LUCA FRANCESCONI (b.1956): Etymo for Soprano, Electronics and Ensemble, Da Capo for 9 Instruments, A fuoco for Guitar and Ensemble, Animus for Trombone and Electronics.

Description: These four works, although not related, combine to form an ideally encapsulated portrait of Francesconi's complex compositional ideals. Etymo begins with disjointed vocalizations and fragmentary phonemes as parts of an abstract texture of instrumental and electronic sound. Gradually, meaning emerges, as the fragments crystallize into comprehensible words, finally revealed as a fragment of Baudelaire. The music similarly progresses from abstract pointillistic textures to more concrete, 'meaningful' material, in which tonal referents, and even elements of minimalistic propulsiveness are evident. Both Da Capo and A fuoco (the latter a dazzling guitar 'concerto' in all but name) also examine processes of memory and revelation in an analogous fashion; the music is cast in a modern idiom, yet constantly undermines its own abstraction with gestures that are instantly comprehensible, appealingly familiar. Animus, through the extensive use of electronics, expands the personal dimension of a single instrumentalist and his physical extension, the trombone, into a virtual ensemble, amplifying and yet subsuming the individual as it progresses. Barbara Hannigan (soprano), Pable Márquez (guitar), Benny Sluchin (trombone), IRCAM, Ensemble Intercontemporain; Susanna Mälkki.