OMAGGIO A CARLO GESUALDO

The musical prime matter of the Omaggio a Carlo Gesualdo was obtained by applying a twelve-layer affine transformation to the first six measures of Moro, lasso, al mio duolo (1611), a five-voice madrigal by Carlo Gesualdo. This process creates a fractal structure which generates new musical material while retaining the spirit of the original work. At the climax of the piece, a fortissimo chromatic cluster serves both as a symbol of the daring chromatic writing so characteristic of Gesualdo and a metaphor of his stormy life. This moment happens at precisely the golden section of the piece. The piece also employs novel inside-the-piano extended techniques.