# Scelsi appreciation thread



## bigboy (May 26, 2017)

A few days ago I was at a performance of Scelsi's Uaxuctum (I've put a link at the bottom to a different recording for those unfamiliar/interested). I am a fan of Scelsi's work and I think this was the first time that I had heard anything of his performed live and was floored.

In fact I enjoyed it so much I was inspired to start a thread so we can chat about what we enjoy/are confused about/intrigued by in Scelsi's oeuvre.

I'll start with a small observation on my end. After the concert a friend and I were chatting about Uaxuctum and were remarking how we felt it was a bit like a "vertically squashed Bach". There is a lot
of rich contrapuntal ideas in Scelsi's work, although instead of being built from melodies, the counterpoint is achieved by a sophisticated interplay of changes in timbre, texture, microtonal perturbations and other deformations of the sound that the instruments and voices can make.
The end result is something that is simultaneously very alien but eerily familiar.

I'd be thrilled to hear what you guys think of this odd Italian! :tiphat:


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

There's a piece by Purcell called Fantasia on one note, but Purcell had nothing on Scelsi. Listen to this


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I think Scelsi's work is fascinating. Classical music, in a very basic description, has gone from exploring melody (chant) to counterpoint (polyphony) to harmony (1600s on) and now into exploring sound. This kind of music, at least to me, is the natural progression of the history of Western music.

I'm amazed and a little jealous that you were able to hear this live.


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## bigboy (May 26, 2017)

Manxfeeder said:


> I'm amazed and a little jealous that you were able to hear this live.


I did a double take when I saw his name in the upcoming programming and jumped on the tickets right away. I won't be holding my breath for another performance, but I can dream...


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## bigboy (May 26, 2017)

Mandryka said:


> There's a piece by Purcell called Fantasia on one note, but Purcell had nothing on Scelsi. Listen to this


I think this one really shows how difficult it must be to play Scelsi's music. I think you need a really keen ear and steady hand to reproduce with such consistency the tones he's calling for- thanks for sharing!


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

He's not a composer I know well - although I do know and like Uaxuctum and the Four Pieces. I would like to get a better acquaintance with his music. Right now my modern/contemporary compass and nearly all my listening is set to living and recently deceased British composers and although I promise myself to listen to this or that tomorrow it is not happening!


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## bigboy (May 26, 2017)

Enthusiast said:


> He's not a composer I know well - although I do know and like Uaxuctum and the Four Pieces. I would like to get a better acquaintance with his music. Right now my modern/contemporary compass and nearly all my listening is set to living and recently deceased British composers and although I promise myself to listen to this or that tomorrow it is not happening!


When you get around to more Scelsi I'd be interested to hear your thoughts. I've been listening to a bit of Birtwistle recently and one theme that seems to keep cropping up in discussions of his work is that of Time. I'm still trying to come to terms with how this plays out in his work, but I think there is the beginnings of a parallel here with Scelsi's work.

Certainly I think many of Scelsi's works are preoccupied with notions like "the end of time" or whether or not such a thing exists. But I also think a lot of his work almost turns the idea of music being an art form linearly extended in time on its head. Anagamin is a piece of his which always feels to me like it exists out of time and that perhaps the piece is continuing on even after you have finished listening to it. Other pieces seem to deliberately eschew an significance attached to the ordering of the sounds suggesting, as Manxfeeder does, that the important feature is somehow the sounds-in-themselves, whatever that might mean!


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I'm an old-fashioned CD listener, which limits me a little, so I haven't heard the stuff on youtube. I have heard Uaxuctum, but I'm not sure I have a particularly good recording of it.

The first Scelsi album I bought was _Natura Renovatur_ on ECM, and that has some good stuff on it. You can look that up if you're interested.


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## Iota (Jun 20, 2018)

I've listened to various Scelsi pieces over the past few years without ever being fully drawn in, but the _Tre Canti Sacri _below, I find fairly absorbing and are another demonstration of microtonality's great expressive potential I think.
This was my first listen to Uaxuctum, and I found it very interesting, a pretty rich sensory experience, it must be striking live. _L'Ame Aile_ didn't grab me so much on first hearing. But thanks for piquing my interest, and for the interesting comments.





I: Angelus





II: Requiem





III: Gloria


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I have the ECM disc, the string quartets on Stradivarius, and the orchestral 3 CD box.

I've been meaning to pick up the piano music by Marianne Schroeder.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

starthrower said:


> I've been meaning to pick up the piano music by Marianne Schroeder.


I haven't heard it, so please comment if you get it, but I thought I'd mention that I sometimes try the recording of piano preludes by Alessandra Ammara. I'm not sure that piano was his strength.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I enjoyed this CD earlier today. It was my first hearing so I don't know if my initial enjoyment will flower ... . (The pianist is Markus Hinterhäuser)


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2019)

scelsi is one of the top three composers from the second half of the 20 th century (together with stockhausen and xenakis); his approach is unique (based on improvisation) and his music is very fascinating and covers many areas of the musical spectrum; on top of the musical preoccupations there is also a kind of quest for eternity which I find very fascinating; basically I collect all his works and you will find a great overview of his works on my blogspot: marcbollansee.blogspot.com


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I like Scelsi well enough. He is a great. But I don't think he is among the "top 3", myself, and I am not even sure that Xenakis would belong in such a list. Maybe we should avoid such exclusive lists with music that is less than 70 years old? Things have to settle.


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

I find his music sort of drags on and not enough to sustain interesting throughout. I like the microtonal sound though. I think this is a pretty interesting feat, works on a single note. Some good orchestration


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## Guest (Feb 12, 2019)

just a personal, extremely subjective selection of Scelsi's timeless masterpieces:
-orchestral:Anahit, 4 Pezzi, Uaxuctum, Konx-Om-Pax, Pfhat, 
-chamber: SQs 1-5
-solo: Xnoybis for violin, Ygghur for cello


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

My personal favorites: Piano Sonata No. 3, Tre Canti Sacri, Quattro pezzi, Khoom, String Quartet No. 3, Duo for Violin and Cello, Anahit, Anâgâmin, Uaxuctum, Ohoi, Natura renovatur, Okanagon, and Konx-Om-Pax, with Anâgâmin probably being my favorite of the bunch.


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Well done... Iistened to the Scelsi all the way through and not without interest. But I have to be in the mood for something as 'dark' as this (and it _is_ dark, perhaps creepy as well). But the creepy, scary or dark mood of this work seems to have fascinated a number of composers since the early part of the 20th century, such as Schoenberg's_ Erwartung_, works by Berg, Webern and others, and these composers were pioneers in their exploration of the darker and scarier forces in life that seem to be beyond human control..._The Boogie Man is going to get you!_... And such a mood of composition may also suggest that some of these composers were psychologically scared inwardly out of their wits, terrified of life at some deep terrifying level... The question is: how much of this music of the freaking out is necessary or beneficial to hear in one's lifetime? For me, very little once I've been exposed to it and know that it exists. I do not consider it as the sounds of healing, benefit, or wholeness, but exactly just the opposite.


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## calvinpv (Apr 20, 2015)

Larkenfield said:


> And such mood of a composition may also suggest that some of these composers were psychologically scared out of their minds, terrified of life at a deeper level. The question is: how much of this music of the freaking out is necessary or beneficial to hear in one's lifetime? For me, very little once I've been exposed to it and know that it exists.


Well, in the case of Scelsi, he actually had a psychological breakdown in the early 40s, I believe due to a combination of his wife leaving him and him becoming dissatisfied with his early 12-tone music; he was also somewhat of a recluse. Of course, his pre-breakdown 12-tone music (see, for example, the 3rd piano sonata, imo an extremely beautiful piece) is also very dark, so maybe he just had a dark and brooding temperament.


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