"STRATOSFONIE"

(for voice and three instruments)

di 

Sefano Luigi Mangia

edit by Florestano Edizioni, "I Contemporanei"

(Gianni Lenoci's Preface)

Stratosfonie[1] is a composition created as a tribute to the research carried out by Demetrio Stratos, one of the vocal artists who influenced my formation.

The melodic cells and the heterodox vocal techniques chosen here are nothing but a partial synthesis of some of his works . In fact, one could say that this isn’t a totally original composition, born from a sudden inspiration, but a revision, a personal reworking, of some of Stratos’s  compositions and improvisations, in an attempt to evoke a memory . But it’s not just this .

In accordance with what was his musical approach – part of which was dedicated to the pedagogical diffusion of his research – there is , on my part , the same wish to present a work that can be useful in the personal growth of anyone who wants to explore a language based on less conventional forms of expression . 

For this reason my work can be seen as a “pedagogical composition”.

 The singer will have to face vocal emission techniques which will have to be tried and accomplished beforehand, such as multi-phonic sounds, ingressive breathing technique, overtone singing, the emission of  over-acute sounds , the nasalization of prolonged sounds on a semi-consonant and yodel singing . 

With regards to this, it is necessary to listen to, and be familiar with, the experimental performances of Demetrio Stratos in which some of the above mentioned techniques are reproduced – the same which are needed in this score .

Gianni Lenoci: "The  work only reaches fulfillment when the performer gives it life , giving it their own ( unique and unrepeatable) version within the operative field laid down by the composer."

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[1] A personal interpretation of Stratosfonie is contained on the CD “Ulysses” (Leo Records – 2012, CD LR 627).