Aesthetical Writings of Giacinto Scelsi

Franco Sciannameo is College of Fine Arts Distinguished Scholar & Teaching Professor of Music at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is the author of Nino Rota’s The Godfather Trilogy (2010), Phil Trajetta (Venice, 1776-Philadelphia, 1854), Patriot, Musician, Immigrant (2010), Experiencing the Violin Concerto (2016), Musicians’ Migratory Patterns: The Adriatic Coast (2018), and Reflections on the Music of Ennio Morricone: Fame and Legacy (2020). Alessandra Carlotta Pellegrini, one of Italy’s foremost musicologists and twentieth-century music specialists, has written on Casella, Nono, Petrassi, and Scelsi among many others. She has edited both Italian and French editions of Giacinto Scelsi’s autobiography Il sogno 101 (both published in 2010). Pellegrini is the President of the Verdi National Archive, Professor at the Conservatorio “Domenico Cimarosa” in Avellino, and Scientific Director of the Fondazione Isabella Scelsi in Rome.

This book rectifies a great gap in our understanding of this utterly original composer. We glean from Scelsi’s own writings the depth of his thinking from both historical and aesthetic perspectives, how these changed over the course of his career and, most importantly, how these changes shaped his development as a composer of some of the most original masterpieces of the late 20th century.

• 00a List of Figures00b Preface by Eric Drott00c Introduction and AcknowledgmentsPART ONE01 Prologue02 The Meaning of Music 03 The Evolution of Harmony04 The Evolution of Rhythm05 Art and Satanism 06 Unity and Equality of the Arts07 EpiloguePART TWO08 Introduction 09 Sound and Music10 Art and Knowledge11 Conclusion12 Bibliography13 Discography14 Index15 Authors’ bios