Composer of the Day!

Today's Composer of the Day! is the enigmatic Giacinto Scelsi! (1905-1988)

Scelsi (pronounced SHELLsi) is a self-taught composer and significant figure in Italian music of the 20th century.

His music is sadly almost never programmed in the United States, apart from Michael Tilson Thomas who has performed many of his orchestral works with San Francisco Symphony.

Once a disciple of Schoenberg (being one of the first Italian dodecaphonists) he is probably most famous for his slow-moving soundscapes and music based around a single pitch, such as his work Quattro Pezzi su una nota sola (Four Pieces on a single note). [Listen to this work here.]

The details of Scelsi's life are not fully known, although in recent years many of the gaps have begun to be filled in (see a photo of a young Scelsi here). He was forced out of Italy in the late 1930s by Mussolini for his performances of Jewish music, from which he would not be able to return until sometime after World War II. It is also around this time that it is thought that Scelsi suffered an extended nervous breakdown, of which he said, "I forgot everything I ever knew about music."

Scelsi has always been a bit of a mystery because of the unique sound worlds his music evokes. I think one can hear the influence of the early orchestral pieces of Ligeti and the work of Parisian composers like Tristan Murail and Claude Vivier whose music seem to occupy similar spaces. However, Scelsi's music still sounds quite original, and he composed many wonderful and beautiful works which are more than worth your time.

Read a few interesting anecdotes about Scelsi in an interview with Alvin Curran. Also read this thoughtful article by Alex Ross, originally printed in The New Yorker.