Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Walloon Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jean-Paul Dessy
Note that my syncing of the score to the recording might not be 100% accurate, if you have a better ear than I do! I've done my best.
Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) was an Italian composer notable for writing music centered around only one pitch, with subtle changes in intonation, timbre, and dynamics - he is often regarded as a precursor of the spectralist movement. Scelsi was famously reclusive; he didn't allow himself to be photographed for most of his life, instead representing himself by the symbol shown at the beginning of the video, and practically never wrote program notes. Because of this and due to the radical nature of his music, little of it received significant recognition in his lifetime. However, performers who worked closely with him, such as the cellist Frances-Marie Uitti, the Arditti Quartet, and the singer Michiko Hirayama, have spread his music to wider audiences, and his pioneering musical contributions have become increasingly appreciated in the decades since his death.
Although not as famous as works like "Four Pieces on One Note", "Uaxuctum", or his string quartets, "Ohoi" (written in 1966) is a beautiful example of Scelsi's exquisitely constrained world of sound, taking advantage of the acoustic properties of strings to produce sounds you'd almost never find in music before his time. This piece was my introduction to Scelsi - the first piece of his I ever heard - and I have remained captivated by his work ever since.
Walloon Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jean-Paul Dessy
Note that my syncing of the score to the recording might not be 100% accurate, if you have a better ear than I do! I've done my best.
Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988) was an Italian composer notable for writing music centered around only one pitch, with subtle changes in intonation, timbre, and dynamics - he is often regarded as a precursor of the spectralist movement. Scelsi was famously reclusive; he didn't allow himself to be photographed for most of his life, instead representing himself by the symbol shown at the beginning of the video, and practically never wrote program notes. Because of this and due to the radical nature of his music, little of it received significant recognition in his lifetime. However, performers who worked closely with him, such as the cellist Frances-Marie Uitti, the Arditti Quartet, and the singer Michiko Hirayama, have spread his music to wider audiences, and his pioneering musical contributions have become increasingly appreciated in the decades since his death.
Although not as famous as works like "Four Pieces on One Note", "Uaxuctum", or his string quartets, "Ohoi" (written in 1966) is a beautiful example of Scelsi's exquisitely constrained world of sound, taking advantage of the acoustic properties of strings to produce sounds you'd almost never find in music before his time. This piece was my introduction to Scelsi - the first piece of his I ever heard - and I have remained captivated by his work ever since.
