Egisto Macchi, genij talijanske glazbene avangarde 60-ih i 70-ih, također tvorac muzike za 50 filmova, jedan je od onih velikana o kojima se ne govori često. No njegov Voix iz 1970. Sveti je gral suvremene muzike, kaže Sean Canty (Demdike Stare). Ponekad saharinski pitak, ponekad višekanalno lud, mračan i uznemirujući, Macchi je prihvatljiv i onima koji ne vole "avangardno piljenje". Još od Macchija: Futurissimo, Bioritmi, Sei composizioni, I futuribili itd.
Italian avant-garde and film composer Egisto Macchi (1928-1992) produced a large and largely forgotten catalogue of astounding music during the 1960s and 1970s. At the crest of that incredible body of work stands Voix - an LP of intense contrasts – haunting, dissonant choirs collide with dexterous musique concrete manipulations and other worldly soundscapes while guitars buzz and strings scrape violently. The world of Voix is a frightening and beautiful place. There are echoes here of Macchi’s friend and famous collaborator (in the avant composer’s collective ‘Il Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza’) Ennio Morricone, yet Egisto Macchi existed in a musical universe truly all his own, and the time for a reappraisal of this undiscovered cosmology has surely come. Presented as an exact replica of the incredibly rare 1970 Gemelli library LP, remastered from the original master tapes and complete with scholarly liner notes as an insert. Some consider Egisto Macchi to be an unheralded genius. - theroundtable.bigcartel.com
I Futuribili
Another
impossible to find Italian library recording sees the light of day once
more. Originally released in 1972, in a minute pressing of 500 copies
by the Italian Gemelli label, Egisto Macchi's "I Futuribili" is perhaps
one of the finest examples of Italian library music ever
recorded. Despite working extensively in the field of film, television
and soundtrack music for over forty years, Egisto Macchi is known little
outside a few soundtrack collectors and music library music
aficionados. This is a shame, as much of his work and especially this
recording is remarkably unparalleled in both vision and execution. The
oppressive incertitude of "Camere Anecoiche"is a masterful study in
compositional suspense. Vapourous and eerie electronic tones pulse and
fluctuate like the flapping wings of stunted and misshapen insects.
Sound becomes slowly asphyxiated as tense, blunted string motifs twist,
loosen and tighten around the main electronic theme, the effect is like
being suspended in a hallucinatory, motionless hall of fevered dreams.
With each successive listen, new details are born out of the darkness,
hidden resonances wait in the shadows, eager to snare the unsuspecting
listener. "Nouvi Planeti" demonstrates Egisto Macchi's consummate
prowess in cinematic composition, this arrangement weirdly pollinates
twilight zone stuttering pizzicato, rattling percussive palpitations and
deep resonant drum tremors which oddly sound reminiscent of a funereal
procession in space. "Richiami Spacziali" is darker still, a vertigo
inducing contradiction of ascending and descending scales, rising and
falling in foul perfection. Sonorous strings decay in bleak
noctambulation, the forest is alive with owl-like woodwind, archaic
electronics cackle, rattle and hiss creating a veritable cinema for the
ears. Thematically, "I Futuribili"is a strange beast, with sound images
consistently converging in unexpected and radical ways. It seems
strange that music such as this, which was originally intended as mere
background music for the flickering screen and cathode ray tube sounds
so emotively powerful to modern ears. Far from a collection of
miscellaneous cues, each composition builds and develops into a singular
vision of a dark, sinister, mysterious sound world. Is
this sacred music? Is it music of the profane? Is this music of inner
or music of outer space? Is this music of past, present or future?
"Forme Planetaire" is a perfect example of these contradictions, as dank
moog droplets languorously fall from the heavens, forming taught
harmonic stalactites gilded by an elegant and restrained string
arrangement. Sounds dissolve then momentarily reappear, flickering, wraithlike. In this dark,untenanted landscape everything which is solid melts into the black miasmatic smog. "I
Futuribili", which translates as "The Futuristic" is a fascinating,
category defying recording, investigate it at the earliest opportunity.
Another wonderful cinematic communique from the immeasurable darkness by
Roundtable. Now, if someone will only be so kind as to reissue Città Notte. - fingersports.blogspot.com
First ever reissue of a masterpiece by co-founder of the legendary and influential Nuova Consonanza. Remastered from original tapes and including lucubrate liner notes from the label. "The One; a holy grail" according to Demdike Stare's Sean Canty** Egisto Macchi's 'Voix' is nothing short of a pivotal, yet largely unknown side in the canon of '70s Italian new music. It follows Roundtable & The Omni Recording Company's blink-and-miss reissue of Gruppo Di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza's 'Niente' and his own incredible 'I Futuribili' with a phantasmagoric collection of works mainly for voice (duh), contrasted with dextrous musique concrète manipulations, ornamental orchestrations and vivid, otherworldly soundscapes. As recently evidenced to those beyond the confines of record collectordom, Macchi is long overdue a reappraisal out of the shows of his peer and GINC collaborator Ennio Morricone, and this LP, along with 'I Futuribili' go some length towards reaffirming his genius. We can draw a broad line between the two sides of 'Voix'; on the one hand, most interesting to us at least, are the precise, intricate percussive pieces created from spaciously defined handheld drums, electronic stabs and near-tribal rhythms, alloyed to menacing chorales and possessed keys with the darkest avant-garde manner. The other half is given to sweeter, more naif themes played on woodwind, whistles and strings. But even when you think they start to border on saccharine, he'll slice in with some percussive shock or abstract concrète blurt, always maintaining that underlying, cinematic tension. So it's no stretch of the imagination to hear similarities between his mechanical, alchemical aesthetic and Demdike Stare's, a prototype for multi-disciplined, abstract music with purposeful, carmine atmospheres. Ultimately, it's a record you need to own. - Boomkat
Here is yet another amazing dark avant-garde library music LP from Italian composer Egisto Macchi. Many people consider Voix to be his masterpiece. While it is an amazing record in its own right, I personally prefer both Futurissimo and Sei Composizioni, both of which I recently shared on the blog. You can find Futurissimo here and Sei Composizioni here. Voix was released in 1970, and was the first library music album that Macchi composed. It was the first of many which Macchi composed for the amazing Italian library label, Gemelli. Gemelli released several avant-garde library music LPs. It was owned and operated by legendary Italian composer, Bruno Nicolai, up until his death in 1991. Unfortunately Gemelli releases are extremely difficult to come by. Only 500 copies of each release were pressed.
As with all of Macchi's work, Voix is an absolute masterpiece of dark avant-garde music. The majority of the tracks have an ominous tone, with a mechanical or industrial feel to them. The percussion work is absolutely amazing, with small handheld percussion instruments at the forefront, backed by powerful tribal rhythms. There is also plenty of hauntingly, beautiful piano work throughout. In contrast, there are also some more brutal moments, as Macchi relentlessly pounds upon the keys in a frantic manner. Vocals play a prominent role in the arrangements, with haunting choral vocals appearing on several tracks, as well as strange muffled voices, menacing hisses and disturbing laughter. Piano keys are frantically pounded upon. Ominous strings feature prominently throughout, often used in in a rhythmical, percussive manner. Ambient electronics provide a textured backdrop to several of the tracks.
The B-side marks a change in tone, with many of the tracks having a whimsical, dreamlike feel to them, while still retaining a a slightly sinister undertone. There is a distinct theme present on the B-side, featuring a common melody which can be heard on "La Memoire", "Chanson De La Nuit" and "Chanson Du Matin". This will be one of the last albums I share for my dark and twisted library music series. I plan to move out of the shadows soon, and showcase some of the more upbeat library music gems.
"Egisto Macchi was raised in Rome, where he studied literature, piano, violin, singing and composition, as well as courses in medicine and physics.The first years of his work were dedicated to instrumental composition. He was then involved in the investigation of musical theater, for which he wrote experimental works, as A(lter) A(ction) (1962), based on texts by Antonin Artaud. In 1965, he founded with Domenico Guaccero and Sylvano Bussotti the Compagnia del Teatro Musicale di Roma. Starting in 1968, Macchi wrote scores for films and television, for Joseph Losey, the Taviani brothers, Bernardo Bertolucci, among many other filmmakers. From 1980, he was dedicated to the composition of works for the female voice, combining voices with chamber orchestras, small instrumental groupings and even fireworks, and experimenting with new technologies. This led to the creation of the Istituto della Voce in 1983, with Guaccero.
With his friends Franco Evangelisti, Danièle Paris and Guaccero, Macchi was active throughout his life in organizations related to music, such as an editorial, the publication "Ordini", dedicated to reviews and studies of new music, and the Palermo New Music festival, all in 1959; the group Nuova Consonanza in 1960, to promote contemporary music; in 1967, with Evangelisti, Guaccero and Gino Marinuzzi Jr., he was one of the founders of Studio R7, an electronic workshop for experimental music, he was a member of the Italian Commission of Music for UNICEF, with Evangelisti, Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone and Luis Enríquez Bacalov, and he joined the Gruppo d'Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza, created by Evangelisti; from 1976 to 1981 he organized the Corali Riunite in his home town, Grosseto, and since 1984 he directed the sound archives of the Institute of Research for Musical Theater.
In his last years, Macchi had been working with Morricone on a project to promote the "new opera". He had arranged La Bohème for 16 instruments and four synthesizers, and Morricone had worked on Tosca. Both works were ready to be staged, when Macchi died in 1992."
From RYM
Here are 2 classic LPs for the fans of the so called "library music", by one of the masters of the genre.Released on Gemelli and Montparnasse2000 labels respectively,these 2 are some serious examples of abstract electronics from the early 70s. Bioritmi is an interpretation of some medical actions to music ,though Futurissimo is more abstract space music oriented. - Mutant Sound
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