Terra Madre (Migrations)
music from around the world, re-invented by Fred Sturm
for soprano saxophone, ethnic percussions, and strings
Marco Albonetti soprano saxophone
Dane Richeson ethnic percussions
FontanaMix Ensemble
Valentino Corvino violin
Linda Guglielmi violin
Corrado Carnevali viola
Sebastiano Severi cello
Pietro Agosti double bass
American composer Fred Sturm was asked by Marco Albonetti to select the repertoire for Terra madre from over a thousand pieces he had collected around the world. He was also asked to create an arrangement that combined the original flavours with the modern harmonies and sounds of the saxophone and strings, and the rhythmic virtuosity of Dane Richeson’s percussions. The result is a prayer for the unity of the world in which the music of the nomads of Rajasthan and Tibet combines with the organum, the improvised polyphony of the 13th-century Notre-Dame school, and in which the shakuhachi flute evokes the sound of dry leaves stirred by the wind in Japanese music, and Mongolian overtone singing blends with wild Appalachian country music, the ritual chants of the Mbuti pygmies and the uneven rhythm of Bulgarian dances.
