Great Composers: Giacinto Scelsi

A look at the final Count of Ayala Valva.
This was a viewer request from KZbinr BASSOONISTFROMHELL. Please note that requests for future videos are on hold for the time being, given the extraordinary number of requests I've already received. See the current request queue at lentovivace.com/requestqueue.html.
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Classical Nerd is a weekly video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
- Giacinto Scelsi: Four Pieces on a Single Note, performed by the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Rundel [original upload: MfTjz6emd7c]
- Thomas Little: Dance! #2 in E minor, Op. 1 No. 2, performed by Rachel Fellows, Michael King, and Bruce Tippette
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Contact Information:
Questions and comments can be directed to:
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.

[@voiceover2191]

Thx, Scelsis music must not be forgotten it's totally unique. Listen to Uaxuctum on big speakers and volume maxed out and feel and hear a world ending and some sounds you never knew a choir or orchestra could produce. Mind blowing!

[@killboybands1]

Scelsi is a genius...incredible music.

[@juliussw9153]

4:51 CORRECTION: we all know that the one note samba came first

[@omicroneridani7456]

Definitely pleasant to find out very valid videos such as this one, about Giacinto Scelsi. What a mind he was, what quintessential music he wrote...way way ahead of his time. Well, to be more precise, I regard Scelsi's music as utterly timeless: it lies in wait at the very beginning and the very end of time itself, in my personal vision. It's merely up to us to reach it and let it into our souls.

[@stevegordon8474]

Brilliant description and analysis of Scelsi.

[@mrhenu]

Excellent video! Scelsi is one of my favorite composers. If someone hasn't heard Scelsi before, I would recommend France-Marie Uitti and others' Natura Renovatur on ECM.

[@erics3317]

I've known and listened to Scelsi's music for years, but I never knew much about his private life, other than that he was reclusive, until I saw this video. As I was watching it I couldn't help thinking that there were a lot of parallels to Gesualdo, another aristocratic and highly idiosyncratic Italian composer who wrote music that was like nothing else that had come before. Obviously Scelsi never murdered anyone, but both of them had marriages that ended badly (though by very different means) in a way that profoundly affected both of them for the rest of their lives.

[@QueensWino]

"Virtuosic and atonal iteration of the baroque" man you know how to turn a phrase!

[@bassoonistfromhell]

thank you for making this

[@ClassicalNerd]

My pleasure!

[@brucerobinson8498]

Thank you for introducing me to this composer.

[@liledman76]

Awesome, keep ‘em coming. Hope that Feldman or Nono are on the list too.

[@ClassicalNerd]

I'll get to 'em eventually!

[@georgealderson4424]

I have watched several of your intetesting videos but this one has been a revelation and I will have to track his music down when I feel brave. Thank you. Meanwhile how about a piece about Rodrigo and or Delius? Blessings and peace

[@ClassicalNerd]

Thank you for the kind words! You're the second to request Rodrigo and Delius, so they've moved up in the request pool.

[@georgealderson4424]

@@ClassicalNerd Thank you. There must be more to Rodrigo than his guitar concerto and Delius' cuckoo so I look forward to hearing about them when you have time Blessings and peace

[@InterSpaceResearch]

My favorite work is "Ko-Tha" for guitar, often performed by a percussionist.

[@ShorkGamer]

Thats one wicked and weird Count... Cool to hear from him.

[@batman-yh1nl]

Can you make a video about Ben Johnston? Thanks

[@ClassicalNerd]

Johnston's career is still ongoing, which is why I avoid making career retrospectives on living composers.

[@dis.infectant]

I had a brief exchange with a relative of his (on MySpace maybe), after I had created a pseudo fan page. I think they were a nephew or something... Anyway they were supposedly writing a book on him and were compiling what they could. Never knew if it became a reality though.

[@giacintopiracci]

There are several books, the last one is called "Il Sogno 101", and I think it's the one his nefew was talkin' about.

[@zacharydetrick7428]

Re: your comment about anyone who tried to photograph him, are there any stories that go into further detail?

[@ClassicalNerd]

It's something I found in a number of my sources, but I could never find further information on it. It's an anecdotal extension of his extreme reclusiveness.

[@voiceover2191]

When I lived in Amsterdam in the 80's, they had a contemporary music festival each year and one year Scelsi was the central composer performed. They tried to seduce him to come over in person from his villa in Rome and though he initially kept refusing (as he didn't mind people visiting him (a friend of mine looked him up in Rome and was warmly welcomed) but hated leaving. In the end they succeeded and he came over, he recited one of his French language poems and then left taking a plane the same afernoon back to Rome.

[@jamesscottvideos]

Thanks for the insights. 👌👌 I don't think minimalist is the right term for Scelsi, any more than it is for Debussy. Minimalism is about simplification. They both avoided traditional aspects of music, to focus on something specific. Debussy focused on timbre and tonal colour and rhythm etc, and Scelsi focused on variation of single notes, and dissonance, but there is great complexity in the sound.

[@depauleable]

Anybody know where to find these "condensed Bach" pieces mentioned here? Been searching for years.