Description

Overture Deserto is a rhythmically charged piece which explores the percussive and
colourful possibilities of the double bass. There are opportunities for improvisation
…and to create a wealth of different effects which produce a unique work of colour and
invention. Overture Deserto was composed for “Festival au Desert Presenza dAfrica” in 2012
and describes the sounds of the desert and its people, discovering different styles
which he took as inspiration. The piece is divided into three distinct parts: the introduction describes the sounds of
the desert, sand and the wind (double bass 1), the sounds of the camels (double
bass 4) and the sounds of early stringed instruments. The second part is a meeting
of drums. Women are responsible for playing the drums while they sing and the
magic of drums with voices is quite hypnotic. The composer wrote an improvised
drum solo with rhythmic patterns which emulate the characteristic sound of the
“tongue singers”. The third part is a modern composition of the desert, called the
“Blues of the Desert” and is a repetitive composition that sounds like an archaic
blues. Overtura Deserto was premiered in Florence at the “Festival au Desert, Presenza
dAfrica” in July 2012 by Alberto Bocini, Anita Mazzantini, Marco Marteli and Simon
Garcia.