Giacinto Scelsi

Crazy about the sound: the composer as a medium fHis bizarre way of composing earned Giacinto Scelsi not only fame and respect; he was also mockingly accused of dilettantism. Scelsi regarded himself not as a composer in the traditional sense, i.e. one to combine form, rhythm, pitch and sound in an intelligent way and note the result down on paper, but as a tool. His music was created during periods of meditative contemplation recorded by him on tape, to be noted down only afterwards. Eastern religions played an important part in his work; they also influenced the piano pieces assembled here. In Quattro Illustrazioni Scelsi illustrates four incarnations of the Hindu god Vishnu; in the Suite No. 8 "Bot-Ba," on the other hand, he retires to the empty Tibetan highlands. But watch out: it is not only about meditation and contemplation but also about ritual procedures that culminate in rhythmic-energetic detonations. Proceeding from religion to magic: and indeed, his Cinque Incantesimi do seem like blazing, complex incantations. And Markus Hinterhäuser, the sorcerer at the piano, conjures up Scelsi himself! or transmitting messages from a transcendental reality.