Giacinto Scelsi Edition, Vol. 1-7 [Mode Records]

How do Scelsi's works for solo piano and piano chamber works fit into his ouvre? Most of his numerous piano compositions were written in two batches, from 1930 to 1943 and from 1952 to 1956 (if one wants to trust the dates of composition given by Scelsi, who intended to fool musicologists). […] Assuming a special position within Scelsi's compositional output, his works for piano shed not only light on his outstanding pianistic talent and his abilities as an improviser, but they indicate major changes in his compositional development. Twelve-tone procedures in his early piano works reveal the influence of Schoenberg, Berg and Webern. In following works such as the Second Sonata (on mode 92) and the Sixth Suite, Scelsi concentrated more and more on the exploration of pitch centers and clusters as focal points and on the autonomy of single tones or sounds. When after more then a decade-long psychic crisis, Scelsi resumed composing for the piano, he fell back upon techniques he had used in his early works, namely motivic organization contrasted by somewhat amorphous pitch or sound centers. Yet, more and more of these pieces focus on the repetition of single pitches. They also reveal meditative aspects which are emphasized by such Sanskrit-derived subtitles as Bot-ba - An evocation of Tibet with its monasteries in the high mountains: Tibetan rituals, prayers and dances, (Suite No. 8, 1952), Ttai (Suite No. 9), or Ka (Suite No. 10). In his search of the "depth" of sound and its microtonal qualities, the piano with its half-tone step limitation could no longer correspond to his artistic ideas; and as a consequence he stopped composing for this instrument in 1956. However, Scelsi did not discard the piano, which had served as one of his imperative composing aids since the mid-forties. Instead, he employed the "ondiolina," an electric keyboard instrument which made possible quarter-tone differentiation. Aitsi, Scelsi's last work for amplified piano solo of 1974, in which the sustained pitches are distorted, incidentally originated due to a malfunction of his tape recorder. It was ultimately arranged for string quartet in 1985.

Sabine Feisst

Giacinto Scelsi's profile on Mode Records

Tracklist:
Volume 1: The Piano Works 1

Sonata No. 2 (1939)
1. Con estremo impeto, agitatissimo (5:21)
2. Lento meditativo (8:21)
3. Vivace tempestoso (4:24)

Sonata No. 4 (1941)
1. Con moto (4:59)
2. Lento (7:22)
3. Con impeto estremo, violento (3:40)

Suite No. 9 "Ttai" (1953)
1. Calmo, senza espressione (3:56)
2. Lentissimo (5:05)
3. Uguale, senza espressione (2:51)
4. Non molto legato, ma sempre appoggiando profondamente (5:14)
5. Uguale, scorrevole (3:09)
6. Lento (3:14)
7. Uguale, inespressivo (3:48)
8. Lento (5:45)
9. Molto p eguale, non troppo legato (3:18)

Louise Bessette, piano


Volume 2: The Orchestral Works 1

Hymnos (1963) for organ & 2 orchestras (10:59)

Hurqualia (1960) for large orchestra (4:37, 2:43, 4:02)

Konx-Om-Pax (1968) for large orchestra & chorus (5:41, 2:11, 9:59)

The Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic & Concert Choir
Juan Pablo Izquierdo, conductor

Canti del Capricorno (1962-72)
Canto No 1 for soprano & percussion (3:33)
Canto No 2 for tenor (2:30)
Canto No 14 for tenor & percussion (3:08)
Canto No 15 for soprano (2:50)
Canto No 18 for soprano & percussion (1:57)
Canto 19 for voices & instruments (2:33)

Pauline Vaillancourt, soprano
Douglas Ahlstedt, tenor


Volume 3: Music For High Winds

1. Ixor (1956) for clarinet (3:01)

2-5. Suite (1953) for flute & clarinet (2:37, 2:01, 2:35, 1:29)

6. Preghiera per un' ombra (1954) for clarinet (8:41)

7-8. Ko-Lho (1966) for flute & clarinet (3:07, 2:37)

9. Pwyll (1954) for flute (4:31)

10-12. Tre pezzi (1954) for Eb clarinet (2:45, 2:51, 3:10)

13-15. Rucke di Guck (1957) for piccolo & oboe (2:28, 3:00, 3:17)

16-18. Three Latin Prayers (1970) for clarinet
Ave Maria (3:15), Pater Noster (2:25), Alleluja (3:09)

Carol Robinson, clarinets
Clara Novakova, flute, piccolo
Cathy Milliken, oboe


Volume 4: The Piano Works 2

Suite No. 2 (1930)

1. Grandioso (3:33)
2. Appassionato (4:24)
3. Imperioso ed incisivo (4:50)
4. Drammatico (4:44)
5. Drammatico (3:29)
6. Sostenuto (4:16)
7. Incisivo (3:13)
8. Maestoso (3:54)
9. Imperioso (2:26)
10. Sostenuto (4:36)
11. Imperioso (2:07)
12. Molto mosso (5:12)
first recording

Action Music (1955)

13. Poco piu mosso, Veloce (2:07)
14. Iniziando e subito accelerando… (1:22)
15. Lento dolce (tutto col palmo della mano) (1:16)
16. Martellato (1:11)
17. Violento (2:00)
18. Brillante (1:48)
19. Pesante (1:39)
20. Veloce (1:46)
21. Con fuoco (1:52)

Stephen Clarke, piano


Volume 5: The Piano Works 3

1-7. Suite No. 10 "Ka" (1954)
Quattro Illustrazioni (1953)
8. I. Shesha-Shayi-Vishnù (3:46)
9. II. Varaha-Avatara (3:46)
10. III. Rama-Avatara (con eleganza e seduzione) (2:36)
11. IV. Krishna-Avatara (calmo, radioso) (4:06)
Sonate No.3 (1939)
12. I. Lento, rubato (8:41)
13. II. Con dolcezza (5:11)
14. III. (6:06)
Cinque Incantesimi (1953)
15. I. Deciso imperioso (2:23)
16. II. Presto (wild and strident) (1:37)
17. III. Agitato (1:40)
18. IV. Lento (Misterioso, soprannaturale) (3:33)
19. V. (wild and strident) (2:10)
20. Un Adieu (1978/88?) (6:58)

Aki Takahashi, piano


Volume 6: The Orchestral Works 2

Quattro Pezzi (su una nota sola) (1959) (16:54)
for 25 musicians
Peter Rundel, conductor
1st Movement (2:56)
2nd Movement (4:49)
3rd Movement (4:27)
4th Movement (4:41)

Uaxuctum-The Legend of the Mayan City which they themselves destroyed for religious reasons (1966) (21:14)
for ondes Martenot, seven percussionists, timpanist, chorus and 23 musicians
Peter Rundel, conductor
1st Movement (6:13)
2nd Movement (3:59)
3rd Movement (3:43)
4th Movement (3:12)
5th Movement (4:07)
Concentus Vocalis, Chorusmaster: Herbert Böck

La nascita del Verbo (1946-48) (31:58)
for chorus and large orchestra
Johannes Kalitzke, conductor
1st Movement (6:34)
2nd Movement (6:00)
3rd Movement (8:09)
4th Movement (11:15)
Wiener Kammerchor, Chorusmaster: Michael Grohotolsky

Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra


Volume 7: The Works for Double Bass

Nuits (1972)
I. C'est bien la nuit (2:49)
II. Le Reveil profond (6:00)

Et maintenant c'est à vous de jouer… (1974) (6:21)

Robert Black, double bass

Ko-Tha "Three Dances of Shiva" (1967)
transcription for double bass by Fernando Grillo (8:14, 2:19, 3:44)

Robert Black, double bass

Dharana (1975) (8:49)
for cello and double bass

Robert Black, double bass
Felix Fan, cello


Maknongon (1976) (4:29)
for any low instrument (or bass voice)

Robert Black, double bass

Kshara (1975) (2:56, 5:38, 5:07)
for two double basses

Robert Black, double bass
John Eckhardt, double bass

Okanagon (1968) (9:07)
for harp, double bass and tam-tam

Robert Black, double bass
June Han, harp
Tom Kolor, tam-tam

Mantram (undated) (4:47)

Robert Black, double bass