CATTANEO AURELIANO – Ossido

Creation : 06 February 2015 at Théâtre de Hautepierre, Strasbourg, FR
Commissioned by the French state for les Percussions de Strasbourg
Musicians: 6 percussionnists
Duration : 18′
Edition : Edizioni Suvini Zerboni – Milano 

« Ossido » is written for and dedicated to the musicians of Percussions de Strasbourg. The word “Ossido“ (oxyde in Italian) evokes the metal, the 6 percussionists play in fact exclusively metal instruments (except a surprise!). The choice of reducing the instruments only to metals has been done for several reasons. The sound world of percussion is virtually infinite, the diversity of forms, materials is very wide. It was necessary to establish a limitation.

The metals fascinate me because they can be tuned, they can have long and unharmonius resonances. I am surprised by the accumulations of these unharmonius resonances that occur when instruments tuned to the same pitches are beaten and left resonate. « Ossido » is focused on a E proposed on several octaves by different instruments: bells suspended on water containers in which they are immersed, thai gongs and bronze plates, tubes of aluminum tuned microtonally.

The metals fascinate me because they point to other sound worlds: again the cow bells (mountains and Mahler!), the sounds of the foundries.

The metals fascinate me because they are part of popular music: steel drums from metal cans; pots,”sartenes”, and spoons, “cucharas”, of the Cuban popular music.

The sound world of « Ossido » comes from two specific ideas: on one hand the rejection of spazialisation, the dislocation of the instruments in space; on the other hand the distortion, the buzz, the rattle created by small metal elements (triangle stick, 5 euro cent coins) laid on the beaten instruments. Even the shape of « Ossido » responds to this need for compactness: a single long mouvement, although structured in different islands of speed, wants to articulate the infinite qualities of sound of these mysterious hums.