GIACINTO SCELSI (1905-1988): The Orchestral Works 2 - La nascita del Verbo for Chorus and Large Orchestra (World Premiere Recording) (Vienna Chamber Choir), Uaxuctum for Ondes Martenot, 7 Percussionists, Timpanist, Chorus and 23 Musicians (Concentus Vocalis), 4 pezzi (su una nota sola) for 25 Musicians.

Description: "The Birth of the Word" is a four-movement work of 32 minutes dating from 1946-48. It cost Scelsi a great effort to finish and he didn't write anything for several years after. Heralding his mystical phase (and music timbral dissection), it still contains hints of a Scriabineque chromaticism, some neo-classical tendencies and, once in the final movement, a use of a dodecaphonic series. The choir sings syllables of the words "Amor", "Deus" and "Lux" and a large percussion array supports a complexity of language (including a huge double fugue in the third section) which is the antithesis of the famous 4 pezzi which came a decade later. Although not a premiere, the 1966 Uaxuctum, subtitled "The Legend of the Mayan City which they themselves destroyed for religious reasons", returns to a ferocious and tormented complexity. Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra; Peter Rundel, Johannes Kalitzke (La nascita).