The Music of Fausto Romitelli: Concerning the Question of “Musical Material”

Abstract

The end of the 20th century demonstrates an expansion of horizons of the comprehension of musical sonorities, the conception of their transformation from music into “sound,” which radically changes the perception of timbre: this element becomes transformed from a peripheral component of sound to the primary element, thereby changing entirely the entire conception of musical material. Thus, the theory of music material developed by outstanding German philosopher Theodor Adorno in the middle of the 20th century has found its confirmation. The latter’s concept of the historicity of music material was upheld and further developed by Italian composer Luigi Nono, who fundamentally changed the sphere of perception of this phenomenon, which subsequently was testified by his German student Helmut Lachenmann. This required not only new combinations of sound, but a reevaluation of the attitude of working with them. Fausto Romitelli (1963–2004) pertains to the generation of composers that discovered new paths for work with sound. In his musical output sound becomes a complex multicomponent phenomenon presuming an interaction between acoustic instruments, electronic sounds and reverberation — the sound “aura” and the sound “halo,” both of which are also composed consciously (presenting “composed resonance”). Romitelli’s individuality demonstrates itself in the fact that he builds this component of his musical material, basing himself on sonar discoveries in the sphere of rock music, in particular, the Pink Floyd ensemble, which finds reflection in such of his works as EnTrance, Professor Bad Trip, etc. Romitelli characterized the “aura” of his sound as “dirty,” comprehending this as a specific resonance of the sound of the electric guitar in rock music. Romitelli’s “composed resonance” is not characteristic solely of him; “composed resonance” as an element of musical material may be discerned in the works of other composers, in particular, Kaija Saariaho in her Amers for solo cello and ensemble.

Keywords: Fausto Romitelli, Theodor Adorno, musical material, sound, “composed resonance”