Sounds from nowhere to nowhere

In Bern, the composer Scartazzini, born in Basel in 1971, is best known for his opera Anger (2010 in the repertoire of the Stadttheater). The miniatures, which last around four minutes, prove that he is also fascinated by the smallest ensembles with singing voices Night low and moon.

The demands on the singer are not primarily in hitting the notes, which do not seem abstract even in harmony with the violoncello; the dynamic markings - lying between pppp and mp - are demanding, notes come out of nowhere or disappear into nothingness. In addition, the counter or the female voice (preferably a mezzo) has to play crotales (small cymbals), in the first movement with a double bass bow, in the second with metal brushes.

The texts are referred to as "boutades". (I had to look up this expression: conceit, idea, whim.) The airy word creations such as "Blattanbeter" or "Windverehrer" are composed coherently; only in the third movement does the composer dispense with text altogether and assigns the voice a sotto voce vocalise, corresponding to the line of text set to music: "Ich lausch dem Winde, schweigend und versonnen". Instead, the cello, which until now has played around, trilled and accompanied with glissandi, is given the task of embodying the wind with all the sound possibilities of the bow and instrument.

The instructions are clearly notated in the musical text, which saves you having to leaf through an index.

Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini, Nachttief und Mond, Three miniatures for counter (or female voice) and violoncello on texts by Arno Schmidt, BA 9366, € 9.75, Bärenreiter, Kassel 2012