cittainvisibili

Le Città Invisibili (2021)

for microtonal and prepared accordion and quadraphonic audio system

[duration 39']

Le Città Invisibili (Invisible Cities) is inspired by Italo Calvino’s novel. The book consists of brief prose poems upon fifty-five fictitious cities - described by Marco Polo to the emperor Kublai Khan - that can be read as parables or meditations on culture, language, time, memory, death, or the general nature of human experience.

Claudio Jacomucci's work consists in 11 short compositions, one for each type of city. Every cities is based on a particular sound or technique of an accordion that he has himself transformed, tuned and “sabotaged” over the years: a quartertone accordion with reed, reedblock and register preparation.

Sound textures are created also with the use of a quadraphonic audio support (here in a stereo version) which basically spatialises and multiplies the live instrument. All audio materials consist in pre-recorded accordion sounds (up to 12 accordions tracks) with no kind of electronic elaboration. Microtonal accordion and classical accordion are alternated.

Le Città Invisibili was written thanks to the support of Fonds Podiumkunsten NL.