Hugh Aitken (New York, 7 settembre 1924 – 24 dicembre 2012) intraprende inizialmente gli studi di chimica, per poi consacrarsi interamente alla musica nel secondo dopoguerra. Conseguito il diploma presso la prestigiosa Juilliard School nel 1949, ha svolto un'intensa attività didattica, insegnando composizione e analisi musicale in rinomate istituzioni.

Composto nel 1968, Montages: Partita for Solo Bassoon riflette pienamente il proprio titolo: la partitura accosta frammenti e contrasti di carattere, valorizzando l'agilità e la versatilità timbrica dello strumento. Sfruttando l'ampia estensione e le risorse espressive del fagotto, l'autore alterna momenti lirici a passaggi di marcato virtuosismo tecnico. La struttura si sviluppa come una vera e propria partita articolata in nove movimenti, in cui sezioni lente e meditative si avvicendano a tempi più ritmici e brillanti.

 

Seated beside little Wolfgang, aged just eight, was the cellist Gian Battista Cirri, aged forty. He was the music director to the Duke of Gloucester, the brother of King George III, who was celebrating his twenty-sixth birthday that day. The concert, organised by Leopold Mozart, was attended by more than two hundred people for the occasion.

From the window of the concert hall, one could see the wind rustling through the foliage of the plane trees in St James’s Park. Gian Battista had recently arrived in London from Paris, where his first works had been published, including a ‘Symphony’ performed at the famous ‘Concert spirituals’.

His association with Cirri influenced Mozart’s compositional style. The Salzburg composer admired the Italian’s work so much that he performed it and adopted similar musical structures in his early works, including several duets and cello sonatas.

 

 

 Born in the United Kingdom in 1949, Allan Stephenson began playing the piano at the age of seven and took up the cello at thirteen. In 1968, he enrolled at the Royal Manchester College of Music, graduating in 1972. The following year, he moved to South Africa, where he became Associate Principal Cellist of the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra.

Stephenson conducted the South African premiere of Nielsen's Symphony No. 4 and recorded the country's first classical music CD, featuring his Concertino Pastorale for clarinet and orchestra. Among his stage works are the operas Wonderfully Wicked, Who Killed Jimmy Valentine, and The Orphans of Qumbu, the latter involving approximately 3,000 orphans from all ethnic backgrounds.

South African cellist, conductor, and composer Allan Stephenson died at the age of 71. With more than 100 compositions spanning a wide range of genres, he was a prominent figure on the South African classical music scene. He also founded the Cape Town Chamber Orchestra and served for many years as conductor of the string orchestra I Musicanti.

The Three Pieces for solo bassoon, composed in 2000, join Stephenson's substantial body of works for the bassoon, which includes:

• Bassoon Concerto (1989)
• Konzertstück for six bassoons (1987)
• Divertimento for three bassoons and contrabassoon (1995)
• Little Suite for Young Bassoons for four bassoons (1997)
• Miniature Quartet for bassoon and string trio (1999)
• Trio for bassoons (2001)
• The Gnome's Walk for bassoon and piano (2008)

🎵 What is a riff? It is a short, catchy, and rhythmic musical phrase that repeats throughout a song, often driving the entire piece forward. It’s a core element in rock, pop, and blues!

🎸 "RIFF", a track written a few years ago by Danilo Zaffaroni and dedicated to Fausto Saredi and Michele Colombo, finally comes to life!

✨ Thanks to technology, the performers achieved a true "bilocation" to bring this recording together.

☀️ Hoping this track becomes the ultimate soundtrack and anthem for your summer, happy listening! 🎧👇

 

La macchina di Pippo saltella fra le buche, spara nuvole di fumo mentre scoppietta canzoncine. La macchina di Pippo non ha fretta di arrivare: le baste essere riuscita a partire. La macchina di Pippo ha il cuore nel motore. batte a scoppio e beve come un ubriaco all’osteria. La macchina di Pippo trasporta un fagotto carico di musica da scaricare nel silenzio del motore spento. Goofy's car bounces along through the potholes, puffing clouds of smoke while sputtering little tunes. Goofy's car is in no hurry to arrive: it's enough that it managed to set off. Goofy's car has its heart in the engine. It beats in explosions and drinks like a drunkard at the tavern. Goofy's car carries a bundle, loaded with music to be unloaded into the silence of the engine once it has stopped. Michele Colombo, Leonardo Maroni, Bassoons

Trascrizione

 

 

NAMO GURAVE, il cui significato in sanscrito è «Mi inchino al Maestro Spirituale», è il mio ringraziamento al Guru, al Maestro che, senza chiedere nulla in cambio, illumina il Sentiero rivelandone la Meta.

NAMO GURAVE, in questo caso, è una composizione i cui suoni fluttuano verso Casa, là dove il silenzio comunica con la parte più profonda di noi stessi.

La Volontà Creatrice espande il Suo incommensurabile Amore nella vibrazione che si manifesta, prendendo forma anche nella materia. Intrisa del Suo Amore, la Vita appare.

Immagine di una parte di Sé, essa svela ciò che non può essere narrato, ma solo esperito da chi, andando oltre i simboli, ne vive il significato.

Come semi lanciati nel vento della musica, le parole del Guru attecchiscono là dove il cuore trascende la materia: in campi di silenzio.