the gesualdo project
The beauty of the universe consists not only of unity in variety, but also of variety in unity. - Umberto Eco
The beauty of the universe consists not only of unity in variety, but also of variety in unity. - Umberto Eco
Living from 1566 to 1613 and almost inconceivably ahead of his time with boldly chromatic harmonic language and an individualistic flair for polyphonic writing, Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa, Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, remains, much like he was for Stravinsky a century ago, an exemplary musical iconoclast for the 21st century.
The Project: to magnify the intensity of his expression, electronica transcriptions of vocal works, each line performed and recorded separately (without quantization) by jdhixson. Gesualdo was known to have owned a cimbalo cromatico - with 19 keys per octave. The sounds created here, in fact, might not be so far away in spirit from the arciorgano - with 36 individual pitches per octave - described in Nicola Vicentino's 1555 treatise L’antica musica ridotta alla prattica moderna ("Ancient Music Condensed to Modern Practice").
The Project: to magnify the intensity of his expression, electronica transcriptions of vocal works, each line performed and recorded separately (without quantization) by jdhixson. Gesualdo was known to have owned a cimbalo cromatico - with 19 keys per octave. The sounds created here, in fact, might not be so far away in spirit from the arciorgano - with 36 individual pitches per octave - described in Nicola Vicentino's 1555 treatise L’antica musica ridotta alla prattica moderna ("Ancient Music Condensed to Modern Practice").
first sketches