for soprano saxophone and electronics (2024)

First Performance: concert season of Bazzini Consort, MO.CA Brescia
Riccardo Guazzini, saxophone | Alessandro Ratoci, live electronics

Something Like Orpheus is a series of micro-remixes drawn from the iconic Toccata of Orfeo (1608) by Claudio Monteverdi. Rather than a straightforward adaptation, the piece reimagines Monteverdi’s diatonic harmonies and courtly fanfare rhythms—musical elements that have continued to inspire new expressions over time—into fresh sonic landscapes. The steady insistence on a single chord and the propulsive drive of the fanfare can evoke the trance-like patterns of minimal music, forging an unexpected bridge between early Baroque and contemporary electronic aesthetics. The original Toccata was partly shaped by the limitations of historical wind instruments, restricted to a narrow set of pitches; here, that principle expands through the saxophone’s extended techniques—multiphonics and microtonal nuances—that enrich and complicate the harmonic spectrum. Ultimately, Something Like Orpheus pays homage to the mythic power of music itself—echoing the legendary ability of Orpheus to make even stones dance.