Marcella Mandanici - Composer
Conservatory of Music “Luca Marenzio” - Brescia, Italy
Nuovi Spazi Sonori Produzioni
Marcella Mandanici, born in Genova- Italy, comes from the classical area. She studied piano, harpsichord, ancient music and composition in different conservatories in italy. Her work ranges from instrumental to electronical compositions, including theatrical and multimedia works. Mandanicis compositions have been performed in important national and international music festivals in Italy, France, Germay, Austria, Japan, Belge, Rumania and Israel and have always been appreciated for their strong construction and great energy. Beside her work as a composer Mandanici is professor at the Conservatory of Brescia.
What do you work on recently?
I am working on a large musical project called “Il respiro dell’aria” (could be translated as “The breath of air”), a theatrical performance for actress, soprano, four female voices, four wind instruments and electronics.
How developed your affection to classical music?
Classical music is not a proper definition. Anyway, I began playing piano and listening to popular music. But after a while I simply had no doubt about my way…. I don’t know exactly why..
What means making music to you?
Making music means to follow your own way of feeling, to be conscious of the inheritance of history, to define the rules of unknown musical worlds, to know, choose and invent new ways of listening and performng music, to open to others glimmers of what has flamed you, to force and discuss common patterns, to challenge the limits and the rules of communication …..
What gives you classical music, which cannot give you another kind of music?
The possibility of listening to a work many, repeated and always differen times without getting bored of it. And this because the music which comes from an idea is more complex than a beautiful music. Actually I would change the definition “classical” into “serious” music, including besides Bach, Beethoven and Mozart also other people such Palestrina, Desprès, Frescobaldi, Di Lasso, Nono, Berio, Donatoni, Boulez…… etc.
Did you ever think about making another kind of music?
I try to transfer my way of thinking music upon other materials, like the wonderful sounds of ancient music or the fantastic possibilities of electronic music.
What have been your favorite projects to work on?
Since five or six year I dont work any more to instrumental music, but I produce works which always include Theatrical action, visual art, ambient, and so on..
When you work on something what inspires you?
Very often I feel the desire not to invent something new but to re-write or re-arrange ( that means for me usually a very deep change) very old works as well.
How do you usually develop the idea of a sound?
I never start from a sound: the sound, as well as the form of the piece is the result of a process.
There have been a lot of important innovations in sound engineering and recording technology. Did these innovations have taken influence on your work/creative process?
Yes, as they increase the performance possibilities of a work.
What role do plug-ins play within your work in general, how do they help you?
Working with electronics means that the music is nearer to the composer because the composer may be also the performer of his work. I always keep these two phases separated, but I find a great thing being the creator of my sound. Composers like me, who come from prevalent academic studies and who dont have a strong scientific culture (I mean sound engineering, acoustic, physics, and so on) have still great difficulty in using all the possibiilities of electronic music properly and in full way. I always try to improve, and I like it!
What is your experience with RND Plug-ins? Which Plug-ins do you use most frequently?
Your products has been introduced to me by a dear friend, the sound engineer Paolo Costola who sometimes helps me to solve some of the worse troubles….. I use Inspector and Finis.
Do you have any favourite features?
I find both very important for my work.
Anything else to say?
Yes, we all have to do something more to help contemporary music and electronic art in general to be present in our life and culture. It is useless to compare our art with the languages of the past….. life now is completely different, and art and music simply have to follow the wave.