Franco Donatoni: Orchestral Works

FRANCO DONATONI WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA

Franco Donatoni was born in Verona on June 9, 1927 and died in Milan on August 17, 2000. If you look at the Italian composers of his generation, you can categorize them in a number of directions. For example, Berio could then be regarded as a composer of a "phonetic-linguistic" trend, Nono as a "political" composer and Bussotti as an "Epicurean" composer. Donatoni, on the other hand, given his passion for numbers and chemistry, would lean towards what might be termed 'alchemical' music, in which a source material is transformed by a so-called 'magical' process.

Donatoni was strongly influenced by Goffredo Petrassi in his compositional beginnings. Through meeting Bruno Maderna in 1953, he discovered the music of Mahler, Webern and Schönberg, for which he developed a lasting passion. A year later, in 1954, he took part in the Darmstadt summer courses. During this period Donatoni was influenced by the music of Boulez, Stockhausen, Nono and Berio.

Characteristic of Donatonis orchestral works from the years 1959-1960, including particularly stanzas (1959), is the conception of his »forma a pannelli« (»plate technique«), which is inspired by Stockhausen's »Momentform«. In the 1960s, Émile Zola, Robert Musil, Simone Weil, Gottfried Benn, Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka were Donatoni's most important reference points. In Donatonis' work, his negative thinking, the negation of soul and memory, has led to a separation between the musical material itself on the one hand and the metamorphosis of this material on the other. Donatoni now composed a number of works based on aleatoric and random principles, such as Per orchestra (1962)

After this phase, Donatoni decided to return to a more traditional way of composing. To puppet show 2 (1966) he writes: "I just wanted to see if I could still write like this... This raises the problem of showing how one commits suicide while composing, which would otherwise be completely useless...", and further: "The The real intention behind this was to reject negation and arrive at a perfect fiction: there is no problem anywhere, all things are in their place, but all are wrong.' To achieve this perfect fiction he had to be more concrete access material.

1967 used Franco Donatoni for A little calmer in expression a starting material that he had found in Schönberg. In Souvenir (Chamber Symphony op. 18) he draws on material that originally came from Stockhausen. His compositional style at this time was »automatism«, because in it a new rule was invented for each »panel« (»pannello«), which automatically determines the details within the »panel«. The balance and instinctive attraction between material and rule that Donatoni experimented with and continued to explore during this period shaped his life and future development.

The one recorded on this CD is considered his masterpiece from this era Duet for Bruno. But after he Duet for Bruno When the work was finished, Donatoni was struggling with the manic-depressive psychosis he had been suffering from for a long time and decided to stop composing. Donatoni was convinced that he would no longer be able to do anything, that he would lose his ability in the process. But after a few months, on the advice of his wife Susie, he began to write again: »Anyway, I had decided not to compose anymore, and what would I have missed? I wasn't doing music any more anyway, so I didn't have any obligations to keep, I didn't have any more responsibilities as a composer. So I decided to write freely, accepting everything as it came... Unexpectedly, this piece brought me back to life... although I can't explain how it happened. I could infer something conscious at the very beginning, but after that I can't say anything more about it... Everything I've done was automatic or serial, but always linked to an experience of the moment and with constantly changing codes.«

Duet for Bruno (1974-1975)
Duet for Bruno was created in the years 1974-1975 in memory of Bruno Maderna. During these years, Donatoni stopped working with »automatism« in composition. When I listen to it today, I notice - especially in the second part - heavy, so to speak "dramatic" tones, which are obviously due to an unconscious situation that stirred him up. Even during this period, I was often a keen observer of the depression and drug-induced manic state that Donatoni was enduring. This fact was reflected in his compositional style. Oddly enough, the first part of Duet for Bruno, written in a period of artificial well-being, rather cold and mechanical. Another part, created under the influence of drugs and the psychiatric hospital, announces the concretization of an unconscious state that should take effect...

Here Donatoni draws on the starting material from an already existing work: he works with the well-known Venetian song La Biondina in Gondoleta. In fact, one notices in Duet for Bruno an almost diatonic effect throughout, which harks back to this song. The title duo refers to the duality that governs the entire composition. This duality is present in the instrumentation with two solo violins, two bass drums, plus two pianos and two harps. The orchestra is also divided into two; the structure consists strictly symmetrically of 13 bars + 1 bar + 13 bars. Whenever that one isolated bar reappears, death knells can be heard – soft at first, then slowly rising. The musical "cells" that develop from beginning to end are reminiscent of Maderna lying on his hospital bed dying of lung cancer.

In Cauda II (1992-1993)
Both In Cauda II as well as most In Cauda III based on In Cauda I, so let me first briefly In Cauda I enter. The text of the 1982 work for orchestra and mixed choir is almost a kind of profane requiem in three parts. It comes from the contemporary Italian poet Brandolino Brandolini d'Adda (1928-2004):

un po' per celia
l'amo d'amore

adesca: in cauda requies?
scepsis pisces
ecolalia zodiaco

sequence of silence
un gallo logorato
mirror la gola:
est vox in cauda!…

Through the use of Italian and Latin, Brandolini achieves a wonderful transformation of the sound of the words and rhymes. If you wanted to translate this text, it would actually make little sense. But if you read the lyrics aloud, you realize that there is a resemblance between this text and Donatoni's music. The title In Cauda undoubtedly comes from the Latin proverb »In cauda venenum« (the poison is in the tail).

In Cauda II was commissioned by Süddeutscher Rundfunk Stuttgart. In bars 46-108 of the third part Donatoni uses the structure of In Cauda I return. By repeating this passage three times, he creates the structure on which his new composition is based. The first time around, different ideas pop up in relation to the original. The second time, the original is read in reverse and used more boldly than the previous element. When listening, it is therefore much more difficult to recognize the agreement with the original than the first time. The third time, the composer dissects the given structure (except at the beginning). This allows you to hear very freely, as if you were freed from the previously established course. In this way, an infinite expanse becomes recognizable. The last part of In Cauda I ends in extinction. In In Cauda II on the other hand, a large crescendo develops. Here one should remember the falling figure in the violins and violas from the beginning. The second time, the same figure appears, but now ascending. The third time you hear the same figure again, which is now taken over by the wind instruments: the falling figure superimposes the rising one.

In Cauda III (1996)
In Cauda III was written for the 400th anniversary of Valladolid (Spain). Donatoni only has the third »plate« as starting material In Cauda II used and developed it in a completely different way. At In Cauda II Donatoni had omitted the bassoons and referred to the final bars of this section, superimposing violins and violas on the low instruments in the form of a traditional canon. The whole composition is based on the development of the resulting material, which serves as a base. In In Cauda III then the extracted material is applied to another structure that may have been prepared separately In Cauda II set. This effect creates, for example, a long series of notes and chords when read vertically. In Cauda II and  In Cauda III both are therefore based on the same material, which is however arranged from a different perspective. One is just as amazed by Donatoni's skilful approach as by the flexibility of his ideas.

Prom (1999)
Prom wrote Donatoni for the BBC Proms. The piece begins with low murmurs; then, appropriately, repetitions of phrases of a few bars are inserted as 'ritornellos', and so one arrives at the successive expositions of different 'plates'. Then, little by little, the long, dramatic notes become clearer and more dominant, and when the music reaches the crucial point of greatest tension, only silence and long-held, isolated chords can be heard. This conclusion is unexpected given the beginning. Donatoni began composing in 1998 upon his return from Japan. When he was about halfway through the work, he went into diabetic shock and had to be hospitalized for several months. After his release, he began writing again.

The following spring I received a call from his family and his publisher. Although Donatoni has completed the work for the BBC, nobody can read or decipher the score. Of course that was a problem for her. It was clear to me that Donatoni's score would have to be rewritten to make it readable and performable. But when I held them in my hands, I got dizzy. I thought I understood that Donatoni had wanted to write the score at all costs, but that for him it was like being in an elevator falling into nowhere. I familiarized myself with the score and tried to make the flow logical by reconstructing a context. I took the legible notes as clues and tried to combine them in a coherent way. Contradictions arose at various points.

In his book This Donatoni has described the role »error« plays in his composition. The idea of ​​an "error" is one of the most important concepts in his music. In hindsight, Donatoni argues, if one makes a mistake in composing, there is a potentially justifying probability. For this reason it is necessary to keep working, accepting the fallacies: correcting them allows us to keep moving forward. After much deliberation, I decided to correct the contradictions later, especially the tempo indications, for example. I remember that Donatoni had tears in his eyes when I brought him the reconstructed score.

Esa (In Cauda V) (2000)
Let's now look at the chronology of the complete series of the In Cauda titled works. In Cauda I was composed in the years 1982–1986, In Cauda II wrote Donatoni in 1993–1994, In Cauda III was created in 1996. In 1998 Donatoni composed In Cauda IV / Fire for four female voices and orchestra (this work is not included on the CD). In 2000, shortly before his death, he closed the series Esa (In Cauda V) away. Seven years separate In Cauda I from In Cauda II, but from In Cauda II up to That oddly, he continued to work diligently on the series practically every two years. The text of the English poet Jack Beeching too In Cauda IV / Fire consists of two parts. Its original English title is The Hidden Door, the text is written in Latinizing French: La plus belle mort is la plus voluntaire ("The most beautiful death is the most voluntary"). We cannot know what Donatonis intention was in creating these works, but it seems that In Cauda inextricably linked to the thought of death.

Esa (In Cauda V) was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. The title Esa derives from the first name of the conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, who had been Donatoni's pupil and had become a close friend. Donatoni couldn't get out of bed to compose, which is why I supported him physically while composing. In That Donatoni worked with a different process than before, relying on material Fire and other works of his own.

When I look at this score today, more than ten years later, many thoughts come to mind. Above all, I am surprised at her so happy, lively and lovable character. Above all, during our collaboration, I felt it was a great responsibility to fulfill this task, and therefore I was not able to look at the work objectively at the time. I remember that all the procedures were implemented by hand on the round table that was next to his bed. It was very clear at that moment that Donatoni, while desperately wanting to complete this work, had no desire to continue working on it in this way. With the help of alchemy, Donatoni knew how to transform the works of others, and he continued to transform his own. Ultimately, he probably wanted to transform himself to put himself in another dimension. That is why there is no gravity in this composition. Rather, the piece is incredibly light and luminous, even if, in following Brandolini's text, the composer turned to the bright splendor of the universe.

Yoichi Sugiyama
Translation from French: Birgit Gotzes