Collection #1

Il nuovo album di Antonio Eros Negri, compositore milanese, è la "collection" strumentale di alcune tra le sue più importanti composizioni. Direttori, orchestre, gruppi da camera e singoli interpreti hanno eseguito dal vivo e in Studio opere come la "Suite Cubana" (Ensemble del Conservatorio di Como, direttore Giovanni Battista Mazza), il "Quartetto d'archi in un tempo" (Orchestra Milano Classica - direttore: Massimiliano Caldi), la "Sonatina per flauto, violoncello e pianoforte" (Tro Musica Nova) o il "Notturno con variazioni per chitarra" (Massimo Laura).
Una fotografia molto precisa della scrittura di Negri, incorniciata in un libretto elegante ed esaustivo grazie alle note di copertina diella musicologa Marina Toffetti e al contributo del M° Massimiliano Caldi che introduce il "Quartetto d'archi in un tempo".
Quartetto d’archi in un tempo – note di copertina a cura di Massimiliano Caldi
"Ho avuto l’onore di dirigere la prima esecuzione assoluta del Quartetto d’archi in un tempo di Antonio Eros Negri con l’Orchestra d’Archi “Milano Classica” e con Mauro Rossi come violino solista presso la Palazzine Liberty di Milano il 2 giugno 2002, data che curiosamente coincideva con il 13° anniversario del mio debutto direttoriale, avvenuto appunto, il 2 giugno 1989 sempre a Milano, all’Auditorium “Lattuada”, con l’Ottetto di I.Stravinsky.
Il Quartetto d’archi in un tempo è un brano accattivante, dall’impatto felicissimamente immediato (sebbene né facile, né scontato) sull’ascoltatore, creato, come di consueto si ha a che fare con questo autore, con un disegno assolutamente preciso e premeditato ma con un esito del tutto imprevedibile e coinvolgente.
Non esiterei a definire questo brano una sorta di “studio sulla poliritmia” fondato com’è esclusivamente sull’uso di cellule ritmiche mutuate con grande sapienza della cultura musicale latino-americana, in particolare di quella cubana, combinate fra di loro secondo un procedimento caleidoscopico, costituito da progressive integrazioni di brevi sezione chiamate Clave, Montuno, Tumbao, Quintillo, Rumba Clave, Clave Brasiliana.
Le suddette integrazioni danno comunque origine ad un blocco unico, compatto, sebbene con una valenza evidentemente poliedrica e sfaccettata, in cui non mancano ampi squarci più cantabili, dall’andamento “orizzontale”, chiamati, appunto, “sezione melodica”.
La struttura è molto razionale: dopo una brevissima introduzione di otto misure (in cui è già evidente che non siamo all’ascolto di un brano”convenzionale”) le misure 9-304 verranno poi ripetute tali e quali da mis. 311 a 606."

1-4 Suite Cubana: Tumbao, Habanera, Passacaglia, Final (1999) 16’05’’
The first of a series of compositions inspired by the Cuban musical tradition, the Suite Cubana (Director: Giovanni Battista Mazza) is destined for a particular instrumental ensemble characterized by the presence of two oboes, a clarinet, a bass clarinet, two horns, two bassoons, a cello and a double-bass. The virtuoso style of the Suite pushes each instrument to the utmost limits of its range.
The opening movement of the composition (Tumbao) is articulated in the same way as a vivacious mixture of prevalently Cuban rhythmic stylistic elements. The second movement is an explicit homage to the Habanera, the famous traditional Cuban dance in binary tempo similar to the tango that has inspired numerous musicians from Bizet to Debussy and from Ravel to Albeniz. Negri’s Habanera firstly proudly places the sensuality of the cello’s melody in the limelight, and then passes it from one instrument to another in an ever-changing succession of timbres. The third movement (Passacaglia) has a polyphonic matrix in which the use of the basso ostinato (of baroque origin) based on a ternary rhythm and a moderate progression, melts easily into the rhythms of traditional Cuban music. The variations of which this movement is composed are set forth once and then re-proposed in inverse order. The last movement, (Finale) combines an easy gait with a preposterously catchy tune and dissipates every tension drawing the Suite to a wonderfully feather-light conclusion.
5. Quartetto d’archi in un tempo (1999) 10’37’’
The Quartetto d’archi in un tempo in this version for string orchestra is part of a group of compositions inspired by Cuban music. The hypnotic interaction of rhythmic and motional units within the piece creates an exquisitely refined polyrhythmic structure that is not held in place by the percussions (as in its reference model) but by instruments of European tradition.
6.Invito alla danze per due chitarre (2005) 05’10’
The composition is articulated in five movements, alternating a tango and a musical moment of late romantic inspiration. The two inspiring musical motifs, culturally and chronologically so distant from each other, come together in the spirit of dance. The instrumental disposition allows the two soloists to compete, converse and finally come together with a nostalgic and highly imaginative expressiveness.
7. Sonatina per flauto, violoncello e pianoforte (2007) 07’09’’
This is the instrumental version of the Dialogo primo for vocal quintet, composed on the poetic verses written by Davide Tornaghi that recreate a conversation between prostitutes and fishermen. The Sonatina per flauto, violoncello e pianoforte plays on the contrast between a first theme that gives voice to the prostitutes and a second theme that represents the fishermen’s’ reply. The composition is pervaded with an uncontainable lyricism and presents lofty melodies and a rich resonance obtained by the merging of the instruments into a balanced texture of harmonies and timbres.
8. Bozzetti infantili (1987) 02’55’’
The Bozzetti infantili for pianoforte for four hands, is a composition inspired by (but not necessarily aimed at) children. The real protagonist is the fantastic, playful, oneiric world of childhood: a world without a specific place or time. This composition is a vivacious merry-go-round of quotations and in it we can hear strikingly suggestive distant echoes of traditional French melodies (Au près de ma blonde, La mist’en laire), fragments of famous Ring-a-ring of roses (Giro giro tondo casca il mondo ) and nursery rhymes from throughout the ages.
9-11.Tre pezzi per pianoforte a Quattro mani (1985) 10’40’’
The Tre pezzi per pianoforte a Quattro mani present a path that leads from an initial chaotic and pre-lyrical situation to the expressive climate of an aria without words. The composition is articulated in three movements (Preludio, Andante con moto, Allegretto con grazia), which follow one another without interruption.
The Preludio is entirely constructed on an interlacing of arpeggio modules harmonically based on intervals of fourths and fifths, interposed by musical motifs that anticipate the themes of part A of the Allegretto con grazia, situated prevalently in the low and middle-low range. The Andante con moto offers broader melodic and rhythmic openings and portrays an extension of the range towards the middle-high region. A motif used in a similar way to “canto fermo” is introduced in order to announce the theme of part B of the Allegretto con grazia. The latter flows into the evident lyricism of an accompanied melody that has a neo-romantic flavour.
12. Notturno per flauto, clarinetto, violoncello e pianoforte 04’28’’
Taken from a series of nocturnes for wind instruments and piano or harp entitled Lunaria, this brief composition of jazz inspiration presents an extremely compact structure. The continuous circulation of the few motifs of which one in particular distinguishes itself (five notes characterized by an ascending interval of a third followed by a descending chromatic cascade), together with the frequent alternation of the instruments contribute to a harmonious balance of timbre and texture.
13. Souls in the wind (2000) 03’08’’
Originally composed for vocal quartet on the poetic lyrics by Davide Tornaghi (Anime al vento) Souls in the wind is presented here in the version for sax quartet by Laura Lobetti Bodoni (2002). The composition pays homage to the expressive world of jazz, identified by its distinctive harmonies, frequent syncopations and typical cadences in swing style.
14. Notturno con variazioni (2002) 07’41’’
In the Notturno con variazioni for guitar we find an alternation of motifs, rhythms and stylistic elements pertaining to traditional south-American music in a suffused, nocturnal atmosphere. The initial section (notturno) is followed by four variations (Danzòn, Beguine, Tango, Son) whereas the second part of the composition re-proposes only the Danzòn and the Notturno.
Cover notes: Marina Toffetti

Quartetto d’archi in un tempo – cover note by Massimiliano Caldi

"It was my honour to conduct the world premiere of Quartetto d’archi in un tempo with the “Milano Classica” string orchestra and with Mauro Rossi as solo violinist at the Palazzine Liberty in Milan on June 2, 2002. Curiously, the date coincided with the 13th anniversary of my debut as a conductor that took place on June 2, 1989 in Milan at the Auditorium “Lattuada” with the Octet by I. Stravinsky.
The Quartetto d’archi in un tempo is an attractive piece that immediately wins over the listener (thought the music is neither easy nor what one would expect). It is constructed (as always in this composer’s works) with an absolutely precise and premeditated structure which creates a result that is altogether unforeseeable and emotionally involving.
I would not hesitate in defining this piece as a sort of “study of polyrhythms” since it is built exclusively on the use of rhythmic cells borrowed with great expertise from the Latin-American musical cultures (especially the Cuban culture), combined together in a kaleidoscopic procedure established by the progressive integration of short sections called Clave, Montuno, Tumbao, Quintillo, Rumba Clave, Clave Brasiliana.
These integrations however give rise to a single, compact unit (notwithstanding its evident polyhedric and many-sided nature) in which there are several openings towards moments of a more “cantabile” expression and of a horizontal progression. These moments are in fact called “melodic sections”.
The structure is extremely rational: after a very short introduction of eight bars (in which it is already obvious that the piece we are listening to is not at all conventional), bars 9-304 are repeated exactly from bar 311 to bar 606.
The piece ends with a short coda in which the rhythmic elements become progressively rarefied and the chords progressively drawn out until they finally vanish altogether.
The continuous repetitions and reiterations of the rhythmic and thematic cells create an effect on the listener that I would define as hypnotic. It is an effect ascribable to a sort of “perpetual motion”, even though in this case, as we have already pointed out, the coda and the end of the piece are very well defined.
All one can do then is to listen to this Quartetto d’archi in un tempo and enjoy once again the refined and amiable irony of a genial and perspicacious composer."