The third of Giovanni Bietti’s Lezioni di musica focuses on a seminal collection in the history of twentieth-century music: the Quatre Études de rythme for piano composed by Olivier Messiaen between 1949 and 1950. In particular, the second piece in the collection, Mode de valeurs et d’intensités, was one of the compositions that inspired the so-called integral serialism of the fifties, a compositional style based on the idea of subjecting all the parameters of the composition (pitches, durations, timbres, intensities) to the principle of serial organisation derived from Arnold Schoenberg and, especially, from Anton Webern. But the other three Etudes (Île de feu I, Île de feu II, Neumes rythmiques) also display an equally experimental and speculative attitude.
Curated by Paola Damiani.
Broadcast live on Rai Radio3.
