Oltreorme stands apart in Osvaldo Coluccino's chamber output—a suite performed entirely using acoustic objects, with no conventional musical instruments. Created between August and December 2012 and recorded in the composer’s own Italian home, the four lengthy tracks chart a path through realms of near-silence: rustling, brushing, scraping, knocking, and the smallest resonant shifts unfold as if nature and human hand have fused. Coluccino’s process is sculptural - each sound is revealed, layered, and sifted through his meticulous ear for a sonic landscape where duration and distance matter more than any dramatic event.
Rather than ambient music or reductionist improvisation, Oltreorme pursues a ritual sense of absence and transformation. The album’s palette is immeasurably soft - micro-noises abound, and each new articulation feels like the echo from a distant world. Individual pieces weave clusters of hush, shimmer, and gentle friction, the tactile rhythm of objects played with patience and restraint. As in Coluccino’s previous Atto, the composer seems invested in self-erasure, constructing a milieu where ego gives way to process and quiescence. Loss of self-perception - both for performer and listener - is crucial, allowing for music that disappears even as it takes shape.
Listeners will find in Oltreorme a subtle, demanding beauty. The focus is on the act of listening, not understanding; on being present with each sound, accepting its impermanence and its fragile claim on space and time. Coluccino’s chamber of objects conjures not only new music but a new world - one shaped by quietness, risk, and the transforming air of the everyday.
