Various Artists - L'arte Della Scordatura - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Diminutions, the art of extemporary embellishment or melodic variation, were an essential part of performance practice of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods. The basis of diminutions is the fragmentation of a long note or series of long notes into many shorter and faster ones that move around the original melody. In the 16th and early 17th centuries, a composition as written by the composer was often regarded as raw material and it was normal and even required of musicians to embellish the works performed. The number of treatises that were devoted to the teaching of this subject is a clear indication of the importance of diminutions at that time. Most of these manuals included a collection of decorated melodies taken from renowned madrigals, motets and chansons by well-known composers of the time. These pieces give us clear examples of how music was performed during that time and what was considered the proper way to embellish a piece of music. Often technically demanding, these pieces gave scope for virtuoso display as they required great dexterity from the performer. In conclusion, diminutions were added to make a piece of music more 'beautiful'. This album explores the widespread practice of diminutions by presenting published examples of diminutions on well-known motets, by master composers; diminutions on popular melodies or dance forms and finally, diminutions composed by the performer as artist.

It was a particularly innovative period the telescope, the pendulum clock and Newton's laws of gravity are just a few examples of the developments and discoveries of the 17th century. No wonder that music also experienced many innovations. One of the most important was immediately a completely new genre In the baroque opera, which developed from 1600 onwards, affects were the central means of creation; emotional states of the protagonists, which develop from the opera plot and can then be expressed with a rich canon of musical means. In the Venice of the InchSeicentoInch this art reaches ever new heights and is then also transferred from opera to other musical genres - musical affects, purely instrumental. Some of these fascinating Inchoperas without wordsInch are presented by the Ensemble Colorito in the bright, intense color scheme to which it owes it's name.

Mutation is not a simple transformation. To change means losing yourself to discover yourself differently. Everything around us is subject to this process- the seasons, the people, our feelings... What changes in this work is not only the sound of the saxophone which like a new Ulysses, ventures between ports and unexplored countries, continually rediscovering it's nature, but also the compositions themselves, which although belonging to a more or less recent past, are returned as new, sometimes immersed in a sparkling light, sometimes in a deep shadow. The listener follows this journey, in turn changing his perceptions by opening doors so far only imagined. At the heart of this work are the three mutations taken from S. Sciarrino's work for flute [tracks 1-3]. This version, by the same performer of the album, was based from the need to create with the music of this composer, who in the past has already crossed his path with that of the saxophone giving life to compositions such as La bocca, i piedi e il suono, Pagine and many others, a more intimate relationship. The collaboration between the performer and the composer has allowed us to give these pieces a different perspective which, while not denying it's original model, finds it's own expressive direction and multidimensional physiognomy.