An excerpt from my solo piano composition "Let Me Weep!" performed by Lillian Liu and released by Empirica.
You can listen to the full track on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3ujJNbk (but also on many other streaming services).
Let Me Weep! was composed in 2011–2014 and is based upon a fragment by Henry Purcell.

Excerpt from Let Me Weep! (Lillian Liu, piano)

An excerpt from my solo violin composition "Piccolo Capriccio" performed by Giovanna Sevi and released by Empirica.
You can listen to the full track on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0J2sjZGoOACJfyXTG3Pe0b?si=e6d541af1d0c4959 (but also on many other streaming services).
Here are the beautiful program notes by Eloise Ameruoso, in Italian and then in English:
Piccolo Capriccio (2011 – 2014) è dedicato all'esperto e talentuoso violinista Carmine Marcello Rizzi. 
L'esordio è proposto da un nucleo melodico che si sgretola in caduta libera attraverso due ottave che si dipanano in altalenanti fasi liriche, delle cantilene, dapprima schive, poi sempre più presenti, fino al compimento, in una sorta di reiterata rievocazione del dubbio amletico che attanaglia la mente riproponendosi con vari umori, ora solitario, ora impulsivo, ora sospettoso, ora gioioso, quasi come se l'idea debba, per estirparsi o risolversi, scorrere attraverso diverse fasi emozionali prima di dileguarsi nel suo solingo finale. Una continua ricerca, andando verso qualcosa, un pensiero suggerito, lasciato in sospeso e poi ripreso, un limbo oscillante tra il mp e il ff, strepitoso nel suo girovagare attraverso l'odissea delle riflessioni nell'attesa di un dulcis in fundo che si sottrae alla propria sorte. La riproposta del tema iniziale culmina in un'accelerazione che estingue le fantomatiche cogitazioni in un'ambigua nota di chiusura, legata a un ipotetico "dopo", lasciata riverberare, come se la riflessione debba restare irrisolta, irrelata da un'improbabile risposta.
***
Piccolo Capriccio (2011 – 2014) is dedicated to the expert and talented violinist Carmine Marcello Rizzi.
The debut is proposed by a melodic nucleus that crumbles in free fall through two octaves that unfold in fluctuating lyrical phases, of chants, at first shy, then more and more present, until completion, in a sort of re-enactment of the Hamletic doubt that grips the mind re-proposing itself with various moods, now solitary, now impulsive, now suspicious, now joyful, almost as if the idea must, in order to be eradicated or resolved, flow through different emotional phases before disappearing into its solitary ending. A continuous search, going towards something, a suggested thought, left pending and then resumed, a limbo oscillating between mp and ff, amazing in its wandering through the odyssey of reflections waiting for a dulcis in fundo that subtracts itself to the fate. The revival of the initial theme culminates in an acceleration that extinguishes the elusive cogitations in an ambiguous closing note, tied to a hypothetical "after", let to reverberate, as if the reflection must remain unresolved, unrelated to an unlikely response.

Excerpt from Nicola Monopoli: Piccolo Capriccio (Giovanna Sevi, violin)

The Rite of Judgment was composed in 2010-2011 and slightly revised in 2014.
Inspired by psychoanalytical theories, the main theme of The Rite of Judgment is the inner reaction to a given or received judgment. The work is characterized by many textures and complex rhythms. The vocals are generally hidden but sometimes come to dominate the musical fabric of the piece. The vocals represent the inner voice, a dark voice inside the ego, the voice of judgment. That voice could judge or react to a judgment. The Rite of Judgment represents this inner struggle or the externalisation of an impulse response. What happens to someone who is judged or who is judging? This work tries to give a deep reply which is not possible to represent using words. The title of the work is a tribute to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.
The composition ends with a couple of seconds of complete silence reaching the symbolic duration of 4'33" as a tribute to John Cage's work: the chaos of the internal struggle is replaced by the external, apparent, silence.

If you want to perform the piece and you need the high quality wav file please contact me at nicolamonopoli@gmail.com and I will send it to you.

The Rite of Judgment

QFD (for amplified cello, amplified string orchestra and tape) - short excerpt
Live performance @ Teatro Curci in Barletta (Italy) - 2014
Cello: Mauro Paolo Monopoli
Conductor: Salvatore Campanale
Orchestra: Soundiff Orchestra
Electronics: Nicola Monopoli

Excerpt from QFD (for amplified cello, amplified string orchestra and tape) - Live Performance

3 Visioni Fuggitive (2012-2015)for fixed media
Divided into three movements (Dolente, Feroce and Lentamente) this piece is freely inspired by the Visions Fugitives of Sergej Prokofiev. The names of the different movements are taken from the original work and are used as inspiration to write this acousmatic work using C-Sound, Mathematica and Supercollider.
Dolente is a slow suffering feeling that eats one both from the inside and the outside, slowly bringing one into turmoil.
Feroce is a moment of anger that is impossible to suppress which explodes immediately, attempts to subside, but ends up stronger than before.
Lentamente constitutes a slow going away from all, while around everything happens quickly.

Lentamente

Dolente

Juicy Joyce (Subvocalizing) was composed between April 2011 and February 2014 and slightly revised in 2015. It is an electroacoustic representation of the phenomenon of subvocalization that occurs during the Joycean stream of consciousness.
Subvocalization is an inner speech that comes during silent reading or the interior monologue. This inner vocalization is characterized by minute movements of the muscles involved in the articulation of speech. Following one common usage, interior monologue may be defined as subvocalized speech and stream of consciousness as the entire range of conscious experience, including but not confined to subvocalization.
Juicy Joyce has the double intent to analyze the moments of subvocalization during the stream of consciousness and to underline its ambiguity: a moment of intense internal activity which resolves in an external total paralysis (Joyce's 'Dubliners').
The internal movements leave the external situation unchanged and the only externally perceivable signs of this internal motion are the effects of the subvocalization.
The piece is divided into two movements: 'Derevaun Seraun!' is an obsessive interior repetition of this phrase, something moving around itself, a sort of praeludium to the second movement, giving a sense of stagnation.
'Derevaun Seraun!' takes name from a quote from Joyce's 'Eveline' which means 'At the end of pleasure there is pain'; 'Stream of Consciousness', on the other hand, represents a continuous internal motion which culminates in a big, final epiphany.

Juicy Joyce (Subvocalizing) - Stream of Consciousness

Juicy Joyce (Subvocalizing) - Derevaun Seraun!

Twine, something that wraps around itself.
Listen to the entire track on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/2zjNAqpXPkcUbOotXORfpZ?si=O7Zq9iNFT9a2MM2yTQddsw

Excerpt from Twine

You can listen to the entire track on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/7BH7mzvIiPwU7D2MqbK7eW?si=BshHe5dzRAOfHxaf6nPc3g

3 Stanzas (2013-2020)
The piece, as the name implies, is divided into 3 parts. The first represents a person who writes the memories which he wants to get rid of on a piece of paper. The person tears and throws the paper into the fire, a sort of magical purification or a reset function.
The second part introduces the idea of catharsis, the breathing becomes strong, almost ritualistic. This completes the purification process and, from here, it is possible to begin again from scratch.
The third part is a sort of return to reality, to the constant struggle of life, restarting to write the memories on a paper, in a cyclical continuity.
The form of the piece is strictly related to this image. The composition starts and ends with the sound of a trigger, a matchstick, symbolizing the possible loopability of the piece.

Excerpt from 3 Stanzas

You can listen to the entire track on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/5wOziV9XtDn7PT7PNkLny7?si=NbgCf6KdTiux_PHOb3Xarw 
Pacman (2019-2020), Program & Control Man, is a composition for flute with or without electronics. The electronics is based on the use of a vintage saturator that brings to mind the arcades of many years ago, the flute plays on different registers in a stubborn and repetitive way creating different sound levels, simulating the coexistence of different flutes and simulating the movements of pacman in music, trapped in his labyrinth.

Flute: Pietro Doronzo
Electronics: Nicola Monopoli
Composer: Nicola Monopoli

Excerpt from Pacman

The full track is available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/66jMhJO5KW6yNxe2UPPFqp
QFD (2014 - 2020), acronym for 'Quiete, Fuga, Disordine' (English: Stillness, Outrush, Disorder)is a composition for cello, string orchestra and electronics by the Italian composer Nicola Monopoli for cello, string orchestra and electronics, performed by the cellist Mauro Paolo Monopoli, Tchaikowsky Young Cellist Competition Prize Winner, accompanied by the Soundiff Orchestra and the composer himself performing the electronics.

Excerpt from QFD

Nicola Monopoli (1991) is an Italian musician and composer born in Barletta (Italy).
He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music and New Technologies with honors and an honorable mention, a Master’s Degree in Electronic Music with honors and he graduated with full marks in Composition from ‘N. Piccinni’ Conservatory in Bari.
He was the first composer to earn the Artist Diploma in Composition from The Royal College of Music in London supported by a Clifton Parker Award and a scholarship by Giovani Artisti Italiani Association, Project DE.MO./Movin’Up (partner of the Italian Ministry of Culture).
His compositions were performed in Italy, France, Germany, Australia, England, Ireland, Norway, Greece, Russia, the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Cyprus, Mexico and Brazil.
He participated in electroacoustic and contemporary music concert seasons and festivals of international relevance such as International Computer Music Conference, De Montfort SSSP, Seoul International Computer Music Festival, NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival, Stanford University Linux Audio Conference, Asian Composer League Conference and Festival, File Festival, Hannover Hochschule C-Sound Conference, Emufest, Fullerton Annual New Music Festival, Camerata Musicale Barese – “Dedicato a...”, FIMU, Festival Internacional “Punto de Encuentro”, Shanghai Conservatory of Music International Electronic Music Week, Urticanti – Contemporary Music Festival, University of Central Missouri New Music Festival, Perugia Conservatory Segnali Festival, Electronic Music Festival of the Cypriot Composer League, Silence Festival, San Francisco FCM, Di_Stanze, NoiseFloor Festival, Fresh Minds Festival, From Tape to Typedef, Lecce Conservatory Concert Season, Kinokophone, CIM, Hilltown New Music Festival, Béal Festival, LPM, UNDÆ, Oxford Brookes University - New Music Festival, Sonorities, SpazioMusica Project, etc.
He held concerts in major concert halls such as Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall and Recital Hall of the RCM in London, Great Hall of “Carlo Felice” Theatre in Genova, “Gesualdo da Venosa” Conservatory Auditorium in Potenza, Shanghai Conservatory Concert Hall, Shi-Ying Theater in Taipei, Vaughan Recital Hall in Orangeburg, Conservatory of Trieste “Aula Magna”, Chamber Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic Society, Sviatoslav Richter Memorial Apartment in Moscow, Centre Chorégraphique in Belfort, Meng Concert Hall in Fullerton, “G. Curci” Theatre in Barletta, Salone degli Specchi of Circolo Unione in Bari, Vallisa Auditorium in Bari, Bari Conservatory Auditorium, Rome Conservatory Auditorium, Hannover Kammermusiksaal, Elebash Hall in New York, Town Center Pavilion in Kansas City, Leggate Theatre in Liverpool, Jayu Theatre in Seoul, City Theatre in Corfù, Barnes Hall in Ithaca (USA), The Italian Cultural Institute in Sydney, etc.
He was awarded first prize in the Golden Key Composition Competition 2015 (USA), third prize in the Musicworks Magazine Competition 2011 organised by the Canadian magazine Musicworks, received a Mention at the Piars Award 2013 and he was one of the four finalists of The National Prize of The Arts of Electronic Music in 2012 (Acousmatic Category). He was funded by Puglia Sounds for the project Puglia Sounds Export 2015 to engage a series of three concerts in Australia and he also won the Call for Projects ‘Principi Attivi’ organised by Apulia Region.
He conceived and is the artistic director of the 'Creative Tools' - Composers in Residence project funded by the Italian Music Rights Collecting Society (SIAE) and the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiBACT).
He performs regularly with the violinist Carmine Marcello Rizzi in violin and electronics duo as a composer and electroacoustic performer and he collaborates with the pianist Emanuele Arciuli realising and performing the electronics for his concerts.
He actually teaches Electroacoustic Composition at the “Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa” Conservatory in Potenza.

Nicola Monopoli

Popular tracks