Scelsi, Giacinto. (1905-1988). "Extraits de son journal (1928)," SIGNED. Rome: Le Parole Gelate (author). 1983. First edition. 16º 24 pp. Softcover, self-printed wrappers. Number 18 (stamped) of only 88 copies printed, "riservate agli amici dell'Autore." An extremely scarce privately issued book, the selected early journal writings of the Italian composer and surrealist poet, issued only to a limited number of friends of the composer. This copy signed and inscribed by Scelsi on the titlepage, "avec quelques souvenirs de jeunesse incombustibles." Scelsi was famously reclusive, rarely appearing in public, even at premieres of his own works, and refused to be photographed for much of his life. Signed materials are therefore rare.
"Scelsi's extraordinary life encompassed many aspects of the intellectual, spiritual, social and musical life of the 20th century...His music attracted a number of prestigious performances, particularly in Paris where Pierre Monteux conducted the première of Rotative in 1930...Much of the detail of Scelsi's life is shrouded in mystery, something he himself did much to encourage. It seems, however, that after some initial successes as a composer, he suffered a devastating mental breakdown between the composition of La nascita del verbo (1947–8) and the Suite no.8 ‘Bot-ba’ (1952). Scelsi's early compositional career had been a progression through some of the principal aesthetic tendencies of 20th-century music – futurism, neo-classicism, dodecaphony, surrealism – preoccupations fed variously by periods of private study with Respighi and pupils of Skryabin and Schoenberg, and by his friendships with Henri Michaux, Pierre Jean Jouve, Paul Eluard and Salvador Dalí. The later works reveal a new preoccupation with an obsessive reiteration of individual sounds, a legacy of the lengthy period of rehabilitation from his illness. Scelsi described how he would spend days repeatedly playing single notes on the piano, developing a new, intensely focussed mode of listening." (Christopher Fox & David Osmond-Smith, Grove Online)
"Scelsi's extraordinary life encompassed many aspects of the intellectual, spiritual, social and musical life of the 20th century...His music attracted a number of prestigious performances, particularly in Paris where Pierre Monteux conducted the première of Rotative in 1930...Much of the detail of Scelsi's life is shrouded in mystery, something he himself did much to encourage. It seems, however, that after some initial successes as a composer, he suffered a devastating mental breakdown between the composition of La nascita del verbo (1947–8) and the Suite no.8 ‘Bot-ba’ (1952). Scelsi's early compositional career had been a progression through some of the principal aesthetic tendencies of 20th-century music – futurism, neo-classicism, dodecaphony, surrealism – preoccupations fed variously by periods of private study with Respighi and pupils of Skryabin and Schoenberg, and by his friendships with Henri Michaux, Pierre Jean Jouve, Paul Eluard and Salvador Dalí. The later works reveal a new preoccupation with an obsessive reiteration of individual sounds, a legacy of the lengthy period of rehabilitation from his illness. Scelsi described how he would spend days repeatedly playing single notes on the piano, developing a new, intensely focussed mode of listening." (Christopher Fox & David Osmond-Smith, Grove Online)
Scelsi, Giacinto. (1905-1988). "Extraits de son journal (1928)," SIGNED. Rome: Le Parole Gelate (author). 1983. First edition. 16º 24 pp. Softcover, self-printed wrappers. Number 18 (stamped) of only 88 copies printed, "riservate agli amici dell'Autore." An extremely scarce privately issued book, the selected early journal writings of the Italian composer and surrealist poet, issued only to a limited number of friends of the composer. This copy signed and inscribed by Scelsi on the titlepage, "avec quelques souvenirs de jeunesse incombustibles." Scelsi was famously reclusive, rarely appearing in public, even at premieres of his own works, and refused to be photographed for much of his life. Signed materials are therefore rare.
"Scelsi's extraordinary life encompassed many aspects of the intellectual, spiritual, social and musical life of the 20th century...His music attracted a number of prestigious performances, particularly in Paris where Pierre Monteux conducted the première of Rotative in 1930...Much of the detail of Scelsi's life is shrouded in mystery, something he himself did much to encourage. It seems, however, that after some initial successes as a composer, he suffered a devastating mental breakdown between the composition of La nascita del verbo (1947–8) and the Suite no.8 ‘Bot-ba’ (1952). Scelsi's early compositional career had been a progression through some of the principal aesthetic tendencies of 20th-century music – futurism, neo-classicism, dodecaphony, surrealism – preoccupations fed variously by periods of private study with Respighi and pupils of Skryabin and Schoenberg, and by his friendships with Henri Michaux, Pierre Jean Jouve, Paul Eluard and Salvador Dalí. The later works reveal a new preoccupation with an obsessive reiteration of individual sounds, a legacy of the lengthy period of rehabilitation from his illness. Scelsi described how he would spend days repeatedly playing single notes on the piano, developing a new, intensely focussed mode of listening." (Christopher Fox & David Osmond-Smith, Grove Online)
"Scelsi's extraordinary life encompassed many aspects of the intellectual, spiritual, social and musical life of the 20th century...His music attracted a number of prestigious performances, particularly in Paris where Pierre Monteux conducted the première of Rotative in 1930...Much of the detail of Scelsi's life is shrouded in mystery, something he himself did much to encourage. It seems, however, that after some initial successes as a composer, he suffered a devastating mental breakdown between the composition of La nascita del verbo (1947–8) and the Suite no.8 ‘Bot-ba’ (1952). Scelsi's early compositional career had been a progression through some of the principal aesthetic tendencies of 20th-century music – futurism, neo-classicism, dodecaphony, surrealism – preoccupations fed variously by periods of private study with Respighi and pupils of Skryabin and Schoenberg, and by his friendships with Henri Michaux, Pierre Jean Jouve, Paul Eluard and Salvador Dalí. The later works reveal a new preoccupation with an obsessive reiteration of individual sounds, a legacy of the lengthy period of rehabilitation from his illness. Scelsi described how he would spend days repeatedly playing single notes on the piano, developing a new, intensely focussed mode of listening." (Christopher Fox & David Osmond-Smith, Grove Online)