Dodici Variazioni

Aldo CLEMENTI
Born 1925, Catania (Sicily), Italy

Dodici Variazioni (1980)

guitar solo

Aldo CLEMENTI was born in Catania (Sicily) in 1925. He studied piano and later undertook the study of composition with teachers including Goffredo PETRASSI and Bruno MADERNA. Like many composers who employed serial technique early in their work, Clementi abandoned it instead creating ingenious and unique solutions for creating new music whilst maintaining old traditions. Dodici Variazioni is an example of Clementi's obsession with games, canons, collage and repetition. Six musical elements constantly interrupt the work's `cantus firmus´ and at the same time re-invent themselves, thereby examining the nature of memory and creating new perspectives.

Programme note © Geoffrey MORRIS