Paolo Renosto

condition (record/cover): NM / VG+ (light foxing on back)

Paolo Renosto was a composer of the Italian avant-garde, and like many of his colleagues he also wrote for the library circuit, where production music paid better than concert commissions. Drammatico per quartetto d'archi is eighteen short cues for string quartet, none longer than three minutes, with titles that move between the academic (Fugato, Antifona, Bagatella) and the science-fiction imaginary of the period (Entronauta, Solarius).

The writing is tight and modern, with clusters, ostinatos and sharp contrasts made for tension on screen, though it also works as a sequence of miniatures. Issued in 1973 by Flower, as a promo-only sample disc not for sale. A good find for anyone who follows the meeting point between library music and contemporary composition in Italy.