound – which are very important for Gianluca Verlingieri – as well as the construction of the instrument, such a musical conception is almost inevitable. Textures of a harmonic ambiguity stemming from this contradiction and a corresponding illusionistic sound painting are refined through a subtle play of electronic operations. This includes a lucid spatialization corresponding to the spatial sound bipolarity of the accordion. Alchymiae. Ricercari on »Ave Maris Stella« for vibraphone and piano (2009) is based on the famous Gregorian chant of the same name Hail maris stella. Two corresponding to today's music Ricercari are determined by the experimental music of the late Renaissance. These two movements express the extreme differences of fusion and dissociation of the musical material through two dialectically opposed instruments: the piano and the vibraphone. IronicOnirico Sound drama for sound-enhanced trombone (2010) is an ironically surreal piece about the moon and its distance from the earth. Here, too, two opposites are decisive for the music in the sense of a dialectical bipolarity – as is so often the case with Gianluca Verlingieri. Four Songs for a Mad Composer for string quartet (2015) was written as a present for the composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' 81st birthday (September 8, 2015). The short sections represent four different short episodes from Peter Maxwell Davies' life and work, »compositionally reinterpreted«. Labirinti della memoria [Book I] for piano (2004–2005) is a short collection of compositional studies for piano that can almost be called Minute Pieces. They are influenced by traditional western music. But Verlingieri not only works on it one-dimensionally illustratively, he also »contaminates« this music with external influences such as African folk music. Complex configurations of such different musical approaches pile up into a fascinating labyrinth. Vintage Passacaglia for baroque organ (2019) is an adaptation of materials from various temporal, cultural and geographical sources, as here in the case of the models by Johann Sebastian Bach and Dietrich Buxtehude. Verlingieri calls the procedure used here a "compositional-technical analysis" of the original. Bach revered Buxtehude, and their opposites inspired Verlingieri to create a bipolarity based on two musical sources. The Ghedini fragments (2015) appear after the Schubert fragments as the second piano trio on this CD. Verlingieri's relation to Giorgio Federico Ghedini is a very personal one. Ghedini spent his childhood in Verlingieri's hometown of Cuneo. In 2015 Verlingieri was awarded the Ghedini Prize. He realized this highly emotional work using what he called his »compositional-technical analysis / resynthesis« process. With the help of various algorithmic parameters, he layered Ghedini's material in every variation, creating an extremely dense musical cosmos behind which Ghedini increasingly disappeared. Ernest Helmuth Flammer program: Gianluca Verlingieri (* 1976) [01] Elegos IV for basset horn solo (2005 / 2017) 05:27 Michele Marelli, basset horn [02] Schubert fragments for violin, cello and piano (2006–2007) 06:35 Trio Debussy [03] Shift for accordion solo (2008) 09:08 Ghenadie Rotari, accordion [04] Alchymiae. Ricercari on “Ave Maris Stella” for vibraphone and piano (2009) 05:50 Simone Beneventi, vibraphone [05] IronicOnirico Sound drama for sound-enhanced trombone (2010) 06:39 Michele Lomuto, Sound enhanced tenor trombone [06] Four Songs for a Mad Composer for string quartet(2015) 05:45 Lyskamm Quartet [07] Labirinti della memoria [Book I] for piano (2004–2005) 04:59 Gianluca Cascioli, Piano [08] Vintage Passacaglia for baroque organ (2019) 07:08 Balint Karosi, organ [09] Ghedini fragments for violin, cello and piano (2015) 06:59 Trio Debussy Total playing time: 59:31 First recordings (except track 03) Press:
The motivating idea for this collection of pieces by the Italian composer Gianluca Verlingieri is that of “analysis and resynthesis”. If that mouthful hasn't got you running for the hills, let me attempt to explain, as best I can, what that means in terms of the music you will hear on this recording. The composer cites his compatriot Berio's statement that the best way to analyze a piece of music is to compose another piece in response to it. Think of Mussorgsky writing Pictures at an Exhibition in response to paintings by Hartmann but instead of the inspiration being a painting (or a poem or landscape) it is another piece of music. Another example might be the finale of Mozart's 'Jupiter' symphony: inimitably Mozart, but clearly a response to exposure to the music of Handel and Bach. The title of this CD, Musica Ritrovata, is taken from Ligeti and provides an important clue to Verlingieri's style. It means re-found or rediscovered music or, as the composer playfully suggests, reimagined. Music of the past, often in extremely fractured form or having undergone some process of development, haunts every piece. Sometimes the influencing composers are named, as in the pieces deriving from Schubert and Ghedini, sometimes they struck me like half-remembered snatches of melody or harmony. If this all sounds rather daunting, Verlingieri's musical voice is both playful and affectionate. His love for the music that lies somewhere behind these scores radiates from every bar. My personal response to this collection of pieces was that it is a bit of a mixed bag with the good extremely good, but some of it left me rather nonplussed. There is a certain irony that the pieces that impressed me most were for the most conventional ensembles - the two works for piano trio and one for string quartet. I don't think this was because I have any problem with unorthodox instrument combinations – one of the other standout tracks, Alchymiae, is for the odd but surprisingly delicious duo of piano and vibraphone – it is just that I found that the idea of “analysis and resynthesis” came most vividly to life as a musical experience in those works. While I defy anyone to hear anything of God Save the Queen in the second of the Four Songs for a Mad Composer (the influence of Maxwell Davies' Farewell to Stromness and, in particular, his An Orkney Wedding and Sunrise is more audible later in the piece), it is immense fun to listen to. The Schubert fragments are probably both the most substantial and best of the pieces included. That is if substantial is the right word for such, well, fragmentary and allusive music. The spirit of Schubert does hover obliquely over proceedings without ever being directly quoted or, mercifully, emerging in a kitschy way, something, according to a quote from the composer, he was particularly at pains to avoid. An ideal way to listen to this piece would be in between the Schubert piano trios (even though the Schubert that has been re-synthesized was a passage from the Scherzo of the String Quintet). It is full of stimulating refractions and reflections without losing its own personality. This is also a more serious work than the Four Songs for a Mad Composer with a distinct air of Winterreise About it. The Italian composer, Giorgio Ghedini (1892-1965) lurks behind the Ghedini fragments. I am not familiar with his music so I am unable to say how like or unlike his music, Verlingieri's piece is but it is a beautiful piece. Apparently Ghedini's music is nearer the surface than in the other pieces. The structure is of a theme and variations. It is, as a result, more directly melodic without losing that sense of mischievous creativity that enlivens this CD. Another consequence is that the piece is overtly emotional which together with the Schubert Fragments serves to anchor the programme. The most recent piece Vintage, dates from 2019. It is described as a passacaglia for baroque organ. In style, it is rather like a Gothic fever dream in which half-remembered snatches of organ music float. These snippets form and then break apart constantly in an obsessional manner that mirrors the endless going over of a melody that is the basis of a passacaglia. This process becomes more frantic as the music proceeds, constantly trying to find its way to a grand Baroque climax but never quite reaching it. I was less impressed by the solo pieces respectively for basset horn and augmented trombone (no, I haven't a clue what one is either!). This is probably my own personal lack of interest in such pieces which always seem like test pieces for exams to my ears. Both these pieces are expertly written but I had a feeling that I heard it all before and not in the sense of echoes of other pieces! Others might not share my prejudices and enjoy these pieces more than I did. I want except Labyrinths for solo piano and Shift for solo accordion from this mild criticism of the solo pieces. The latter is full of good humor including asking the player to tap out a dance rhythm on the keys of the instrument. It manages to also find a strange, rarefied loveliness in the stratosphere of the accordion's range. The Labirinti della Memoria or labyrinths of memory, referred to in the title of Verlingieri's excellent set of piano pieces, he describes as the “collective” musical memory of not just Western music but all sorts of influences ranging from Africa to Cossack folk songs. This results in a piece that wears the complexity of its compositional processes lightly and elegantly. It is beautifully written for the piano. As with all the other compositions included in this composer portrait, it is played with real care and devotion and given a top-notch recording. Verlingieri's art is not the sort to storm the heavens but works in a quieter, more subtle way. Pay it due attention and the listener will be more than recompensed. These are the kind of pieces that get under the skin. I would love to hear what his ear and imagination would come up with writing for the orchestra and I hope he gets the chance. In the meantime, this stimulating disc will give a lovely introduction to his art. David McDade |
