SPE - PERFORMANCE AND EXHIBITION SPACE AT 21.00
13 APRIL 2019
Alda Caiello/Ars Ludi
Tribute to JacobTV
Land of Silence
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JacobTV
Ed è subito sera
for mezzo soprano and percussion
World première
Syracuse Blues
for soprano sax, tape and video (2008)
Italian première
Il terremoto
for mezzo soprano, harp, marimba and gong (ouverture for Si Wang)
World première
Si Wang
for mezzo soprano, harp, marimba, vibraphone, gong, bronze bells, and video
(2016)
Italian première
Billie
for alto sax, tape and video (2003)
Harper Songs
for mezzo soprano, harp and 2 percussionists (2016)
Italian première
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Alda Caiello mezzo soprano
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Ensemble Ars Ludi
Lucia Bova arpa
Alfredo Santoloci saxophons
Antonio Caggiano percussion
Gianluca Ruggeri percussion
JacobTV sound director
The theme of death has always fascinated the great Dutch composer and inspired the creation of many of his works. In this concert, we present some of his most significant pieces that explore the theme and its different aspects.
Ed è subito sera (And Suddenly It Is Evening), is an aria inspired by the famous poetry of Salvatore Quasimodo on the theme of individual and universal loneliness, written for the voice of Alda Caiello the percussion of Ars Ludi, and premiered for the first time here.
Syracuse Blues for soprano sax, tape and video, a heart-wrenching song about the death of the fish, with the recorded voices of the street vendors, recorded by the same composer in a fish market in Syracuse during a trip to Sicily, is a reflection on man’s devastation of nature. The composer writes, “I found myself at the fish market in Syracuse where I recorded the powerful, beautiful melancholic, heart-wrenching and rich ‘glissando’ voices of the traders. These voices then became the leitmotiv of this composition”.
The title of the piece Si Wang (death or dying) for mezzo soprano, harp, marimba, vibraphone, gong, bronze slabs, tape and video refers to the word most used by Chinese television presenters during their descriptions of a series of devastating earthquakes in April 2008 in China. This piece, which shows death in relation to catastrophic climatic events, is built on clocks, here represented by the bronze bells, which depict the dramatic passage of time and demonstrate the inexorability of nature during devastating events such as earthquakes.
The piece is preceded by the overture Il terremoto (“The Earthquake”), also performed for the first time, based on the verses of the poem by Quasimodo, “Al padre” (“To My Father”).
Death is the loss of loved ones in Billie for alto saxophone, tape and video, an homage to the great American singer, Billie Holiday, and tells of her unhappy life and incredible career.
Harper Songs for mezzo soprano, harp and two percussionists, is built on texts from Egyptian poems from 4000 BC, extols the celebratory function of funeral rites and practices related to tragic events.
