Ricercare 1.(Review)

Compact disc, 1998, Studio Ricercare CD 1; available from Lucio Garau, via Curzola 8, Milan, Italy; electronic mail ricercare@lucx.com.

This disc consists of four tracks of traditional vocal music from the communes of Oniferi and Sinnai in Sardinia and five tracks of electroacoustic music, produced in several studios in England, Switzerland, and Italy.

A su coro, from Oniferi, begins with an unaccompanied solo tenor vocal, soon supported by three other male voices in close intervals of parallel--even multiphonic--tightly strophic vocal harmony. A Web search reveals that this style, solo alternates with solo moving over accompaniment throughout, is claimed to be quite ancient. The style is dry even though ornamented, unvarying in tempo, laconic, and straightforward. In spite of its limited means the music is effective due to its concentration and integrity. The vocalists are Carmelo Pirisi, Francesco Pirisi, Giovanni Pirisi, and Raimundo Pidia.

Track 2, Arrisi, by Francesco Giomi, begins with electroacoustic patterings and chitterings, like insects in a dry field, or hard heels on a dance floor. Vocal samples enter in layered bursts to recite a short poem in dialect, with processed instrumental and environmental samples for support. The texture is relatively open and slow moving, with an occasional comb-filtered pad presenting something like a chord. The poems are by Faustino Ossini, recited by Alfonso Spiga. The piece conveys something of the same feeling as the first, traditional song, and is my favorite of all the electroacoustic tracks. The parts and sections are in proportion, everything fits together, and a unified impression and feeling is conveyed.

Track 3, Ballu, also by Mr. Giomi, is a short piece that strings a number of samples of traditional instruments, rattles, and whips together, ending in a crescendo of reeds and whistles.

Regula poetica, o a schin'e pisci, from Sinnai, is in the same vocal style--tempo, ornaments, and all--as the opening track, and has the same laconic effectiveness. The vocalists are Salvatore Maxia, Angelo Secci, and Zeno Deidda.

Track 5, Su Nu, by Junghae Lee, uses heavily processed materials said to derive from traditional songs and a viola da gamba. Loops, swoops, and ringing pads follow each other. The procession seems rather unmotivated to me, not slow enough to draw out the inner movements in each block of material, and not fast enough to create a perceptible rhythm.