OSVALDO COLUCCINO Emblema Ex Novo Ensemble © Franca Maltempi Osvaldo Coluccino Osvaldo OSVALDO COLUCCINO (*1963) Emblema chamber music (2009–2015) 1 Emblema 1 4 Emblema 5 for flute/bass flute, bass clarinet, for clarinet, violin, cello and piano (2011) 17:18 violin, viola and cello (2009–2010) 08:55 5 Emblema 6 2 Emblema 3 for bass flute, bass clarinet and for flute and violin (2009–2010) 09:36 cello (2012) 08:54 3 Emblema 4 6 Emblema 7 for violin, viola and cello (2011) 09:20 for flute, clarinet, violin and cello (2015) 07:12 TT 52:54 Ex Novo Ensemble Daniele Ruggieri flute Davide Teodoro clarinet Carlo Lazari violin Mario Paladin viola Carlo Teodoro cello Aldo Orvieto piano 3 The collaboration between composer and performers started with a concert at Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice in 2016, where Emblema 5 was performed on commission by the Gran Teatro La Fenice di Venezia. Work for the album Emblema continued thanks to the concert at the Festival della Musica Contemporanea Italiana in Forli, and other rehearsals later took place in Venice on Sestiere Castello. Emblema 2 is a composition for 12 instruments and has not been recorded for this project. But this absence is also a poetic choice, in order to offer an intimate album with fewer instruments. All tracks are world premiere recordings. 24bit/96khz hi-res recordings, in two renowned halls for classical music recordings. Recording venues: 1 2 3 5 Salone Rosso, Monastery of Villa San Fermo, Lonigo (Vicenza), Italy 4 6 Fazioli Concert Hall, Sacile (Pordenone), Italy Recording dates: 1 2 3 5 30 January 2017 4 6 18 January 2017 Recording engineers: 1 2 3 5 Matteo Costa 4 6 Andrea Dandolo, Matteo Costa, Davide Corsato Editing, Mixing: Osvaldo Coluccino Liner notes: Ettore Garzia, Osvaldo Coluccino Translation: Osvaldo Coluccino Publisher: Osvaldo Coluccino Graphic design: Alexander Kremmers (paladino media), cover based on artwork by Enrique Fuentes 4 Osvaldo Coluccino – Emblema temporary music. His music has an obvi- er, those of Stefano Gervasoni, who linked ous symbolist imprint that a mature listen- the symbolism to the phonetic and se- Ettore Garzia ing returns in its entirety: it is a structure mantic characters of the language, impos- built with frames, where the instruments ing a type of dramaturgy divided between In the vast domain of contemporary mu- appear and vanish, the colors are tenuous perception of sounds and concepts to ex- sic, the origi nality of a proposal is only and transport the listener to an amazing press. Coluccino is even more in the realm achieved through a particular “circum- sound world of the interior, a suggestion of pure sound and its visual power. His lan- vention” of the compositional conditions: that responds immediacy to our soul. We guage is deliberately emotional, and, with choosing to use certain materials accord- look for explanations, like being in front of a strong humanistic endowment, does not ing to rules that mistreat the elements a painting in which the figures or objects pursue a positivist propulsion, nor does he that make up the music (modification or are able to make sense, to make state- want to argue about conceptualities pro- reset of harmony, of the melodic line, of ments and to have a voice, despite the im- vided by events (as in the case of Cage). In the times, of the dynamics, etc.), projects mobility of what is physically present in spite of this, the score is scientifically ac- the thought of the composer, beyond any our eyes. curate in the formulation of pitches, inter- discovery about the sounds. This thought, vals, rhythmic micro-divisions, designa- moreover, is also elaborated on interdisci- Coluccino’s music captures a neural im- tion of timbral colors. The most substantial plinary factors with the other arts: usually age that, thanks to this kind of discovery, test bench to affirm such his depth, is the the composer is also a hidden poet, paint- can simultaneously give shivers or be wel- chamber music, often organized in a struc- er or writer, who put in the music such coming. It is a vitality that enters into the ture that resembles unions in a cycle, with connection. most intimate thoughts about what sur- compositions that have a logic that is in- rounds us, triggering deep and pertinent terchangeable between the movements; Osvaldo Coluccino (*1963) is an outstand- questions through its actors and, without in this specific monograph for KAIROS, ing example of these principles: the “cir- artificial complexity or repetition, man- Coluccino presents the chronological cy- cumvention” proposed by Coluccino (who ages to be the only and sufficient materi- cle of Emblema, 6 compositions perfect- is also a poet) has a fantastic way out be- al for musical expansion. I can assert that ly performed by the Ex Novo Ensemble. In- cause he works on an approach that devel- Coluccino is making one of the most wor- deed, Coluccino composed 7 pieces, but in ops the music-art binomial in a way that thy paths of continuity for contemporary this collection the composer preferred to only a few have been able to formulate in symbolism in Italy: I think of the great and exclude the Emblema 2 for 12 instruments, a clear and fulfilled manner way in con- inherent experiences of Luigi Nono or, lat- due to the increased instrumental sub- 5 stance, a frightening circumstance for the it, intercept a dialogue that is mystery and Symbolism returns as a way of exploring possible “forcing” of the intimate and uni- serene reflection at the same time. the unknown. Everything ends up as it fied character expressed by the author. Co- started. But in the middle there is a unique luccino uses unconventional techniques Emblema 4, for violin, viola and cello, in- experience. that work on the nuances of the sound, creases the prospective state given by mu- through delicate pizzicatos and pressure sic, the ability to imagine moving around Translation from Italian on the strings, refined work on the keys in an environment to observe what is hap- by Osvaldo Coluccino of the woodwinds, to extract the sound of pening, where every sequence of notes the acoustic cavity from them and, above has its own profile. all, he makes a magnificent work of time regulation on the pauses. That’s how you In Emblema 5, the presence of the piano in- get to know his sound slides, a casing to creases the introspective space, seeks out capture the humanity of characters or ob- support, poetically, while the rest remains jects, where perfomances becomes essen- suspended in a magnificent segmentation. tial. In Emblema 6, the bass tones by the wood- In Emblema 1, the construction swings be- winds (flute and clarinet) intersect magi- tween the silent digging of the bottom by cally with the ones by the cello in a spe- the woodwinds and the one of the metals cial suspensive atmosphere, reproducing by the strings, intertwined by silences that perfectly the substance of a shape with ca- seem to assume the proportions of the Fi- denced, sliding images, thanks to a great bonacci’s folds; special sound spectra, res- interlacing of multiphonics, airy sounds idues I would say, that are mingled with and concrete sounds, shown in detail in silence and inspire a psychological dimen- the score. sion. Emblema 7 matures the feeling of flying Emblema 3 has a more articulated plot, over the aisles of a large church and works studied for flute and violin, where sounds on sophisticated sounds that are capable cross as a moving watermark, and, within of creating fairy fluctuations, interrogating frescoes and hearing their claims. 6 Osvaldo Coluccino – Emblema binomio musica-arte in un modo che solo piendo uno dei più degni percorsi di conti- in pochi sono riusciti a formulare in ma- nuazione del simbolismo contemporaneo Ettore Garzia niera chiara e compiuta nella musica con- in Italia: penso alle grandi e inerenti espe- temporanea. La sua musica ha un’evidente rienze di Luigi Nono o, più tardi, a quelle impronta simbolista che l’ascolto maturo di Stefano Gervasoni, autori che lo legaro- restituisce in toto: è una struttura costru- no però ai caratteri fonetici e semantici del ita per fotogrammi, dove gli strumenti ap- linguaggio, imponendo un tipo di dram- Nell’ampio dominio della musica contem- paiono e sfumano, le tinte sono tenui e si maturgia divisa tra percezione dei suoni e poranea, l’originalità di una proposta viene viene trasportati in un incredibile mondo concetti da esprimere. Con Coluccino si ri- raggiunta solo con un particolare “raggiro” sonoro dell’interiore, una suggestione che mane ancor più nel regno del suono puro delle condizioni compositive: la scelta di risponde in immediatezza al nostro animo, e del suo potere visivo, il suo linguaggio è utilizzare alcuni materiali secondo regole per cercare spiegazioni, come essere da- deliberatamente emotivo, e, con una do- che bistrattano gli elementi che compon- vanti a un dipinto in cui le figure o gli og- tazione umanistica robusta, non perse- gono la musica (modificazioni o azzera- getti sono in grado di muovere senso, di gue una propulsione positivista, né tanto mento dell’armonia, della linea melodica, fare affermazioni e di avere una voce, no- meno vuole argomentare su concettualità dei tempi, delle dinamiche, ecc.), proietta nostante l’immobilità sia ciò che si presen- fornite a mo’ di eventi (alla Cage, per inten- il pensiero del compositore, aldilà di qual- ta fisicamente ai nostri occhi. derci), e malgrado ciò connotata la partitu- sivoglia scoperta sui suoni. Questo pensie- ra con precisione scientifica nella formula- ro, peraltro, è elaborato anche su fattori in- Attraverso la musica di Coluccino si co- zione di altezze, intervalli, micro-divisioni terdisciplinari con le altre arti: solitamente glie un’immagine neurale che, per tipo di ritmiche, designazione di colori timbrici … il compositore è anche un celato poeta, scoperta, al tempo stesso può dar brividi E il banco di prova più sostanzioso per af- pittore o scrittore, che nella musica riversa o esser accogliente, una vitalità che si ad- fermare questa sua profondità, resta la il collegamento.