Scoring: Fortepiano or String Quartet
Duration: 5′
Premiere: 2 April 2022, Abdijpodium, Berkel-Enschot, The Netherlands
With Me is a composition originally written for fortepiano in occasion of a performance of The Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ on the Cross by Haydn, featuring new music written by living composers.
The piece wants to be a depiction of the inner journey made by the good thief on the cross.
In the first part of the piece, dissonant and desolated, the idea – at first far and unsure – of asking Jesus for forgiveness, becomes then a desperate cry. Yet, the musical landscape changes in the second part, when Jesus answers him: even in the midst of suffering, Christ’s words will open a new scenario of hope and redemption, confirming a glimpse of future Heaven. A Heaven whose joy and peace is all contained in the meaning of the title: With Me.
A second version of the piece has been arranged for string quartet in occasion of a concert organized by La Nuova Fucina Musicale, Genova, Italy.
Scoring: Piano
Duration: 4’30”
Premiere: 1 June 2023, Muziekgebouw, Eindhoven
Transporting listeners to the vibrant Amazon rainforest, Uirapuru is a piano solo piece inspired by the song of the Uirapuru bird, also known as the “musician wren” or Cyphorhinus arada. The composition weaves together two contrasting harmonies—one tonal in Eb major and the other atonal—forming the foundation of the original melody. The piece delves into a series of cycles, exploring the interplay between these contrasting harmonic landscapes, gradually unveiling the bird’s captivating melody from the dreamlike waves of sounds.
Scoring: Flute, Piano
Duration: 14′
Premiere: 18 June 2022, PARK – Platform for Visual Arts, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Sideralis for flute and piano is a meditation upon silence and space-time. Subdivided in three parts, the piece involves mathematical elements – such as the Fibonacci Sequence – and symmetrical counterpoint. Sideralis (“related to the stars” in Latin) wants to be a sort of travel in the Universe, where silence and emptiness are the only things which separate stars, planets and galaxies; and yet, in the composer’s mind, this silence is full of meaning and gravity, bringing the presence of God himself, which – like medieval scholars used to think – is praised by the “harmony of the spheres”.
The piece is dedicated to composer Massimo Lauricella.
Scoring: SATB Choir
Duration: 4′
Premiere: 17 June 2023, Sint-Catharinakerk, Eindhoven, Netherlands
Vergine Madre is a piece composed to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death. It’s a choral work inspired by a section from the Paradise and the chosen text, recited by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, reflects a prayer to the Virgin Mary, seeking her intervention for Dante’s understanding of the universe. The composition explores paradoxes and oppositions and its musical material is built upon the suggestions coming from the literal meaning of the text.
Text:
Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo figlio,
umile e alta più che creatura,
termine fisso d’etterno consiglio,
tu se’ colei che l’umana natura
nobilitasti sì, che ‘l suo fattore
non disdegnò di farsi sua fattura.
Nel ventre tuo si raccese l’amore,
per lo cui caldo ne l’etterna pace
così è germinato questo fiore.
–
(Virgin Mother, daughter of your Son, humbled, and exalted, more than any other creature,
fixed goal of the Eternal Wisdom; you are She who made human nature so noble, that its
own Maker did not scorn to become of its making. The Love, beneath whose warmth this
flower has grown, in eternal peace, flamed again in your womb.)
Scoring: 4 Violins
Duration: 6’30”
The study conducted by the author on Pärt’s work has inspired the composition of a piece for four violins, divided into three movements, titled Pärt Meets Ligeti – Three fantasies in the tintinnabuli style on Gregorian themes. This short suite aims to be a meeting between Arvo Pärt’s sound world, expressed through the tintinnabuli style, and György Ligeti’s structuralism, which incorporates numerous free elements.
Scoring: Solo Soprano, SATB Choir
Duration: 5’30”
Premiere: 17 June 2023, Sint-Catharinakerk, Eindhoven
Driven by a profound personal connection and a deep emotional attachment to the text, the author has passionately composed The Lord is my Shepherd, drawing inspiration from the timeless and cherished Psalm 23. The piece seeks to capture the essence of the psalm, weaving together its comforting and guiding themes while inviting listeners on a spiritual journey.
The piece is dedicated to composer Eric Whitacre.
Scoring: Magnetic tape, four-hand Harpsichord, Piano, four free instruments.
Duration: 6′ 30”
Premiere: 3 June 2019, Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini, Genoa, Italy
All’amico calorifero serves as a parody and heartfelt homage to Steve Reich’s minimalist music. Its origin story is rather humorous and unique. In the harpsichord room of the Genoa Conservatory, there was a radiator that occasionally emitted rhythmic puffs, producing percussive sounds that approximately followed an eighth-note subdivision in a quadruple meter. Furthermore, it emitted a long sound corresponding to an A-flat. This radiator became the target of jokes and irony from students. Barbara Petrucci, the former harpsichord teacher, playfully wrote a sonnet titled “All’amico calorifero.” The composition combines the recorded recitation of the sonnet by voice actor Davide Rossi with the radiator’s murmurs, including the sustained A-flat note, creating a repetitive rhythmic sequence lasting about six and a half minutes. This serves as a foundation for the other instruments. The piece features overlapping minimalist modules built upon the A-flat, gradually evolving and eventually disintegrating as the instruments join and fade away, leaving only the radiator to conclude its accompanying role.
Text:
È primavera. I canti di stagione
dell’usignol, del merlo e del fanello
solcano l’aere, ma di lor più bello
è il dolce suono del termosifone…
Esso dorme la notte in solitudine.
Quando al mattino arriva lo studente
e l’aula non è più così silente
vuole esternare la sua gratitudine.
Per questo fa sentire la sua voce,
anche se si potrebbe giudicare
un’espressione per lo meno atroce.
Ed in un gioco di sonori enigmi
costringe tutti quanti ad ascoltare
rantoli arcani e cupi borborigmi.
(Barbara Petrucci)
Scoring: Piano
Duration: 12′
Premiere: 11 May 2018, Oratorio di San Filippo Neri, Genova, Italy
The piano suite Arcadia consists of 5 movements: Prelude – Hommage à J.S. Bach, Menuet, Sicilienne, Élégie, and Estampie. Inspired by the impressionistic and neoclassical music of Maurice Ravel, it aims to be a modern reinterpretation of old dances – hence the suite setting – with a contemporary touch.
Scoring: Flute, Harpsichord
Duration: 5′
Premiere: May 2019, Conservatorio Niccolò Paganini, Genoa, Italy
The Sonatina for flute and harpsichord is divided into two movements – the first being slower and meditative, while the second is livelier and reminiscent of a dance. The composition draws inspiration from the lyrical and dreamlike atmospheres of French neoclassicism, infused with a sense of vagueness and melancholy.
Scoring: Violin, Viola or Violin, Cello
Duration: 3′
Premiere: 14 April 2019, Festival delle Geografie, Chiesa di Sant’Andrea, Levanto, Italy
Prayer for Alfie was born out of the need to respond to a media event that divided public opinion in 2018: the case of little Alfie Evans, who was denied experimental treatment for his rare disease despite his parents advocating for this solution. The composition aims to be a prayer of the two parents (hence the duo): the two instruments engage in a continuous contrapuntal dialogue that reflects Baroque influences, while the harmonic exploration incorporates contemporary sensitivity by utilizing dissonances for expressive purposes.
The piece is dedicated to Thomas and Kate Evans in memory of their beloved son.
