2. Klavier (Mille volte il dì moro)

Mille volte il dì moro is a particular view of Carlo Gesualdo's madrigal. Here, I expanded the motifs and enhanced the resonances to give brilliance to the expressive possibilities of the two pianos. I also exaggerated some harmonies that Gesualdo used, which defied all logic at the time and made his music timeless.

In December 2022, I stayed for a month in Chichibu, Saitama (Japan), to expand the study of shakuhachi and delve into the tradition of Zen temples dedicated to Kannon. Unexpectedly, possibly because of my distance from European culture and the nostalgia that came with it, I felt the need to write music far removed from Japanese tradition and rooted in the European Renaissance.

Carlo Gesualdo’s sixth notebook of madrigals contains Mille volte il dì moro, a work with dynamism, textural contrasts, surprising and even inexplicable harmonies, and with many possibilities to be adapted for an instrumental formation quite different from the a cappella choir: the piano duet.

Due to the enormous timbral difference between the voice and the natural resonances of the piano, instead of making an adaptation, I have recreated the madrigal from a particular view of the work. For instance, I expanded the motifs and enhanced the resonances to give brilliance to the expressive possibilities of the two pianos. I also exaggerated some harmonies that Gesualdo used, which defied all logic at the time and made his music timeless.

This particular view of the madrigal Mille volte il dì moro is dedicated to Emili Brugalla and Vesko Stambolov.