After abrogating the rhythm, movement is created out of polyphonous gravitation like that of the stars in the sky or as the profiles of the mountains on the horizon. In the desert, the physiognomic traits appear as outlines: pulsating islands of sound brush seas of silence. Within this silence we find the sounds of our body, we recognize them as our primeval own and hear the smallest tensions of the intervals like will-‘o-the-wisps, which - devoid of all drama - light up as gestures in the dark… Our mind is generous enough to accept this wretchedly fragile music. Music is no longer made to put to sleep market places but to awaken realization - in the moment when the market place has fallen silent in us.
Born in Sicily in 1947, Salvatore Sciarrino is primarily a self-taught composer, studying later with Antonio Titone and Turi Belfiore. The first performance of his music was in 1962. He completed his studies in Rome and Milan. Sciarrino has taught in the conservatories of Milan, Perugia and Florence, directed numerous masterclasses and was director of the Teatro Comunale in Bologna from 1987 to 1990. He has received many prizes including the ISCM (1971 et 1974) and the Dallapiccola (1974). Since 1996 he has devoted himself full-time to composition and theoretical writing.