Luigi Antonio Irlandini - official composer site
Luigi Antonio Irlandini
Shakuhachi Summer Camp of the Rockies, Colorado, 2007 -- Catedral Metropolitana de Florianópolis, 2019 -- Florianópolis, 2018
Biography
Luigi Antonio Irlandini
Luigi Antonio Irlandini, Brazilian/Italian composer and instrumentalist (piano and shakuhachi), was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in May 29, 1958. He writes instrumental and vocal music – solo, chamber and orchestral – with a special interest on percussion instruments, the shakuhachi, the piano, recorders, solo voice and vocal groups a cappella. As a composer-performer, Irlandini is often personally involved in the performance of his music both as a soloist or conductor. While his composed music is strictly connected to musical research, in which Western and non-Western, musical and philosophical, modern and ancient contents co-exist, forming his ideas of cosmofonia and musical cosmology, Irlandini's improvised music follows a completely different approach, connected to spontaneity and personal experience (as seen in his piano improvisation albums Azul e Areia, produced by Egberto Gismonti in 1985, and Surf Music, produced by Irlandini in 1999).
As a music professor at the Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, UDESC, Irlandini teaches counterpoint, harmony, analysis and composition, and has his research activities centered in the interdisciplinary study of music composition. The main research topics are circular and spiral musical temporalities, the presence of non-Western and ancient contents, with an emphasis on Japanese music of the gagaku and honkyoku traditions), in 20th- and 21st century compositional poetics, and the relation of music composition with mythical thought, archetypal symbology, and the imaginary. His research has been published in academic music journals such as Perspectives of New Music (USA), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Netherlands), Opus, Revista Vórtex , and Per Musi (Brazil), some written in English, some in Portuguese, some in both.
Performers and Interpreters
Irlandini's music has been performed in Brazil, Argentina, the U.S., Italy, Holland and Japan by several musicians and ensembles, such as Maurício Zamith, Maria Bernardete Castelan Póvoas, Berenice Menegale, Marina Iwao and Kyungmi Nam (piano), Thomas Piercy (clarinet and hichiriki), Carlos Gontijo (saxophone), soprano Martha Herr, Silvia Cesco and Danton Oestreich (guitar), Kirk Brundage, Jean-Pierre Bedoyan and Mark Duggan (percussion); recorder soloists David Castelo (Brasil), Eva Legêne Anderson and Kees Boeke (Holland), Antonio Politano and Daniele Braghetti (Italy), Tosyia Suzuki and Seiko Tanaka (Japan), Brisk Amsterdam Recorder Quartet, cello and piano Duo Jarvis-Twitchell, Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais, Orquestra Sinfônica da UFRJ, Orquestra Sinfônica de Barra Mansa, Ensemble Gilberto Mendes, Grupo PIAP de Percussão da UNESP, Madrigal Contemporâneo (Rio de Janeiro), Contemporary Vocal Ensemble from University of Indiana, Bloomington, UC Davis Contemporary Music Players; conductors Cristina Emboaba, Carmen-Helena Téllez, Danielly Souza, John Boudler, David Ashbridge, José Gustavo Julião de Camargo, Marcos Arakaki, Thiago Santos and Anderson Alves) among others, in several festivals, concerts and monographic recitals, including the Bienal da Música Brasileira Contemporânea no Rio de Janeiro since 1983, the Rio International Cello Encounter (2005 and 2016), o 50mo Festival Música Nova Gilberto Mendes (2016) and the Festival Musica Riservata (1998, Vicenza and Varese, Italy).
Musical Studies and
Professional Activities
Piano studies with Nereida Nogueira (1976-1979) and Luiz Henrique Senise (1980-1982) in Rio de Janeiro.
Composition studies with Franco Cioci at the Conservatorio di Musica Luigi Cherubini, Firenze, Italy, 1982-1983
B.M. in Piano Performance with Estela Caldi, at the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRio), 1983-1987
Composition and aesthetics studies with Hans-Joachim Koellreutter in Rio de Janeiro, 1985-1988
Composition studies with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Superiore di Musica Lorenzo Perosi, Biella, Italy, 1988
Composition studies with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia di Musica Chigiana, Siena, Italy, 1989 and 1990
M.F.A. in Composition: with Stephen Lucky Mosko at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), 1989-1990; second emphasis in Hindustani music with Taranath Rao (tablā) and Amiya Dasgupta (rāga), and Javanese Gamelan with K.R.T. Wasitodiningrat
Ph.D. in Composition: with Brian Ferneyhough (UCSD) and William Kraft at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), 1994-1998; second emphasis on 20th-century modern music with Pieter van den Toorn and Hindustani and Middle Eastern music with Scott Marcus
Lecturer: University of California, Santa Barbara (1998-1999), teaching composition and 20th-century music courses for graduate and undergraduate students of the College of Arts and Letters Department of Music and at the College of Creative Studies
Post Doctoral Researcher with JoAnn Kuchera-Morin at the Center for Research in Electronic Art Technology (CREATE, at UCSB) and with Michael Beckerman (at UCSB Music Department), 2000 - 2002
Visiting Composer: Jacobs School of Music at University of Indiana, Bloomington,
February 2007
Waldorf Teacher Training and Waldorf Music Teacher Training courses at Sunbridge College (Chestnut Ridge, NY), Rudolf Steiner College (Sacramento, CA) and Waldorf Institute of Southern California (Northridge, CA), 2000 - 2006
Music Teacher and Music Program Director - Waldorf elementary, junior and high schools in the U.S., 2001 - 2009
Shakuhachi studies at Shakuhachi Summer Camp of the Rockies in Colorado, 2006 and 2007
Music Professor: graduate and undergraduate programs at Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, UDESC, in Florianópolis, Brazil, since 2010
Shakuhachi studies with KAKIZAKAI Kaoru Sensei, Dokyoku, 2013-2017
Shakuhachi studies at the Kokusai Shakuhachi Kenshukan (KSK, International Centre for Shakuhachi Training), Dokyoku, Chichibu, Japan, March 2019
Post-Doctoral Researcher with Carole Gubernikoff at the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRio), 2023-2024
Research activities with NAKAMURA Hitomi, Director of Reigakusha Gagaku Ensemble in Tokyo, June/July 2024.
Composition Awards
Prêmio Funarte de Composição Clássica, 2018:
Santuário de baleias, for soprano saxophone and strings orchestra, performed at the 24th Bienal de Música Brasileira Contemporânea in 2019
Prêmio Funarte de Composição Clássica, 2016:
Peace, my heart, for choir a cappella, on a poem by Rabindranath Tagore, performed at the 23rd Bienal de Música Brasileira Contemporânea in 2017
Prêmio Elisabete Anderle de Estímulo à Cultura 2017, which provided partial funding for the production of the CD Ākāśa, released in 2019.
Festival Tinta Fresca, 2012– Orquestra Filarmônica de Minas Gerais;
Phoînix, Bestiarium, Book I, # 2, for orchestra, special mention
New London Chamber Choir's 20th Anniversary Composition Competition:
Sacrifício, for choir a cappella, special mention
Chamber Music Corwin Competition Contest – California,1996, 1st prize:
Madrigal de fogo, for mezzosoprano, strings and percussion.
TRIMALCA (Tribuna de Música Latino-Americana e do Caribe), 1985:
A idade do ferro, for expanded piano, was chosen among three pieces to represent Brazil at the TRIMALCA.
List of Works
Hokkaijōin (Mudra cósmico - Cosmic mudra)
2024 - piano
Pneuma espiral
2024 – Elder alto recorder
Namazu (Bestiarium, Livro 2, #2)
2023 - percussion solo (four timpani)
Ouroboros (Bestiarium, Livro 2 #1)
2023 - shakuhachi solo with drone in two double-basses
Sūrya namaskāra (Saudação do sol - Sun salutation)
2023 - soprano and chamber orchestra
sung in Sanskrit: traditional sun salutation mantra
Rugido de tigre provoca vento (Roar of Tiger Causing Wind)
2022 - D shakuhachi and 13-string koto (Version I)
2023 - D shakuhachi and piano (Version II)
Visões de Bashō (Bashō Visions)
2021 - hichiriki and piano (Version I)
2023 - D shakuhachi and piano (Version II)
Axis mundi
2021 - strings orchestra
Vṛtrahan
2020 - baritone saxophone and percussion (one or two players)
percussion: crotale tree, sizzled cymbal, small tam-tam, large tam-tam, woodblock, bongos,two tambourines, cuíca,
lion's roar, orchestral bass drum
Ākāśa
2018 - C shakuhachi amplified with reverberation, and fixed media
Der fluß
2016 - mixed choir a cappella
Sung in German: selected excerpts from Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha
Santuário de baleias (Whale sanctuary)
2016 - soprano saxophone and strings orchestra
Thirteen moons on Turtle’s back (Treze luas nas costas da Tartaruga)
(in thirteen movements played without interruption)
I. Great Spirit moon
II. Moon of ice crusts on the snow
WETÚ
III. Moon when finback whales arrive
IV. Moon of great sand storm
V. Moon when ponies shed
BLOKÉTU
VI. Moon of salmon going up the river
VII. Moo of red blooming lilies
VIII. Moon of berries ripening in the mountain
PTANYÉTU
IX. Moon of birds flying south
X. Moon of falling leaves
XI. Moon of first frost
WANIYÉTU
XII. Moon when wolves run together
XIII. The hard moon
2016 - cello and piano
Triskelion
2015 - viola, piano and percussion (marimba, large tam-tam, djembé)
“…śabdah khe…”
2015 - tenor, soprano saxophone, tuba, violin, double-bass, piano and percussion (cow bells, large tam-tam, orchestral bass drum)
Sung in Sanskrit. Text: excerpts from the “Bhagavad Gītā”
Khímaira (Bestiarium Book I, #3)
2013 - oboe, cello, didjeridu (or bass trombone)
Phoînix (Bestiarium Book I, #2)
2010 - orchestra
Ho-oo (Bestiarium, Book I, #1)
2008 - D shakuhachi, guitar, strings quartet (Version I)
2021 - shakuhachi solo (Version II)
2023 - D shakuhachi and guitar (Version III)
Metagon
2008 –shakuhachi solo
Peace, my heart
2007 - mixed choir a cappella
sung in English: poem by Rabindranath Tagore The Gardener # LXI
Luna
2006 - mixed choir a capella
sung in Latin: poem Luna, by Luigi Antonio Irlandini
Trail of tears
2005 - piano and two violins
Porta do sol...nos confins do mundo (Sun door… at world’s end)
2005 - soprano and eight cellos
sung in Sanskrit. Text: Mantra Gāyatrī
Partita
(Partita sopra “Anchor che col partire”)
2002 - six-player recorder ensemble
Cromlech
2002 - brass quintet
Pythagoras
2001 tenor recorder solo
Sol das almas
1999 - guitar (Version I)
2012 - piano (Version II)
Sacrifício (Sacrifice)
1998 - mixed choir a cappella (Version I)
sung in Sanskrit; text: Ṛg Veda X, 90
2003 - two pianos (Version II)
Agnistoma
1998 - in two movements, OR each may be performed as a separate piece
Agnistoma I
1998 - soprano or tenor, two soprano recorders, didjeridu (Version I)
sung in Sanskrit; text: 󠇫Ṛg Veda X, 3
2006 - tenor recorder, two soprano recorders, didjeridu (Version II)
Agnistoma II
1998 - four-player recorder ensemble
Cosmologia II
1997 - alto flute, Bb clarinet, French horn
Cosmologia I
1996 - oboe concertante, piccolo flute, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Madrigal de fogo (Madrigal of fire)
1996 - mezzo-soprano, violin, viola, cello, double-bass, two percussionists
sung in ancient Greek: selected fragments by Heraclitus
Matrimônio do céu e da terra (Marriage of heaven and earth)
1995 - English horn tablā concertanti, two guitars, Tibetan cymbals (Version I)
1998 - English horn/oboe and percussion concertanti, two strings trios (vn., vla., vc.), Tibetan cymbals (Version II)
1996 - English horn and percussion concertanti, chamber orchestra, Tibetan cymbals (Version III - WITHDRAWN)
Kaly Yuga
1990 four trumpets, four trombones, five percussionists
Archipelago
1990 - three percussionists
Mojave
1989 - piano and two percussionists
“…a natureza ama esconder-se…” (“…nature loves to hide…”)
1989 - oboe, Bb trumpet, cello
Pralāya
1988 –piano
Quatro cenas d’O Olhar de Orfeu (Four Scenes from O Olhar de Orfeu)
1987 - two actors and four musicians playing several instruments
Aurora
1986 - jazz orchestra, written for the UNIRio Orquestra de Música Brasileira (Version I)
2010 – piano (Version II)
Livro de Canções (Song Book)
I – Lamento (Lamentation)
II - Por mais que eu ame (As much as I love)
III - Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas (Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon)
IV - Manhãs, tardes e noites (Mornings, afternoons and evenings)
V - A cidade e o tempo (Time and the city)
(1983-1986) - songs for voice and piano on poems by Luigi Antonio Irlandini
Numen
I - Dronos
II -Mysterion
III -Dythirambos
1986 - voice and six+ musicians playing several world instruments
A idade do ferro (The age of iron)
I - Requiem (Requiem)
II - Os Trabalhos e os dias (The works and days)
III - Música da decadência (Music of decadence)
IV - Londres depois da bomba (London after the bomb)
1985 - expanded piano
De natura
1984 - violin and piano
Vox clamans in deserto
1984 - tenor saxophone and piano (Version I)
1990 - Bb clarinet and piano (Version II)
1998 - French horn and piano (Version III)
2000 - orchestra (Version IV)
Três canções de Fernando Pessoa
I - Vai alta no céu a lua da primavera
II - Bendito seja o mesmo sol de outras terras
II - Para ser grande
1984 - voice and piano
sung in Portuguese on poems by Fernando Pessoa
Summer 84
1984 – piano
Fragmentos
1983 –piano
Clausura
1982 - mixed choir a cappella
Andares
1982 four singers (SATB) and piano
sung in Portuguese on a translation of Hermann Hesse's poem Stuffen
A aqueles que vierem depois de mim
1982 - four singers (SATB) and piano
sung in Portuguese on a translation of a poem by Bertold Brecht
Oryx
may be performed as three separate pieces or as a piece in three movements
I - Oryx (1979) - piano
II - Oryx gazella (1980) - violin and piano
III - Oryx tao (1982) - piano and strings quartet
No vagão a incerteza (In the wagon, uncertainty)
1981 – piano
A cidade maravilhosa (The wonderful city)
1981 -piano
Published Scores
L.A.I. Editio Princeps - Luigi Antonio Irlandini–Editio Princeps
Original publications by the author. All scores are available directly from cosmofonia.lai@gmail.com.
Fortissimo Music Publications, Oleiros, Portugal
Porta do Sol... nos Confins do Mundo FMP 82011702
Orpheus Music, Armidale Australia
Partita OMP 142
Orpheus Music, Armidale, Australia
Agnistoma II OMP 062
Published Writings
The music journal websites are sometimes unstable or poorly maintained, and this results in the articles not being always available or found. For this reason, the music journal’s links to the articles listed below are not mentioned here. However, all articles are available at, and can be downloaded from, Irlandini’s page at the following link of the site Academia.edu: http://udesc.academia.edu/lirlandini
ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN MUSIC JOURNALS
IRLANDINI, Luigi Antonio. (2022)
"Musical Time in Tōru Takemitsu’s November Steps". Per Musi no. 42, General Topics, pp. 1-28, 2022. eISSN 2317-6377. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte. ENGLISH
__________. (2022) "Integration and Opposition of Western and Japanese Traditional Instruments in Tōru Takemitsu’s November Steps". Per Musi no. 42, General Topics, pp. 1-15. eISSN 2317-6377. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte. ENGLISH
__________. (2021) "Dragonslayer: musical composition and mythical thought". Revista Vórtex, vol. 9 no. 3, pp. 1-41, Dezembro, 2021. Dossier SiMN 2021. ISSN: 2317-9937. Universidade do Estado do Paraná, Curitiba. ENGLISH and PORTUGUESE
__________. (2020). “Non-European Musical Instruments and Contemporary Composition”. Gaudeamus Muziekweek 2020. Published on September 3, 2020. ENGLISH
__________. (2018) "Som-silêncio em Concretion 1960 de H. J. Koellreutter". (“Sound-silence in H.J.Koellreutter’s Concretion 1960”). Revista OPUS vol. 24 no. 2, pp. 22-57, maio/ago 2018. PORTUGUESE.
__________. (2018) “Cosmicizing Sound: Music – Cosmos – Number”. MusMat: Brazilian Journal of Music and Mathematics. Vol. I, No. 2. November 2017 (pp. 25-61) ENGLISH.
__________. (2017) "Expanded Modal Rhythm". Revista Vórtex (Vortex Music Journal) Universidade Estadual do Paraná, Curitiba, vol.5 no.1, 2017 (pp 1-24). ENGLISH.
__________. (2013) “An introduction to the poetics of sacred sound in twentieth-century music”. Revista Vórtex (Vortex Music Journal) Universidade Estadual do Paraná, Curitiba, vol. 1, no. 2, 2013, pp. 65-86. ENGLISH.
__________. (2012) “Gagaku, de Messiaen”. Per Musi (UFMG), v. 25, 2012, ISSN 1517-7599, pp. 49-56. PORTUGUESE translation of “Messiaen’s Gagaku”.
__________. (2010) “Messiaen’s Gagaku”. Perspectives of New Music, v. 48, 2010, ISSN 0031-6016, pp. 193-207. ENGLISH.
ARTICLES PUBLISHED AS A CHAPTER IN A BOOK
IRLANDINI, Luigi Antonio. (2020) “A autenticidade dos conteúdos antigos e não-ocidentais na composição musical dos séculos XX e XXI". In: Lia Tomás; Raimundo Rajobac. (Org.). Música, Filosofia e Crítica: Problemas Transversais. 1 ed., Pelotas: ANPPOM, 2020, v. 9, p. 273-314. PORTUGUESE
__________. (2016) "Música e sacrifício". Fronteiras da Música: Filosofia, Estética, Histórica e Política – Lia Tomás (org.) Série Pesquisa em Música no Brasil Vol. 6 - Editora ANPPOM 2015, pp. 301 -323 ISBN - 978-85-63046-05-5. PORTUGUESE.
ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN ANNALS OF CONGRESSES
IRLANDINI, Luigi Antonio Irlandini. (2017) “Oboés e charamelas na música de Luigi Antonio Irlandini”. (“Oboes and shawms in Luigi Antonio Irlandini’s music”) In: Anais do I Encontro Internacional da Associação de Palhetas Duplas, pp. 147-162. PORTUGUESE.
__________. (2014) "Tempo musical cíclico no Miserere mei, Deus de Gregorio Allegri". (“Cyclical Musical Time in Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus”). In: XXIV Congresso da ANPPOM, 2014, São Paulo, SP. Caderno de Resumos e Anais do XXIX Congresso da ANPPOM, 2014, São Paulo, SP. PORTUGUESE.
__________. (2013) “Metagon – Tempo musical espiral”. “Metagon – Spiral musical time”). In: Simpósio de Estética e Filosofia da Música – SEFiM, 2013UFRGS, Porto Alegre, ANAIS: Simpósio de estética e Filosofia da Música – SEFiM v. 1, n. 1, 2013. ISBN 978-85-66106-05-3, pp. 931-946. PORTUGUESE.
__________. (2013) “Ser e devir no tempo musical”. (“Being and becoming in musical time”). In: III Encontro Internacional de Teoria e Análise Musicais, 2013, São Paulo. Anais do Encontro Internacional de Teoria e Análise Musical 3 (ETAM 3) ... São Paulo: ECA-USP, 2013, ISSN 2237-0757, pp. 189-199. PORTUGUESE.
__________. (2012) “O uso de instrumentos tradicionais japoneses em Yūgen de H. J. Koellreutter”. (“The use of traditional japanese instruments in H.J.Koellreutter’s Yūgen”). In: XXII Congresso da ANPPOM, 2012, João Pessoa, PB. Anais do XXII Congresso da ANPPOM, 2012, ISBN 19835981, pp. 1642-1649. PORTUGUESE.
__________. (2012) “Cosmologia da composição e suas interações com a teoria e análise musicais”. (“Cosmology of composition and its interactions with musical theory and analysis”). In: IV Encontro de Musicologia de Ribeirão Prêto, 2012, Ribeirão Preto, SP. Anais do IV Encontro de Musicologia de Ribeirão Prêto, 2012, ISBN 9788577470396, pp. 239-245. PORTUGUESE.