La Lontananza Nostalgica Utopica Futura (Nostalgia for a Far Away Future Utopia) for Vi

AMG Review of La Lontananza Nostalgica Utopica Futura (Nostalgia for a Far Away Future Utopia) for Vi

"Blue" Gene Tyranny
All Music Guide

With Irvine Arditti, violin. This composition for violin and eight channels of pre-recorded electronically-modified violin and other sounds was completed in 1988 and revised in 1989. Many hours of a violinist's (Gidon Kremer) playing were recorded and analyzed by Nono into very dense harmonic material (channels 1 and 2), (channels 3 and 4) untreated violin sounds with different styles of playing single notes and fifths (channels 3 and 4), noises from the studio as well as violin sounds (channels 5 and 6), and high melodies played in harmonics, fast tremolos, spiccato and jéte passages (channels 7 and 8). Most of these sounds were then electronically modulated through frequency shifting, reverberation, filtering, delaying (echo), and orientation of the sound images in space (so-called 3D sound). The electronically modulated sounds are then distributed among eight loudspeakers. The soloist then interacts with the tape sounds projected in the space by another performer, and the soloist has many options where to begin playing the score, choice of tempi, how long to pause, performing positions on the stage and off, etc., so that each performance is very different. Nono spoke of La Lontananza... as a "madrigal for several wayfarers" who join in song.