Q&A with Giuliano d’Angiolini about Stato dell'arte"Virtuosity is a demonstrative gesture, it creates wonder and admiration; it bewitches, it deceives: it's the opposite of what I think music should be. For many years now, I've eliminated not only every type of virtuosic gesture, but also any decorative frills." — Giuliano d’Angiolini
Yuko Zama (YZ): Can you please explain about this project of the new album and the 3 pieces: Ulteriori frammenti, Stato dell'arte, (V)an (O) de(R) (T) weid(E)n (X)?
Giuliano d’Angiolini (GD): Manuel Zurria, Paolo Ravaglia and Marco Rogliano are musicians of the highest artistic quality. They bring a subtle and refined attention to every poetic and expressive aspect of the music they play, as well as to the sound itself. But they are also virtuosos of their instruments. So I asked myself how to highlight their technical mastery. Virtuosity is a demonstrative gesture, it creates wonder and admiration; it bewitches, it deceives: it's the opposite of what I think music should be. For many years now, I've eliminated not only every type of virtuosic gesture, but also any decorative frills. 
Giuliano d’Angiolini at home in Perinaldo (photo© Livia Bigi)
GD: In writing Ulteriori frammenti I've long wondered how to resolve this contradiction between my rejection of virtuosity and the desire to pay homage to the extraordinary skill of my musicians friends. I found a solution by composing a rather complex temporal articulation that aims to fragment the virtuosic gesture, nullifying it and transforming it from an acrobatic display into a simple layering of sonic matter, a textured impasto.
So I composed just this temporal structure and the long-sustained notes. The temporal articulation of the piece employs indeterminacy; furthemore, the musicians can also choose which time frames to intervene in and whether to play a sustained note or perform a brief virtuosic passage of their choice. Now everyone can see that Manuel, Paolo and Marco have done so with great inventiveness and musical originality, taking care of each individual event. 
Ulteriori frammenti, sonogram; detail.
GD: The core idea of Stato dell'arte is to rediscover melody and harmony from their primordial state: isolated sounds, pre-tonal (or rather pre-modal) babblings... unpredictables, non-grammaticals, because they are the result of chance encounters.
All music changes depending on the time of day that it is listened to. Stato dell'arte possesses the breath of the night and benefits from being listened to at night (and at a low volume). YZ: The title of Track 3, (V)an (O) de(R) (T) weid(E)n (X)”, is a bit unusual—what does it mean? GD: The title (V)an (O) de(R) (T) weid(E)n (X) combines the name of the Flemish painter Van der Weyden with the Latin term "vortex," since a veritable vortex (of pain) is what animates his The Descent from the Cross. This music is not an illustration of that painting; it was simply inspired by contemplating it. It's composed of wide, misshapen unisons. The harmonies are like parentheses to the unisons. 
The Descent from the Cross by Rogier van der Weyden (c. 1435, 220 cm × 262 cm)
GD: I would like to add a few words about the form of these pieces. In Ulteriori frammenti, a strong initial density, in the absence of sustained sounds, progressively diminishes to ultimately leave room for sustained sounds alone.
In Stato dell'arte, the sounds, through a system of rotations within the chromatic field, slowly descend from high to low pitch, towards the end of the available sounds. In other words, in these two compositions the structure is oriented; there is a directionality and therefore an outline of form, although elementary. This directionality recalls that arrow of time which belongs to thermodynamic phenomena, that is, to what characterizes the world as it appears to us and as we ordinarily experience it, where time seems to flow and things tend toward entropy. Metaphorically, toward death. But often in my compositions, as also in (V)an (O) de(R) (T) weid(E)n (X), there is no directionality and there is no form. There is a structure, but not a form. Because the nature of the world is timeless. YZ: Between your works from your previous albums and the works on this new album, were there any changes in your concept, interest, inspiration, or approach to music?
GD: No, I would say no. Instead, there was a change with the previous album published by you: )))(((. But, as I said last time: "the sound material changes, the phenomena change, the kind of process and also the compositional technique change, but the underlying thought has not changed". I find that (V)an (O) de(R) (T) weid(E)n (X) has a rather violent sonic impact (which certainly wasn't present in my pieces from a few years ago).
Eugenio Renzetti
YZ: You worked again with Manuel Zurria and Paolo Ravaglia who were both featured on your previous album )))(((. What were your impressions of the interpretations and performances of all these musicians, including the other three musicians: Fabio Bagnoli, Marco Rogliano, and Eugenio Renzetti?
GD: I worked a lot with Marco Rogliano many years ago. He is a highly talented musician, in a class of his own. Manuel, Paolo and Marco formed the first core of the Alter Ego ensemble. They possess that sensitivity and those unpredictable strokes of genius characteristic of the finest musicians. Together with Fabio and Eugenio (who are excellent), they all did a superb job, And they were very generous, especially with me, as I am hard to please... 
Giuliano d’Angiolini making pasta 'pici'
YZ: I saw some photos of the Italian dishes you made and was surprised by how authentic they looked. Do you bring the similar mindset to both cooking and composing (like concentration, creativity, etc)? What kind of cuisine do you like to cook?
GD: It’s not like with music: I’ve made it my mission to faithfully replicate traditional Italian recipes and only those, without any innovation or personal twist. There are so many of them (at least two thousand of the main ones), and it’s already satisfying enough to manage to make just a small fraction of them correctly; there is so much to learn... (Interview conducted in September 2026)
This album contains three new works by Italian composer Giuliano d'Angiolini: 'Ulteriori frammenti', 'Stato dell'arte', and '(V)an (O) de(R) (T) weid(E)n (X)', following his previous four albums, 'Simmetrie di ritorno' (Edition RZ, 2010), ‘Cantilena’ (Another Timbre, 2016), ‘Antifona’ (Another Timbre, 2020), and ')))(((' (elsewhere 033, 2024). 'Ulteriori frammenti' was composed in 2025 for six instruments: strings and wind instruments, not specified and in any combination. "Fragmenting the virtuosic gesture, nullifying it and transforming it from an acrobatic display into a simple layering of sonic matter, a textured impasto. And directly opposite to this: long-sustained sounds". 'Stato dell'arte' was written in 2010 for flute (also bass flute), clarinet, violin, and piano. The composer says: "rediscovering melody and harmony from their primordial state. Play soft. Listen preferably at night." '(V)an (O) de(R) (T) weid(E)n (X)' was composed in 2026 for twelve wind instruments, not specified and in any combination, and twelve violins. "Wide, misshapen unisons. Harmonies like parentheses to the unisons. Van der Weiden. And the vortex ("The Descent from the Cross")." The composer noted, "Play loud." Performers are Manuel Zurria on flute (Track 1, 2, 3), Paolo Ravaglia on clarinet (Track 1, 2, 3), Marco Rogliano on violin (Track 1, 2, 3), Fabio Bagnoli on oboe and English horn (Track 3), Eugenio Renzetti on trombone (Track 3), and Giuliano d'Angiolini on piano (Track 2). All the pieces follow procedures of indeterminacy. Thus, at each performance they sound differently. 
*CD preorder and digital album are available here on the elsewhere site and Bandcamp (CD release: November 1, 2026) back to top |
