MASSIMO DI GESU
(b 1970 )

Schegge

I Lirico; II Algido; III Guizzante; IV Remoto; V Febbrile

Massimo Di Gesu writes: Once I heard Emma Sussigido, remarkable Swiss violinist deeply committed to new music, express about it a rather concerned observation in these terms: "In most of nowadays' music 'structure' and 'research' should retrieve their expressive aim rather than be catchphrases of a self-perpetuating and self-referential communicative disfunction". I thought also of these words when I met for the first time the wonderful musicians Arcturus comprises: keenest performers whose deep insight into the classic-romantic repertoire is the nourishment of their enthusiasm for the expression of what is new. From this observation stems my Schegge [Slivers], the work I had the honour to be asked for by Arcturus and through which I look for a possible solution to the above communicative deadlock by seeking the retrieval of a discursive function of the 'compositional process' according to what it was in the pre-Darmstadt era (artistic means, not intellectualistic aim). This is the reason for 'expressionistic' titles such as 'Lirico' (lyric), 'Algido' (iced), ‘Guizzante’ (darting), 'Remoto' (remote), and 'Febbrile' (feverish) which are not 'slivers' only for their aphoristic dimension, but also because they are my interpretation of what the awesomely fertile upheaval of the first half of the 20th century can still project to the present as successful instruments of communication.

Massimo Di Gesu started his music studies in Monza (his native Italian city) in his early teens. One year later (1986) he undertook the Harmony-Counterpoint-Fugue Composition 10-year course (with Azio Corghi), which he carried out alongside piano training and high-school pedagogy studies, gaining a degree in each of the above disciplines between 1990 and 1995.

While cultivating his passion for Russian literature and for 30s/70s movies, composition has remained his main object of interest: after studies at the Milan Conservatory he continued to deepen his awareness of this subject, attending further post-degree courses both in Italy and England, where he finally moved in 1996. Here he started the career of freelance composer, which yielded collaborations with important ensembles and soloists, such as Peter Bradley-Fulgoni, the piano trio Arcturus and, in Italy, the soloists of La Scala Theatre (La Scala String Quartet).

In 2001 his string quartet Ansikte mot ansikte was included in the Kiev International Youth Music Forum, and in the same year his Schegge for piano trio won first prize at the B. Bettinelli National Competition in Milan.

Read more about Massimo di Gesu at www.simc-italia.it/curricula/curr_digesu.htm