Program note

This piece was inspired by the incredible mobile sculptures of Lee Bontecou and Alexander Calder. I wanted to create a composition in which musical gestures appear to be fairly static, yet are permitted a certain flexibility to move freely within a given space. Alluding to the idea of mobiles, La forma dello spazio has the musicians spatialized around the hall in a particular configuration. The piece begins with a solo by the violin, while the other instruments provide resonance, holding certain notes in unison, and echoing passages. Gradually the fragments accumulate and are set into orbit around the concert hall. The trajectories are at times fast, bouncing back and forth between performers across the void that separates them, at times slowy revolving around the audience. The title is borrowed form a short story by Italo Calvino, and translates appropriately to 'The Form of Space'.

Zosha Di Castri