Like his near contemporary Franco Donatoni, Aldo Clementi (b.1925) is an Italian composer who has had a very fruitful association with that most Italian of instruments, the guitar.

Both Clementi and Donatoni shared similar paths in their compositional development: the early influences of major early 20th-century composers through the adoption and later rejection of serialism and the Darmstadt courses they both attended, culminating in their very individual mature styles.

Clementi’s recent pieces are influenced by visual artists, particularly the intricately recursive figures in the lithographs of M. C. Escher and the richly repetitive surfaces of the paintings of the contemporary Italians Dorazio and Vasarely. Clementi saturates the aural surface of his works with repetitive moving lines whose motion becomes subsumed into an aural stasis, mechanisms that appear to go nowhere and inevitably fold back upon themselves, seemingly collapsing into negativity and decay that nonetheless project a compelling sonic sensuality.

This is the first complete CD devoted to Clementi’s compositions involving the guitar.

Geoffrey Morris has created a unique path as a classical guitarist in Australia primarily through his pioneering work in contemporary music. To date he has played in over 150 premiere performances of works for solo guitar, chamber works and works employing electronics.

Since its formation in 1986, ELISION, has established a virtuosic profile for Australian new music performance. ELISION is heavily engaged in experimenting with different modes of performance. The practice of the ensemble ranges from concerts to cross-disciplinary projects with a range of new media and visual artists, installation-performance works, and the use of improvisational experiences as a creative tool.

Serenata (1988) for guitar and 4 instruments 13:49, first recording
Dodici Variazioni (1980) for guitar 6:06
Albumblatt (1995) for female voice, flute, violin and guitar 3:52, first recording
Fantasia su frammenti di Michelangelo Galilei (1978) version for guitar 10:30
Otto Variazioni (2002) for guitar 4:56, first recording
C.A.G. (1993) for flute, violin, vibraphone and guitar 5:11, first recording
The Plaint (1992) for female voice and 13 instruments 16:23, first recording, written for ELISION ensemble

Geoffrey Morris, guitar
ELISION Ensemble
Carl Rosman, conductor (Serenata, Albumblatt, C.A.G., The Plaint)