SALVATORE SCIARRINO (b.1947): For solo violin: 6 capricci, Capriccio di una corda*, Fra sé*, Per Mattia, For solo viola: Ai limiti della notte, 3 notturni brillanti. * - First Recordings.

Description: Sciarrino's personal and instantly recognisable brand of sonorism is thoroughly, and thrillingly, displayed in his output for solo violin and viola, mostly from the 1970s. The most skilled practitioner of electronic music would be hard pressed to match the sheer range of timbres that Sciarrino elicits from four strings in the Caprices. The pieces suggest a full cast of characters immersed in an intense drama - sobbing, whispering, crying out, screaming - these kinds of theatrical associations are never far from Sciarrino's music. In the two recent pieces (2009) for violin, the Capriccio and Fra sé, the violin takes on a remarkably vocal tone, a lamenting, questioning voice, speaking as much as singing. The sounds are softer, subtler, without the skittering hyperactivity or wild outbursts with which the Capricci and Notturni are populated. The works seem more intimate, more conversational and less concerned with projecting sonic physicality from the public stage. AdAstra Piano Trio.