amnesìa del paesaggio

for ensemble
[fl (also fl in sol), oboe, cl (also bass cl.) bassoon, hn, tpt in do, trbn, db]
[2009] dur. 7′ ca.

The english translation for amnesia del paesaggio is landscape amnesia. It’s a concept used in environmental history to describe a phenomenon (or disease) that can affect human societies and, in particular modern societies, who lack a collective memory of well-known landscapes and environments with the passage of time. This phenomenon is due to a sort of “creeping normalcy”, a gradual change deforming the identity (and sometimes dignity) of a landscape.

I was especially struck by this phenomenon and my intention was to focus on this idea of amnesia in music; I tried to describe a sort of problematic recollection of memory with interruptions, repetitions and deviations of a specific musical landscape, in the attempt to forget it.

about the amnesia cycle
Without oblivion memory would be oversaturated.
With the pieces of the amnesia cycle, I’m interested in exploring or representing the idea of memory loss, its transformation and / or re-codification.
The five pieces of the cycle have a different instrumental combination with or without the use of the electronics. They are structured so that repetition – in its medium-form – could work as a reiterated path but each time characterized by different obstacles and interruptions. Their formal approach is similar but what makes the pieces different one from another is the musical (or extra-musical) idea of “forgotten material” and its way of opposing or aiming towards amnesia.

to listen: soundcloud