When silence is revealed as a translucent, almost imperceptible and delicate vibratory fabric, any sonic phenomenon, even the dimmest murmur, can be felt as a yell of reality.
Triple CD Luigi Turra, composer active in the musique concrete, and on file with a series of albums for labels like Trente Oiseaux, Dragon’s Eye Recordings and Koyuki. The monumental “Ki” collects in fact, for two-thirds work already published earlier in some way incomplete: “Enso” published in 2007 by Small Voices in a year is not completely mastered, “Ancient Silence” self-released the same year in a limited edition and small distance (EP), which on this occasion is presented in extended version. Following the thread of his Free Sample, Turra moves in the neighborhood of the stagnation sound, patiently working environment and except instrumental sounds to create a complex and bombastic piece divided into three acts. In “Enso” is perceived the slow movement was transitional between music and landscape environment: it is in dichotomy (alternation, empty sovraposizione) between these two elements that show the dramatic tension that is built on the disc, the soundscape is dominated by eastern coloring, marked by the use of tools such as pipe and shakuhachi.
In “Ancient Silence” Turra plunges deep into an investigation through the inertia acoustic Limina: Long and dark periods of silence are just ruffled by small metallic resonances, reflections from water, from distant and intermittent echoes of an imaginary world underground. It ‘a mood that sealed the new “Shasekishu” perpetual, stir in the dichotomous jumble of sounds and silences of the two previous episodes: soft sound objects first as refracted in a prism flint, then Franti in muted voices singing far, finally drowned in the vacuum of the gloss finish.
(Leandro Pisano – BlowUp)
Luigi Turra presents three CDs in a single release for and/OAR, including an equal number of extended and distinct compositions – Enso, Ancient Silence and Shasekishu respectively.
From the beginning the trilogy by the Italian sound artist imprints itself in guise of a full-bodied electroacoustic continuum but with hints of minimalism. “Enso“, had already been published in Small Voices in 2007 and the current version corrects the mistakes that
were made in mastering that seminal version. “Ancient Silence“, too, had already seen the light in a self-produced edition and now appears in a more dilated version, wrapping us in the spires of a surgically articulated and essential sound, fascinating and deep. Only “Shasekishu” – then – embodies the new course of manipulations for the maestro based in Schio. The composer has already published for labels such as Non Visual Objects, Dragon’s Eye, Trente Oiseaux, Koyuki and Unfathomless, to cite just a few.
The approach is still typical Turra, with sounds permeated with oriental influences, aesthetics and philosophy leaking out from every groove, all-involving matter-energy that permeates every molecule of our ecosystem.
In the forty-five minutes of the recording the envelopes are thinner and imbued with rhythmic jumps, synthetic drones and digital eddies before becoming gentler, more melodic, even more tactile, deeply mysterious and immersive, emotional and elliptical. A flawless result that consecrates this musician as one of the most interesting of the Italian school.
(Aurelio Cianciotta – Neural)
Luigi Turra’s second appearance in the and/OAR catalogue (not long ago a piece included in a magnificent compilation, tribute to Michelangelo Antonioni).
Active for years in the experimental music movement, highly esteemed by people devoted to musique concrète, Turra is an Italian sound artist and graphic designer who stood out for his personal, refined, minimalist style, conveyed in works for labels such as Trente Oiseaux, Non Visual Objects, Dragon’s Eye Recordings, Koyuki, Unfathomless, just to mention some.
“Ki”, a trilogy, over two hours of audio contents, a three-disc set, finely packaged, two-thirds consisting of old material, reissued to correct mastering errors occurred in the original release on Small Voices, dated 2007 (the first disc, “Enso”) or now in full-length version (the second one, “Ancient Silence”, self-released the same year). “Shasekishu” represents a
new chapter and brings the project to completion.
“Enso” is split into three parts, the initial segment featuring a weave of sounds produced by traditional instruments (shakuhachi, pipa, percussion), sometimes untreated, sometimes reprocessed or arranged with other artificial intrusions. Heavy incidence of echoes on the whole, to give sonic expansion and intense deepness, concretely perceptible. The use of
environmental recordings, wisely managed, becomes evident further on: it’s a subtle, inconspicuous presence (string touches, repeated tinklings and woodwind effects have the lead role). Only in the second part they achieve consistency, sharing the scene with both instrumental and vocal performance. Slightly different, even softer approach in the last section, without giving up the main framework.
“Ancient Silence”, the second CD, reveals, explicitly, a definite compositional tendency. It’s structured on several distinct instances (carefully joined together), primarily based on sombre tones originated from field recordings, with the add of other sound particles extracted from instruments (a delightful metallic reverberation, bamboo flute whispers) or captured somewhere (a periodic knocking, odd, confused noises, a constant drip of water).
“Shasekishu”, the last episode, seems to be a further processing stage in the saga. Articulated on different levels, it starts with an amalgam of concrete sounds embedded in a minimalist module and large recourse to electronics, then a gradual transition into more melodic, almost meditative phases made of resounding bells, flute insertions, a few percussive touches, a solemn chant. Lastly a compound of all these elements.
Haunting, enchanting work: Turra at his best, so far…
(Giuseppe Angelucci – Spiritual Archive)
