Ensemble - Matteo Belli

Scroll Down

dal nostro cupo sempreverde

for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello, harp, piano, percussion

Commissioned by Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte (Montepulciano, ITALY - 2021) 10 min.

The title plays with the verse "from our dark evergreen" from Rilke's Duino Elegies. In Italian, pairing the words 'cupo' and 'sempreverde' may leave an interesting level of ambiguity. What is dark in human experience may not be ever ending. Or, what is evergreen - symbol of hope and resilience - may be tainted by dark hues.

M.BELLI dal nostro cupo sempreverde (2021, ensemble)

____________

SHADES OF ABULIA [POSTLUDE]

for percussion, piano, violoncello, contrabass

Composed for the Talea Ensemble in virtual residency at the Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore, USA – 2020) 5 min.

This ‘non-Opera’ is a vocal-instrumental cycle originally inspired by Andrej Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979). In this movie, Stalkers are in charge of bringing people into the Zone, a surrealist area where men can discover themselves and potentially fulfill their innermost desires. Conversations on the meaning of existence reveal Tarkovsky’s profound metaphysical sense, with scriptural and poetic references throughout the journey.

The postlude is dominated by vertical clashes that, through repetition, generate continuous exacerbation. In the end, all this harshness is shattered and reduced to its ultimate inconsistency. As Stalker says in the central monologue of the film: “Weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing . . . Hardness and strength are death’s companions. Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being.”

d o m

for voice, percussion, violoncello

Commissioned by DUOroboros (Pistoia, ITALY - 2020) 10 min.
Recording released by EMA-Vinci in 2022

This work is shaped as a ritual, a personal tribute to the Via Crucis with fragments of texts characterized by eloquent visual power.

BELLI d o m (2020, duo)

On a Shore of Cries

[Lei, piangente]

for flute, clarinet, vibraphone, violoncello, piano, (optional) live electronics

Commissioned by Camere Contemporanee at Fondazione Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte (Montepulciano, ITALY - 2017, rev.2019) 8 min.

This work is a dialogue with Picasso's Nude Woman with Necklace (1968 - Tate Modern, London). When I first saw that portrait of Jacqueline Roque, I felt overwhelmed by its exuding energy. Driven by that vivid memory, I envisioned a musical flux in which mellow sonorities and propulsive gestures are intertwined within a transparent texture, often oscillating between nebulosity and assertiveness.

Movenza sospesa

for clarinet, vibraphone, violin, violoncello

Written for Altre Voci Ensemble (Modena, ITALY - 2017) 4 min.

Inspired by the Premio Veretti dance theme of 2016, I composed an etude that is made of a series of sketches of varying pace and tone, ending with an elusive (and illusive) equilibrium.

Movenza estrema

Concertino for C-trumpet and ensemble (sax quartet, drum-set, marimba, piano 4H)

Commissioned by Ensemble di Musica Contemporanea "L.Dallapiccola" - Broadcast by Rete Toscana Classica as official commercial of the Conservatory of Music “L.Cherubini” (Florence, ITALY - 2016) 8 min.

Keep Scrolling