The Aesthetics of Ardour and Courage

The music of my young contemporaries reminds me of the re-emergence of infernal elements from the underworld. Their ‘gestures’ evocate those of the Chants de Maldoror by virtue of their aggressive vitality and the ferment of conquest which, rising from the depths, emerge with disarming effervescence. Thunder and lightning, lashing seas, stormy skies, harsh and sarcastic sonorities: all convulsive signs of an era and perhaps also of a destabilisation of the spirit (and indeed of the mind).

The two composers who have honoured me by accepting my presence and participation in this evening of composition – Mariana Ungureanu and Marco Momi – are expert musicians, with a long career under their belts and widely recognised works. Our meeting in Banna is more one between professionals than a transmission of knowledge.

I believe we do share a number of ideas. The naïve exaltation of the technological universe now seems to us more a cult object than an artistic project. The same goes for our experimentation on language, bringing together the poetics of detachment and estranged stylistic references. Formalism is thus weakened, and syncretism withers. Today, music cannot elude the need to come face to face once more with the writing of history, its own first and foremost.

The first part of the concert will, hopefully, develop a sort of resonance with the music of Schoenberg. The homage to his Symphonie de chambre op. 9 (1906), in the reduced version by Webern, is not included by chance. For in a certain sense, this work is moved by two contrary impulses. The driving force that powers it – in a rising surge of conquest – is systematically nipped in the bud by the urgent sense of contraction, by a precise shift towards adjustment. This eternal controversy between rigour and fecundity will, I believe, provide a unity of tone to the concert as a whole.

This the sixth edition of the Progetto Musica of the Spinola Banna per l’Arte Foundation is held with the participation of the artists of the Divertimento Ensemble, conducted by Andrea Pestalozza.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my esteemed recognition of their work and thank them whole-heartedly.

I would also like to express my dearest regards and respectful thanks to Madame Orsola Spinola.

Hugues Dufourt


For the sixth edition of the Progetto Musica, the Banna Foundation will welcome an exceptional tutor, Hugues Dufourt, with the piece entitled L'Afrique d'après Tiepolo performed by the Divertimento Ensemble and solo piano. There are also works by two young composers, Marco Momi (Almost quiver for E.P.) and Mariana Ungureanu (Dramma). The concert programme, which concludes the workshop, will also feature the Kammersinfonie op. 9 (transcription for pianoforte and string quintet by Anton Webern) by Arnold Schoenberg.