Francesco Ciurlo: Abstraction to the Point of

The piece for oboe and ensemble is divided into three movements. The first movement, claustrofobico, is made up of a series of 71 fragments, which relentlessly follow each other, always guided by the voice of the oboe with no way out, searching for a form that can be perceived as both continuous and discreet at the same time. The second movement, geometrico e freddo, is built on and around the sound of some bichords of the oboe. These sounds, delicate and harsh and metallic at the same time, are at the centre of long chordal clusters, which appear almost as an amplification, in several directions, of the same bichords. In the third movement, in equilibrio sulle punte, the percussion-led rhythmic ostinato is maintained from the beginning to the end. The oboe keeps its function as chordal »centre«, but in the perspective of an inexorable and obsessive flow, until a sudden acceleration appears, unleashing the soloist’s virtuosity.
Francesco Ciurlo