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Few composers like Franco Donatoni have experienced the difficulty of composing, the dramatic nature of the act of creation. This is evident, for example, in his writings, with their abstruse titles (Questo, 1970; Antecedente X, 1980, whose subtitle is indeed 'On the difficulties of composing'). Yet Donatoni was a light-hearted soul: when the Milano Musica festival paid him tribute in 1992, he showed up at the concert dressed as Bach... and some of you might remember him on the stage of the Maurizio Costanzo Show, wearing a cowboy hat plunged onto his head...
The Accord CD I hold in my hands offers us a portrait in music: six pieces for small chamber ensembles composed between 1960 and 1993. The style is unmistakable: Donatoni's music is nervous, impetuous, a tangle of notes that at times reach an extreme density, making the listener hold their breath. (record note: live recording, no noise in between but applause is heard at the end of the pieces)
"Spiri" (1977) for ten instruments and "Le Ruisseau sur l'escalier" (1983) for cello and small orchestra are among his most well-known works, but the other pieces presented here also confirm this composer's qualities: a lucid fury takes over every sound, moments of relative calm are interspersed with others in which the material teems with a swarming vitality.
Here is the music of Franco Donatoni (1927-2000): the soundtrack of an anthill...
Dozens of composers have benefited from his teaching, another testament to his unwillingness to succumb to the difficulties of making music today. Among them, Castagnoli, Dusapin, Fedele, Lindberg, Maldonado, Romitelli, Solbiati, and the list could go on. What remains for us is Donatoni's music: a precious legacy, to be listened to as much as possible.
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