Franco Donatoni, Mari (1992) for marimba - 7'
Silvia Borzelli, Wooden (2015) for marimba, log drum, woodblock -11’
David Lang, Scraping song (1997/2001 rev. 2017) wood-percussion solo - 9’
Johan Svensson, One man band (2016) for wood percussion and electronics devices - 16’
Giorgio Battistelli, Libro Celibe (1976-rev.2015) movement of sounding papers and not - 15'

The idea of a solo wooden-percussion concert is the result of a practice for me as usual
as is necessary, to establish, for each new project, a precise point of observation of the
vast cosmos of percussion music and then draw a frame, to perceive a perspective and
consequently, delimit a coherent and communicative sound environment.
For an interpreter like me - not author of his own music - this phase represents the
moment of most creative freedom, where every aspect of mine and others work, can be
rethought and put differently into light.
Of the three types of percussion instruments, metal, membrane and wood, this last is
surely the least generous in terms of resonance, timbral versatility and sensitivity in
response to touch. Notwithstanding this, certain wooden instruments have gained a strong
identity and a consolidated position in numerous musical traditions. Their cultural heritage
is thereby well established and their inclusion in this project creates a dialogue between
past and present languages, between voices and feeling apparently distant.
Extended Wood Percussion Solo is a very mobile and heterogeneous container, fueled in
the first place by the collaboration with artisans of wood (who became luthiers for the
occasion) and composers interested in letting their musical imagination into the non
habitual environment of the exclusively wooden instruments I have limited them to. So
there is so much space for the full investigation of the sound properties of the materials, as
well as for the creation of previously non-existent installations and instruments. Last but
not least, there is a depth research into compositions for marimba solo. From this well
nourished body of work I have selected pieces that are connected by their compositional
originality. Fruit of the exploration of the acoustic potential of the instrument, they have
brought unconventional and unexpected results in sound, partly through the expansion of
the marimba with supplementary instruments (mostly wooden), and partly through a
circumscription of the area of action with a strict economy of means.