Understanding and subtly in eight works from “one of Australia’s most fearless musical ensembles.”

Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre
November 10, 2014

Decibel was recently described by ABC Classic FM presenter Julian Day as “one of Australia’s most fearless musical ensembles.” Indeed, not everyone is cut out for the unique challenges of performing music composed by the notoriously reclusive and mysterious Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988). An independently wealthy member of the Italian aristocracy, Scelsi was able to compose without financial constraint and enjoyed success in the 1920s and 30’s. He studied with Alban Berg and associates of Scriabin, but his writing took a momentous turn after a devastating mental breakdown in the late 1940s. Scelsi became increasingly fascinated by the properties of individual notes, to the point where, as Christopher Fox explained in the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, “he would spend days repeatedly playing single notes on the piano, developing a new, intensely focussed mode of listening.”

The eight works performed by Decibel for their Inner Space programme all demonstrated a profound concern with subtleties of overtone and harmonic shading. This was explored in various ways, often around sustained long tones. Scelsi’s Aitsi (1974) for piano and electronics made use of dense tone clusters sparsely spread apart, gently manipulated by electronics to echo and clash in space. This produced beautiful overtones and harmonics, as did Ko-Lho (1966) for flute and clarinet, in which sinewy lines very close in pitch undulated in and out of unison, producing a beating, fluttery effect. This was followed by clarinettist and composer Lindsay Vickery’s In Nomine Tenebris (2014), a meditation on Scelsi’s short organ work In Nomine Lucis (1974). The work which is scored for a larger ensemble with electronics, transports Scelsi’s explorations of tonal nuance into a more thickly textural context. Rich and warm, its seductive glissandi coexisted with palpable tension and disquiet.

Scelsi’s Maknongan (1974) for bass instrument was performed by cellist Tristen Parr, with electronics emphasising and colouring aspects of the score. Cat Hope’s Sognol102 (2013) is a product her extensive work on Scelsi, particularly her participation in a lengthy workshop near Palermo with associates and custodians of his compositional and performance techniques. It began with sustained cello and viola lines, and explored the harmonic possibilities around a long droning note with subtle microtonal shifts. Stuart James beautifully enunciated blooms of emotion bursting at intervals in rippling phrases from the piano. As these gradually descended in register, the listener was drawn further into a magical sonic world of considerable expressive depth, laying a perfect foundation for the final three Scelsi pieces on the program.

Elegia per Ty (1958-1966) for viola and cello was written in memory of Scelsi’s wife Dorothy Ramsen (Ty was her nickname), who spearated from Scelsi in the late 1940s and never returned, a likely contribution to his breakdown. In a similar manner to Ko-Lho, the instruments weave around each other in linear microtonalities, creating intense vibrating harmonics. Together, the unique timbres of viola and cello are warm and resonant, but shot through here with a searing unrest. Pranam II (1973), arranged (as After Pranam II) by Decibel for flute, bass, clarinet, viola, cello, electric organ and electronics, was a superb climax to a programme with a carefully considered and realised arc. In many ways, it distilled the preoccupations of the preceding works in a viscous, subterranean context in which the listener was drawn absolutely into a sound world of considerable beauty and complexity, hypnotic and meditative.

The programme concluded with Alelulia (1970) for solo instrument, performed on flute by Cat Hope. While briefly introducing this piece, Hope spoke of Scelsi’s ‘idea of sound as a singular entity, no matter how many notes or pitches or dynamics might be present. In his mind, rather than expanding outward, they compressed inward.’ The Decibel New Music Ensemble brought a wealth of experience, knowledge, understanding and subtlety to these works that was a fascinating and richly satisfying experience.