Italiano
Nosce te ipsum – ancient motto, originally engraved on the Delphi’s temple.
Its meaning is much debated, the most widely accepted being “Man, know your limits”.
Here lies therefore the basic idea of this piece: how would the meaning of this motto change should the subject no longer be the man, but the composer? What are the limits of the composer?
Here we have a twofold answer.
First, every composer needs to confront himself with J.S. Bach, and with lots of intellectual honesty he needs to admit his own limits in comparison to him.
Secondly, we also need to realise that Bach himself had some limits, due to the modest technical means of the time.
For this reason I composed a fantasia and a choral on a fragment from Bach, basing the whole piece on a set of “mutations” from the theme and from the thematic material, while also using a good deal of contemporary effects which allow the fragment to evolve and develop, exploiting thus all the instrument capabilities.
In accordance with this inner search for our own limits, I have sometimes hidden the sonic results of the written multiphonics, thus forcing the performer to find each time the right sound.
