excerpts

An idiosyncratic alliance. For trombone, contrabass, and ensemble. Commissioned by Festival Éclat Stuttgart and ensemble Musikfabrik with support from Pro-Helvetia and Kunststiftung NRW. First performance: 02 February 2022 Festival Éclat Ensemble Musikfabrik Florentin Ginot, contrabass Bruce Collings, trombone Clement Power, conductor

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwH_X05NlTk
more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/plenty-for-two/

Plenty For Two

for guitar & electronics.
Francesco Palmieri, acoustic guitar.
Commissioned by Fondation Nicati-de Luze and Fondation Suisa with support of Grame centre national de création musicale

more infos: http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/thick-skin-stratum-lucidum/

Thick Skin

Orchestre d’Auvergne, Roberto Forés Veses conductor, Jean-Marie Trotereau cello. 

Commissioned by Orchestre d’Auvergne and Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz

more infos: http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/celeste-discontinuita/

Celeste discontinuità (excerpt)

(2023) - for soprano, eight instruments, and electronics.

Instrumentation: Soprano, Percussion, Trumpet, Accordion, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass

First performance: 17 November 2023 IRCAM, Centre Pompidou, Paris - Ensemble l’Itinéraire, KatrÏna Paula Felsberga, soprano, Miguel Perez Inesta, conductor, Johannes Regnier, electronics

commissioned by Ensemble l’Itinéraire with support from Pro-Helvetia and Fondation SUISA

video: https://medias.ircam.fr/embed/media/x2eccc5_pozzanghere-mezzo-seccate-oscar-bianchi

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/pozzanghere-%7c-mezzo-seccate/

Pozzanghere | mezzo seccate

LIVE at Villa Massimo, Festa dell'arte - 13 June 2024
Katrīna Felsberga, soprano
Marco Blauuw, trumpet


With a playful nod to the unruly spirit of early duplum – that liberated second voice of medieval polyphony that later blossomed into bold contrapuntal adventures – the two protagonists carve out a peculiar expressive space, one that questions and probes: Am I your shadow? Your alter ego? They confess in turns, weaving between existential musings and lyrical litanies – reflections that might just be projections of their own uncertain natures. In this exchange, they become vehicles for vibrant emotional propositions, hinting at new frontiers of expressivity.

Stripped of accompaniment – “naked,” in the sense of pure, unadorned presence – the soprano and trumpet inhabit a shared sonic space where their identities blur and intermingle. Here, ideas don’t march forward in straight lines; they ripple, echo and occasionally trip over themselves. They might well embody “the fluid nature of creativity” – a state where a thought morphs into a gesture, a mood becomes a motive, and nothing stays pinned down for long. Like two dreamers in parallel monologues, their paths crossing in real time, not quite knowing where they’re headed but listening intently as they go – celebrating, in that very uncertainty, a sense of togetherness and possibility.

Confessioni (live recording)

for contrabass solo

Dario Calderone, contrabass
live recording, la Biennale di Venezia 2014

more infos: http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/docile-ascesa/

Docile ascesa

more infos: http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/adesso/

Adesso, string quartet no. 1 (excerpt)

Opera in one act on a libretto and staging from Joel Pommerat
Ensemble Modern, Franck Ollu
Festival d'Aix-en-Provence

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/thanks-to-my-eyes/

Thanks To My Eyes, scene 23 (excerpt)

More info: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/matra/

(2007) - Cantata for vocal ensemble, instrumental ensemble, trio concertante, and electronics. Commissioned by Pro Helvetia (Swiss Art Council). Premiere: October 12, 2007, Festival Musica Strasbourg. Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, ICTUS Ensemble. Suzie Fröhlich: Paetzold (contrabass) recorder. Rico Gübler: Tubax (contrabass saxophone). Michael Schmid: bass flute. George-Elie Octors, conductor.

Tantric Shivaism, Gnostic writings, and De Rerum Natura by Lucretius intertwine to sing in MATRA the endless dimensions of material life. The result is a long, exalted prayer (50 minutes) that juxtaposes smooth harmonies against turbulent yet concentrated rhythms and bursts of implosive energy.

Three layers of sound: the six members of Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart (three female voices and three male voices) project the often homorhythmically sung texts in a commendatory spirit with long echoes. The vocal style is rich in short and rapid ornaments (often linked to exhalation phenomena), introducing musical phrases with glottal effects until they get engulfed by long and luminous chords. A cornucopia of "close harmonies," diatonic quasi-clusters that become brighter thanks to carefully balanced quarter tones adorning the texture.

The instrumental ensemble is a breathing, spitting force of nature, weaving rhythms and punctuating the pace. Bianchi explored the theory of chakras: the motion and circulation of energy underlie his conception of spirituality, a combination of labor and struggle. A few fine spectral chords from the woodwinds conjure up the sound of bells or gongs, while a transparent but unstable instrumental harmony reminds us that Bianchi studied with Tristan Murail at Columbia University. On the electric guitar: instrumental “bone fragments,” lurking infrabass shadows, a few saturated textures... The young man is in tune with his time!

Lastly, a trio of low-register instruments — tubax (contrabass saxophone), contrabass Paetzold recorder, and bass flute — evokes the tireless inward-looking and inescapable flurry of Samsara, a place of ignorant passions (or of a passion for ignorance). We processed these three instruments with almost no reverb in contrast to the human voices. What a sweet sound for sore ears!

(Jean-Luc Plouvier)

MATRA (excerpt)

for six voices a cappella
Neuevocalsolisten Stuttgart
Live recording

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/ante-litteram/

Ante Litteram

cantata for vocal ensemble, instrmental ensemble, trio concertante

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/matra/

Matra I

Matra IV

Matra II

Matra III

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Markus Poschner conductor  
Christina Daletska, Soprano  
Coro Clairiére, Brunella Clerici, choir conductor
http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/alfredo/

Alfredo, scene II (excerpt)

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Markus Poschner conductor  
Christina Daletska Mezzo-Soprano  
Coro Clariére, Brunella Clerici, choir conductor
http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/alfredo/

Alfredo, scene IV - S (excerpt)

Alfredo, scene IV (excerpt)

For Sax, Horn, Trombone, Perc, Pno, Accordion.
Live performance, Ensemble OGGIMUSICA, Giorgio Bernasconi conductor

Esegesi del ricordo (2002-2003)

miniature for bass clarinet, piano and contrabass. Ensemble Paul Klee

With You

for countertenor and ensemble

Co-commissioned by Festival les Amplitudes (with support of Pro-Helvetia and Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain, Switzerland), Uusinta Ensemble (Finland) and Studio for New Music Moscow (Russia)

Daniel Gloger, countertenor
Nouvel Ensemble Contemporain 
Pierre-Alain Monot, conductor

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/partendo/

Partendo

for flute and violin. (2001)
Commissioned by Annamaria Morini, Enzo Porta
World premiere: 21 Mar 2002, Spazio Oberdan (Milan)
Annamaria Morini flute, Enzo Porta violin
https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/de-rerum-natura/

De Rerum Natura

for symphonic orchestra, live broadcast. Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Markus Poschner, RSI broadcast. LAC Lugano


more infos: http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/exordium/

Exordium

Collegium Novum Zürich, Emilio Pomarico. Commissioned by Collegium Novum Zürich, with the friendly support of Swiss Re, Pro-Helvetia and SUISA Fondation

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/contingency/

Contingency

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, live at Herkulessaal in der Münchner Residenz, Johannes Kalitzke conductor

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/inventio/

inventio (excerpt)

May 5th, 2017, JACK Quartet - Witten's Johanniskirche (DE). Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/pathos-of-distance/

Pathos Of Distance, String Quartet No 2

Trio Sonemus
Azra Ramic, Bass Clarinet
Esther Saladin, Cello
Gilles Grimaître, Piano

live recording, High Noon 2000 Musik, Konstanz (DE)

video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70KSTtEwu44

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/antilope/

Antilope

Trio Sonemus (live, Konstanz, 20.01.2019)

Antilope (excerpt)

for Petzold recorders and electronics

http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/crepuscolo/

Crepuscolo (excerpt)

for ensemble and electronics
Ensemble l'Itinéraire, Marc Foster conductor
Dedicated to the memory of Fausto Romitelli
Live Recording, 08 march 2005, IRCAM Centre-Pompidou, Paris

more infos: http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/mezzogiorno/

Mezzogiorno

for six voices and bass clarinet
Neuevocalsolisten Stuttgart, Gareth Davis
Live performance: Theaterhaus Stuttgart, 18 October 2012

more infos: https://www.oscarbianchi.com/compositions/ante-litteram/

Ante Litteram, version for six voices and bass clarinet

for 19 instruments and electronics
Ensemble Modern, Stefan Asbury. Alte Oper Frankfurt, 14 may 2013
Live recording

more infos: http://oscarbianchi.com/compositions/permeability/

Oscar Bianchi

Pinned to spotlight

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