Gravity and Shadow

August 17th, 2009 Uncategorized

During this heat wave in the Delaware Valley, I am keeping cool by practicing a new piece by the Italian composer Franco Cavallone entitled “Ombre allungate,” which he graciously dedicated to me.  Inspired by winter shadows cast by the pine trees on the mountainsides of the Dolomites, it draws its harmonic processes from the theories of Roberto Lupi.  Lupi published his treatise “Armonia di Gravitazione” in 1946, and there seems to be a resurgence of interest in it, particularly among a group of composers in Torino, where Cavallone resides.  It intrigues me, as the main thrust concerns a systematic approach to the possibilities of major and minor triad combination, something already central in works of my own, especially the “Trilogia dantesca.”  I am eager to start reading it.