Two previously unreleased collages for magnetic tape, both realized at the Studio di Fonologia Muisicale RAI in Milan. These pieces are precious testimonials to Aldo Clementi's intense and ongoing interest in electronic music in the 1960s.
The electronic composition "Collage 2" from 1960 was his first experiment with electronic music. "Collage 3" dates back to 1966. It's an electronic collage on "Michelle" by The Beatles. The composer wanted to replace old concepts and clichés which had become popular and common, through the use of "natural wells of timbre, live and organic, springing from a world of symmetry and fixed blocks." This original idea underwent a drastic transformation when the RAI (the Italian radio) commissioned Clementi to write a longer work. To his initial desire to start from scratch was added the problem of a longer duration. It was only when Clementi had almost completed the piece that he gave it its final title of "Dies irae," owing to the extreme tension that accompanied its composition.
Aldo Clementi (1925-2011) was an Italian contemporary classical composer. After receiving his diploma in 1954 again at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia, he attended the Darmstadt summer courses from 1955 to 1962. In 1956 he met Bruno Maderna, who opened him to unknown horizons, marking a decisive turning point in his musical thought. He attended the Studio of Phonology in Milan from 1956 to '62: this was another fundamentally important stage in his development.
