Stefano Gervasoni
Stefano Gervasoni was born in Bergamo in 1962. He began to study composition in 1980 on the advice of Luigi Nono: this meeting, as well as those with Brian Ferneyhough, Peter Eötvös and Helmut Lachenmann, were to prove decisive for his career. After attending the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, Gervasoni completed his studies in Hungary with György Ligeti in 1990, and then in Paris, where in 1992 he followed the course in Composition and Computer Music organized by Ircam. The first three years of his stay in France provided the foundations for an international career that led him to be “pensionnaire” at Villa Medici from 1995-1996.
He has become one of the most important Italian composers on the contemporary scene and has received commissions from the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the WDR in Cologne, the SWF Baden-Baden, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, the Festival d’Automne in Paris, Radio France, IRCAM, the Casa da Musica in Porto, the Festival Archipel in Geneva, the Maerzmusik in Berlin, Ars Musica in Brussels and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. His compositions – including chamber and vocal music, concertos, and works for orchestra and for ensemble – were published by Ricordi from 1987 and, since 2000, by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni – Sugarmusic SpA. A monographic CD entitled “Antiterra”, featuring “An”, “Animato”, “Antiterra”, “Least Bee”, “Godspell” and “Epicadenza”, was recently released in France on the Aeon label and displays «a musical world of great wealth, subtlety and refinement, both expressive and introspective, that immediately captures our attention» (Philippe Albèra).
His work has won numerous awards and has earned him grants from the Fondation des Treilles in Paris and the DAAD in Berlin. He has also taken part in the Junger Komponisten Forum in Cologne, the Klangforum Seminar in Vienna and has lectured at the summer courses in Darmstadt, the Fondation Royaumont in Paris, the Toho University in Tokyo, the International Festival of Campos do Jordão in Brazil, the Shangai Conservatory, the Columbia University (New York) and the Harvard University (Boston). Stefano Gervasoni teaches composition at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris and is resident composer at the Contemporary Arts Centre of the Domaine de Kerguéhennec (Brittany) until 2011.
He has become one of the most important Italian composers on the contemporary scene and has received commissions from the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the WDR in Cologne, the SWF Baden-Baden, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, the Festival d’Automne in Paris, Radio France, IRCAM, the Casa da Musica in Porto, the Festival Archipel in Geneva, the Maerzmusik in Berlin, Ars Musica in Brussels and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. His compositions – including chamber and vocal music, concertos, and works for orchestra and for ensemble – were published by Ricordi from 1987 and, since 2000, by Edizioni Suvini Zerboni – Sugarmusic SpA. A monographic CD entitled “Antiterra”, featuring “An”, “Animato”, “Antiterra”, “Least Bee”, “Godspell” and “Epicadenza”, was recently released in France on the Aeon label and displays «a musical world of great wealth, subtlety and refinement, both expressive and introspective, that immediately captures our attention» (Philippe Albèra).
His work has won numerous awards and has earned him grants from the Fondation des Treilles in Paris and the DAAD in Berlin. He has also taken part in the Junger Komponisten Forum in Cologne, the Klangforum Seminar in Vienna and has lectured at the summer courses in Darmstadt, the Fondation Royaumont in Paris, the Toho University in Tokyo, the International Festival of Campos do Jordão in Brazil, the Shangai Conservatory, the Columbia University (New York) and the Harvard University (Boston). Stefano Gervasoni teaches composition at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris and is resident composer at the Contemporary Arts Centre of the Domaine de Kerguéhennec (Brittany) until 2011.
Froward (UA)
L'etimologia della parola inglese "froward" associa al movimento contro-corrente ("from - ward", opposto quindi a quello diretto indicato dalle parole "toward" e "forward") un ventaglio di significati di qualità non propriamente positivi come l'essere avverso, scomodo, refrattario, difficilmente piacevole, o l'avere una propensione ad andare contro ciò che è richiesto dalla ragione, dalle regole, dagli usi, e quindi un'inclinazione all'erranza, nel duplice senso di sbagliare qualcosa o di non trovare la giusta via. E "Capo Froward" è anche un luogo geografico, il punto più meridionale del continente sudamericano, scoperto nel 1587 dal navigatore inglese Thomas Cavendish, che così lo chiamò per il suo aspetto ostile.
Tutto ciò non è senza riferimento alla motivazione listziana inerente la commissione dei "Pèlerinages - Kunstfest Weimar 2011". La parabola esistenziale e artistica di Liszt si è compiuta attraverso la trasgressione e il compiacimento mondano accompagnati da uno spirito avveniristico (propri dell'esploratore che scopre nuove terre, varcando il capo mai prima oltrepassato) in un rapporto vivo, spesso contraddittorio e conflittuale, fino alla sublimazione finale, risolutrice e pacificante degli anni che seguirono il 1862 quando Liszt decise di ritirarsi nel monastero della Madonna del Rosario di Roma e poi prese gli ordini minori. "Per i miei fratelli e i miei amici io dirò: «Su te sia pace!». Per la casa del Signore nostro Dio, chiederò per te il bene.": così recita il Salmo 122 (121), il "canto delle salite" che nel 1884 Liszt scelse di musicare per coro misto, organo, 2 trombe, 2 tromboni e timpani, a cui nella mia composizione si fa, non esplicitamente, allusione.