Jazzy dodecaphony, with serial techniques from Schoenberg, Hauer and Steinbauer.

Composed in 2021 (earlier jazz versions from 2013)
Copyright SIAE 2021

Glasperlenspiel I (per flauto, clarinetto, violino, violoncello e pianoforte)

Two blues from Cesare Pavese's last collection of poems Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi.

COPYRIGHT 2020

Blauelieder (Omaggio a Cesare Pavese) - due blues per soprano e pianoforte

Colla's Concinnitas for a love tune with quotes from jazz and The Beatles.
A Francesca. 
 
Composed in 2021
Copyright SIAE 2022

Gala (per pianoforte)

Blues variations on complementary hexachords.

Composed in 2022 (earlier jazz versions from 2013)
Copyright SIAE 2022

Hexameron (Variazioni blues per sestetto)

What is this tune, a Phrygian-Lydian blues? 
A fearful battle render'd you in music, 
the Gordian knot of it you will unloose!

Lydian double harmonic scale in the harmonic magic square of Alberto Colla's Concinnitas harmonic system. Lydian, Phrygian and blues scales intertwine in a Gordian knot only a great pianist can unloose! 

Dedicated to Gianluca Cascioli

(k)NOT! (per pianoforte)

I - L.V.B. (omaggio a Ludwig van Beethoven)
II - neL proFondo marte il VeneraBil Segno (omaggio a Dante Alighieri)
III - eLement FiVe: Boron
IV - quintom Scenario: big Bounce!
V - Seder hishtaLshelus

Based on motifs from Beethoven's fifth symphony, five movements about five "fifth elements". 
Motifs are rearranged through the use of the Morse code letters L V B F S and their respective rhythms.
1 - Beethoven fifth symphony;
2 - Dante's fifth sphere (Mars);
3 - atom of boron;
4 - phantom energy and quintessence in astrophysics (dark energy);
5 - the five worlds in the Kabbalah.

Composed in 2019

Quintessenz (per violoncello solo)

Ouroboros is a piece for piano quartet based on the mythological concept of eternal return, inspired mainly by Nietzsche's text "Die fröhliche Wissenschaft". It is divided into connected sections that display different key superimpositions: it starts in C major and than splits into bitonality with a part moving in the sharp direction and the other in the flat direction. They reencounter in the homophonic keys of F♯ / G♭where the initial theme is partially restated to symbolize the renewed life (C G/F D/B♭ A/E♭ E/A♭ B/D♭ F♯/G♭). The keys are held together with the use of symmetrical scales sharing common tones, a method used by authors like Vito Frazzi or Béla Bartók with the octatonic scale. The cyclical element is important: the piece could go on forever swinging back and forth between the C and the F♯ poles (polychords can be interpreted as 6 note chords in those keys as well). In the different sections (built with contrasting materials) different moods, melodies and rhythms are explored to represent different feelings, experiences, emotions of human life and nature. 

Composed in 2019

Ouroboros (Omaggio a Vito Frazzi per violino, viola, violoncello e pianoforte)

Part of a cycle homage to Gustav Holst, Saturnalia is a septet for flute, bass clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello, percussions and piano.
It is based on the roman festival in honour of the god Saturn (December 17th-23rd). It is based on the harmonic system called “armonia di gravitazione” (gravitational harmony) developed by the Italian composer Roberto Lupi and the “planetary harmonies” and other concepts inspired by astronomy by the Serbo-croatian composer Josip Slavenski. Every movement depicts a specific celebration:
I Lettisternio (17 dicembre)
II Eponalia (18 dicembre)
III Opalia (19 dicembre)
IV Sigillaria (20 dicembre)
V Angeronalia (21 dicembre)
VI Baccanali (22 dicembre)
VII Larentalia (23 dicembre)
The Lectisternium is an ancient Roman propitiatory ceremony, consisting of a meal offered to gods on a bed (or couch) where statues of the gods were placed; the separate entrances of the instruments represent the sequence of the different offers. This movement uses the “star harmony” and the four "gravitational harmonies" (planets) found in Lupi’s theory based on the harmonic series.
Epona is an ancient Celtic goddess of earth, horses and other animals. She is associated with the original Saturn, before the Greek influence of Cronus. This movement introduces Lupi’s “bimodal scale”: C D E F G Ab Bb, half major, half minor; the same scale is present in Slavenski’s theory as the “cosmic scale”. (Fragments from Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age from the suite The Planets by Gustav Holst).
Opalia were celebrations in honour of Opi, ancient wife of Saturn and original mother earth, personification of agriculture. The joyful swinging theme represents Opi, while the counter melody of the trumpet, a quote from the piece Armonie del pianeta saturno by Lupi himself, represents Saturn. This section introduces the “harmony of inversion”.
The rite of the Sigillaria is one of the most famous and it’s the probable origin of the exchange of gifts of modern Christmas. The name derives from small clay statuettes used as presents. The exchange is underlined by counterpoint and the seriousness of the rite by a somewhat archaic modal texture: notes are derived freely from a magic square built on gravitational harmonies. 
Sacred mysteries in honour of the goddess Angerona characterize the fifth movement. The obsessive repetition of a simple rhythm and only two chords convey the trance achieved during the rite. The celebration was characterized also by sacrifices performed in the temple of Voluptia, or the goddess of joy and pleasure (some believe Angerona was the true name of this goddess). The joyful character is portrayed by the trumpet theme.
Baccanali depicts the outrageous side of the Saturnalia: opposite day, libations, orgies, absurd costumes and people in a Dionysian frenzy.  Alberto Colla’s Concinnitas harmonic system is used in this development section: the heptachord of the bimodal scale is ordered as implied in the harmonic series as motifs from all the piece intertwine and interlock in just intonation, yielding a more and more chaotic and erratic texture.
For the last day of the Saturnalia the mood is back to normality and a feeling of sadness prevails. Larentalia are dedicated to Acca Larentia, an Etruscan prostitute (or wife of the shepherd Faustulus, the adoptive mother of Romulus and Remus), whose cult is connected to the Lares as well. The hieratic atmosphere is achieved through Lupi’s "reflection harmonies" that evolve into Slavenski’s planetary harmonies. 
The end of December brings the year to an end: the Saturnalia are thus a symbol of renewed life and the cyclicity of nature. The palindromic theme of the flugelhorn stands for Janus, the god of beginnings, gates, time, duality, doorways, and endings: depicted as having two faces, looking to the future and  past at the same time, he sits between two consecutive years giving the name to the month of January.

Composed in 2019 (earlier jazz versions from 2016)

Saturnalia (Omaggio a Roberto Lupi e Josip Slavenski per settimino)

Femtokosmos is a piano piece inspired by quantum physics. It is divided into three movements based respectively on leptons, the theory of supersymmetry (linking fermions and bosons) and quarks. Through different playing techniques, harmonic concepts and graphic elements, the piece is a homage to Béla Bartók’s Mikrokosmos and George Crumb’s  Makrokosmos series.
The first movement, The Leptonic Chronicles, is based on the diagrams Richard Feynman developed to represent quantum interactions. Time remains the same, space is, naturally, the chromatic pitches of the piano: movement of particles is thus achieved with diachronic motifs played on the keys, while interactions (exchange of bosons) through rapid glissandi on the strings inside the piano. The structure displays in order: tauones (chromatic scale) decaying in muones (six-note augmented scale), decaying in electrons (augmented triad); the electrons than interact exchanging photons in several ways.
Supersymmetrical Tableau is a short piece based on the theoretical concept of particles’ supersymmetry and it is presented in both traditional notation and partially graphic form. The graphic staff is readable left to right, right to left or upside down (both left to right and right to left) always yielding the same result. The symmetry is visually obtained with the use of an imaginary D clef in the center of the staff and the use of colour: blue for natural, red for sharpened notes. The note D can therefore become the visual center of the whole-tone scale C D E F# G# A#. The pedal is used to create timbral fluctuations like in bisbigliando: different rhythms represent the different modes of vibration of quantum superstrings. 
Quarkorama uses complimentary tetrachords for quarks that form protons and the relative inversions for antiprotons. They are arranged with the use of Alberto Colla’s harmonic system called Concinnitas. Forearm clusters represent annihilations of quark couples. After annihilations, the remaining octachords form pions before they decay.

Composed in 2019

Femtokosmos (Omaggio a Béla Bartók e George Crumb per pianoforte)

Occaso - per pianoforte

All 66 pentachords in 66 bars; 5/4, 66 bpm, 5 minutes. From high to low registers in only 66 piano keys. Following the harmonic series (though in equal temperament) from the dominant 9th to the farthest chord from it (Pentachord 1, 01234). A sunset (occaso) in music, for the decline of human civilization. Happy 2021!
  
Composed in 2020
Copyright SIAE 2020

Lorenzo Fronti