et ego | 2017

for guitar and electronics
duration : 8′
première: 05.09.2017 | Pierpaolo Di Napoli, Raul Masu @ Auditorium San Domenico, Venosa, (IT)

program notes
et ego is based on a small fragment of Tristis est anima mea, part of Tenebrae Resposories for Maundy Thursday, by Gesualdo da Venosa (1566-1613). Gesualdo has been famous for his innovative use of chromatic juxtapositions and sharp dissonances, and the fragment I chose is representative of his personal way of writing. My idea was to fix a memory of a possible experience of his music, which is not immediately recognizable. In fact, at the very beginning the guitar acts as a percussive instrument. By varying and repeating small gestures an almost pitchless percussive structure is built up. Two piezoelectric contact microphones are stuck to the body of the instrument, to amplify the sound of the guitar, conferring to the whole piece a peculiar sound quality. At the same time, they are also used to produce some of the percussive sounds. Progressively the percussive pace starts to slow down, leaving space to a distant, but recognizable, memory of the original piece.