Natura renovatur

Giacinto Scelsi: Natura renovatur.

There's something about having this disc on as the daylight seeps away. The sense of transcendence that Scelsi was probing for in these compositions seems to complement the encroaching darkness of evening. Scelsi's music is deeply appealing for me. Especially the string quartets (I recommend sitting through them all at some point... Arditti has a good recording). Opening with the Fourth String Quartet is a welcome prelude to hearing some of his other pieces for string instruments.

"Maknongan" for Contrabass in particular is a revelation. Written in 1976, late in Scelsi's output, it's a brief utterance that seems to breathe a solitary chant through the body of this large instrument.

Scelsi's chamber music seems to paint with long, carefully sculpted strokes of sound with enormous detail along dynamic and timbral parameters. Single tones seem to reveal a rich sonic climates contained within a delicate frame. I may have to try this disc at the other side of night. With these sonic glimmerings running along side the opening rays of sunrise.