Giuliano d'Angiolini: )))(((

Yes, ")))(((" is the title of the opening track of this album, and the title of the album itself. How one pronounces it is unclear. )))((( is the fourth album released by the Italian composer and ethnomusicologist Giuliano d'Angiolini who was born in Rome in 1960. He studied composition at the Rome Conservatory, ethnomusicology at Rome University and the Accademia Chigiana in Sienna, as well as computer music in Padua. He.is now based in Paris. His first album was Simmetrie Di Ritorno which was released on the German label Edition RZ in 2010, his only previous recording having been the fifteen-minute trombone piece "Monochrome Pour Igor" on an untitled compilation (SHSK'H, 2009). The tracks on Simmetrie Di Ritorno dated as far back as 1991, with the most recent dating from 2007, "Orizzonte Fisso, Bordoni Mobili," a piece for eight instruments—flute, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, accordion, and string trio.

D'Angiolini's next two albums were both released on the Another Timbre label. Released in 2016, four of the six tracks on the album Cantilena featured indeterminacy as pioneered by John Cage, so each performance of a piece would sound different. The Italian's use of indeterminacy dates as far back as 2003 and 2004 when he recorded the pieces "Ita Vita Zita Rita (1997)" and "Notturno in progressione (2004)" for Simmetrie Di Ritorno. Erstwhile's curator and producer Yuko Zama has said this of the Italian "I first came to know Giuliano d'Angiolini's work in 2018, shortly after starting my label Elsewhere, when I listened to his Cantilena (Another Timbre), a great album that is still one of my favorite releases on AnotherTimbre. Since then, I've been hoping to feature his work on Elsewhere one day...one of my favorite contemporary composers." Released in 2020, the other Another Timbre album, Antifona, had four tracks, recorded in four different years—one of which features d'Angiolini alone at a piano, another which is for flute and piano, one which features a sextet of Apartment House players and one performed by an orchestra. Although different, they each follow strict procedures of indeterminacy.

Compared to the music on Antifona, that on )))((( is significantly different. The three )))((( tracks are all versions for a specified number of particular instruments—")))((( 's version for four flutes and six clarinets," "7 flauti, for seven flutes" and "100100 for 35 flutes." However, the only musicians credited are flautist Manuel Zurria and clarinetist Paolo Ravaglia, so they must have been busy recording multiple parts, with d'Angiolini mixing them. Zurria had the idea for this project and worked to make it happen. The three pieces sound distinctly different as ")))(((" features flutes and clarinets, "7 flauti" features flutes, alto flutes and bass flutes, and "100100" flutes alone. ")))(((" is recommended to be played loud while the other two tracks follow strict procedures of indeterminacy. All three pieces are recognisable for occasional silences. Leaving aside the technical details, the end results of all three tracks make beautiful attention-grabbing listening which can be repeated without losing its irresistible appeal.

Comments