Giancarlo Schiaffini in Concert, May 27th, 1999

Program:

Giacinto Scelsi ..................... Maknongan (Dry Tne)

Bruno Maderna ................... Serenata per un satellite

(Tbne, tape and live electronics; Schiaffini version)

Ghezzo/Schiaffini ................ Music Silent Movie

Dinu Ghezzo ....................... Eyes of Cassandra

Edgar Alandia ..................... Mientras

Giancarlo Schiaffini ............ The Missing Chainring

Ghezzo/Schiaffini/Mazurek ..... Together Again

If Viking Eggeling knew what his experimental film "Symphonie Diagonale" in 1923 would have accomplished with the help of the works of innovative composers like Dinu Ghezzo, Ron Mazurek and Giancarlo Schiaffini, he would be very excited now. In a dynamic connection from the past to future, the performers Schiaffini and Ghezzo interacted their music with a projection of the experimental film, making the vision of the filmaker deliciously wider.

This was the middle part of a very enjoyable music evening on May 27th at the NYU Education Building. The concert started with Mr Schiaffini, giving us an interesting changes of colors and dynamics in almost a same note in his tenor trombone ,in the solo performance of "Maknongan". The trombone player / composer then performed "Serenata per un Satellite", a piece that interacts the trombone with an effects processor that particullary uses the delay. In "Serenata" ,the trombone made an exotic athmosphere helped by the delay effect, which increases the repetition of the signal, allowing to recreate a wave-like feeling of the sound of the trombone.

After the Silent Film of Viking Eggeling, came a very interesting a enjoyable ensemble made by Schiaffini, Ghezzo and Mazurek. The first piece in the ensemble was the ambitious and interactive "Eyes of Cassandra", which combines piano, percussion,tape sounds, samples, synthesizer and trombone with effect processor in order to recreate a huge creative athmosphere. Said by the author, this piece came after an improvisational session over the internet. This piece sucessfully recreates (for me) a quest, a longing, a cry, and a very detail image of a Cassandra, the woman. This was followed by a genuine improvisation by the three composers in "Together Again", the last piece.

As a composer, my tastes go with the music that creates inner images, and give me the chance to explore, to feel, to hear more than the usual. In this evening , I got everything of that...and even more.(Galo Recalde).

I had almost missed this concert because of other plans I had made. Lucky for me, I cancelled my plans and went to the concert. Always a big fan a Scelsi, I loved listening to Schiaffini perform this trombone solo, and a Scelsi piece is no easy feat. It's all about subtle nuances of dynamics and timbre, and this Schiaffini was able to communicate to the listener in a very precise and moving way. One of the things that interests me about improvisation is the many different ways it can be combined with composition to create. The Maderna piece did this in a very interesting way. Having live performers interactive live with computer programs is a very exiciting concept to me. It is the classic 20th conflict of man against machine brought into the sphere of music. Of all the pieces performed that evening, the ones I enjoyed the most were the trio improvisations between Schiaffini, Prof. Ghezzo and Prof. Mazurek. Group improvisation has an energy that notated music, no matter how well written, just cannot match. It's a matter of living in the moment of losing yourself to the group. These three performers interacted very well and were extremely in-tune with each other. It is so rare that group improvisation have any kind of music direction or overall sense of structure, but these three managed to pull it off nicely. Using the silent film as an organizing structure, and in the process creating a multi-media environment, the group maintained the energetic, in the momentness of live improvised music and at the same time created a dynamic structure that one doesn't normally find in improvised music. I, for one, was very impressed. (Scot Lasley)

Concert Review. May 25th, 1999. Giancarlo Schiaffini (Composer-Trombone) assisted by Dinu Ghezzo (Piano-Percussion) and Ron Mazurek (synthesizers). Program: Maknongan (Giacinto Scelsi), Serenata per un Satellite (Bruno Maderna/Schiaffini version), Music Silent Movie (Ghezzo/Schiaffini), Eyes of Cassandra (Ghezzo), Together Again (Ghezzo/Schiaffini/Mazurek). According to Joel Chadabe, two main reasons for using electronics in music are access to sound and interaction. This concept has been truly confirmed during this performance. The first two pieces showed Schiaffini as a solo performer. In "Maknongan" the timbral capabilities and dynamic shades of the tenor trombone, either open or muted, were exploited around a single pitch and its neighbor tones. In "Serenata per un Satellite" the trombone was driven through a multi-effect processor allowing Schiaffini to skillfully interplay with different transformations of his own sound, with the tape providing a sonic background and emphasizing the climax points. For the remaining of the concert, Ghezzo and Mazurek joined Schiaffini to conform a sensitive and at the same time powerful ensemble. The first trio piece "Music Silent Movie" happened to be, in my opinion, the peak of the evening. The opus served as an improvised real-time soundtrack for the 1928 experimental silent film "Symphonie Diagonale" by Viking Eggeling. The performers interacted with a projection of the movie and developed the shape of the music while reacting to the evolution of a series of abstract figures on the screen. It was very impressive to see how musical concepts such as augmentation, diminution, inversion, accelerando or ritardando have their correspondence in visual arts (cinema in this case) as well. The performance not only created a beautiful soundtrack but also added color to the original black and white of the motion picture. Ghezzo's "Eyes of Cassandra" followed. This is a piece for three solo instruments and tape that was born out of a collaborative sampling session over the Internet. Once again, interaction was the name of the game. Motifs and ideas travelling from tape to live ensemble and vice-versa and the sampled text "I can't see you Cassandra^ " acting as the opening and closing statement of the piece. Finally, "Together Again" closed the concert. An improvisational trio session celebrating the joy of making music together and a very appropriated finale for a great musical evening. (Juan Raffo)

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On May 27th, 1999, at 7 PM, a concert took place, featuring the accomplished composer and trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini. He was assisted by Dinu Ghezzo on Piano and Percussion, and Ron Mazurek on Synthesizers. The concert featured five pieces in the twentieth century style.

The first was a solo trombone piece, entitled "Maknongan (Dry Tne)" by Giacinto Scelsi. Schiaffini performed this dynamic piece with clarity, feeling, and technical mastery.

"Serenata per un satellite" by Bruno Maderna followed that piece with another spectacular solo performance by Schiaffini. Schiaffini encorporated his own compositional talents on this piece and made it his own version. Tape and live electronics were used for many interesting and exotic effects.

The next piece was written by both Ghezzo and Schiaffini and was called "Symphonie Diagonale", a silent movie made by Viking Eggeling in 1923; For this piece, a monitor was set up for the audience to watch an old movie, featuring many artistic and abstract shapes which formed a kind of duet between the music and itself.

The fourth piece was "Eyes of Cassandra" by Dinu Ghezzo which featured many experimental techniques and sounds. The sounds overlaid themselves on top of one another and created a prolific texture.

The final piece was an improvisation between Ghezzo, Schiaffini, and Mazurek. A peaceful beginning led to a tumultuous climax which died away and led into a longer atmospheric music. The improvisation was very successful and was followed by an excited applause from the audience. (Patrick Snyder)

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