Valerio Sannicandro

As difficult as it might be to define it in words, I can say without hesitation that the origins of my music are deeply immersed into the idea of space. Beyond all its phenomenological or merely intuitive meanings, space represents a musical aspect that I have been researching since 2003 at least with Compositeur associé at IRCAM, TU Berlin, whose powerful poetry never stops to having a strong influence on my musical thinking. 

 

Such path has lead me and my music through very diverse experiences conceiving works like IUS LUCIS (2006/2007 – for two ensembles in two concert halls), FIBRAE (2005 – for two soloists, chamber orchestra and live-electronics), STRALI (2002 – for voice, orchestra and electronic sounds) just to name a few. 

 

A constant curiosity toward a strict interaction between acoustic instruments and live-electronics has lead me to share the expertise of some of the most interesting institutions in Europe as IRCAM, Experimental Studio Freiburg, ZKM Karlsruhe, GRM Paris, and meet bright and devoted people who allowed me to collect many precious experiences and for which I will always be grateful. I have transformed the many achievements coming from electronic music practice into my own musical vocabulary, today still in progress, translating them as well into the world of acoustic and traditional instruments with the aim of transcending technology into pure expressivity.

 

I have also tried to conceive worlds that are sometimes very dense and demanding for listeners, and sometimes so expanded in time to become almost melancholic (SONNET X, 2008 – for tuba and live-electronics), trying to reach highest degree of communication, as in SONGS OF ANXIETY (2012 – for amplified flute), without falling into obvious solutions.

A lyrical abstraction could be the key-word for compositions like ODI DI LEVANTE (2008 – for six instruments) or LASCO (2010 – for seven instruments), while a certain eclecticism dictated by my personal need to create a broad diary-like opus, finds place in the series of “Books, ”the most recent one A BOOK OF WAVES, 2011 – for Theremin, Ondes Martenot and live-electronics, issued from my travels along the coasts of Japan, where each one of this series represents a unique attempt to recreate in sound those images and experiences, the literature and culture I have come to meet, know or perceive during the trips.

 

For every composition I had the privilege to hear, I had the chance to meet incredibly skilled and competent musicians who helped my imagination become true, like Jonathan Stockhammer, Salome Kammer, Kousei Murata, André Richard, Arturo Tamayo, Evan Christ or the Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern, e-mex ensemble....

I cannot forget the words of some among the teachers and mentors I came across until now: Peter Eötvös and his ethic example, Emmanuel Nunes and the few but precious teachings, York Höller who indicated me a direction right at my beginnings, Hans Zender with his keen reflections I still have in mind, Sugawara Sensei who explained me – without words – what I am still researching. 

 

 

Valerio Sannicandro, Four Memos, 2012.

Four compositions, four perspectives on music, through some works from 2007 until 2012: Forces Motrices (2010), A Book of Waves (2012), Ius Lucis (2006/2007), Sonnet X (2008).

 

 

Valerio Sannicandro, "A Book of Forms" after Richard Serra's Verb List (preliminary work),  2013.

 

 

 

 

Valerio Sannicandro, A Book of Forms (manuscripts and working schemes), 2013-.