Portfolio of original compositions with written commentary

The North/South divide in Italy has been narrated, examined and explained in various ways by numerous scholars, many of whom have underlined the subordinate condition of the Mezzogiorno and the failure to grant a real autonomy to Sicily. My examination of these issues is tightly intertwined with my activity as contemporary experimental composer, in that both involve an effort in challenging assumptions and coming to terms with situations of substantial political isolation. This portfolio, which represents an attempt to connect these two research fields, is articulated in two main parts: the first part comprises a series of instrumental pieces, in which structural elements are used to highlight and criticise politico-economic, cultural and/or historical patterns; the second part consists of a group of vocal pieces, in which the lyrics are deliberately re-organised in order to twist the meaning of the original text and adapt it to the message that is intended to be delivered; a third group consists of two additional pieces, both notated in very succinct scores and characterised by strong improvisational and theatrical elements, which share mixed features of both these strategies. In terms of the critical commentary, the introductory section is centred on the presentation of the main issues related to the Sicilian Question, contextualised in the framework of the subordination of the whole Mezzogiorno within the Italian economic-political system. These issues function as main premises, on the basis of which I adopt a specific position as a composer and intellectual, centred on the commitment to contribute to forms of oppositional culture aimed at unveiling and symbolically overturning an oppressed condition through evocative forms of musical expression.