After a four-year crisis (1948-52), Scelsi abandoned Eurocentric musical concepts, stating, 'I was sick, because I was thinking too much, now I don't think any more.'
Performer Biography
Rossella Spinosa, the pianist on this album, is described as an excellent and all-round musician, recognized as a refined pianist, original composer, and talented scholar/musicologist.
Composer Biography
Giacinto Scelsi, Conte d'Ayala, was an Italian composer (1905-1988) whose early work reflected influences from his teachers and styles like paraclassical and paradodecaphonic music.
Compositional Technique
Scelsi focused on the 'spherical entirety' and thickness of sound rather than pitches, working on the acoustic spectrum and allowing himself to be guided by a state of enchantment.
Critical Reception
Until the 1980s, Giacinto Scelsi was considered a problematic composer in Italy, with his musical approach not being appreciated.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Scelsi's music was profoundly influenced by his travels to the East (India and Tibet) starting in 1937, leading him to believe music could crystallize cosmic forces into sound instants.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Scelsi would find and evoke sounds by improvising on the ondiola, aiming for a direct and immediate expression of intuition in the 'here and now,' leading to an ecstatic state.
