Instrumentation: flute, Bb clarinet, violin, piano

Duration: 7 minutes

Year composed: 2015

First performance: Ensemble Mise-En, Kemp Recital Hall, Red Note Music Festival, (IL), USA, April 6th 2016

Other performances: Dal Niente, SCI National Conference, Kalamazoo, (MI), USA, March 31st 2017

Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble, reMusik festival, St. Petersburg, Russia, July 8th 2020

Distinctions: International Composition Competition Citta’ di Udine, finalist, 2016

13th Chengdu-China Sun River Prize, honorable mention, 2017

Program note: The tittle La Ultima Catabasi refers to the last trip to the underworld. The present metaphor refers to a journey we experience against our inner demons. Dante’s Inferno is the inspiration for this piece in its substance but also in its formal organization. The formal structure of the piece follows the formal organization of Dante’s work. The beginning of the piece announces three initial statements starting with an intense strike to the piano. Every time this statement occurs, the texture becomes thinner to cede to a static texture. As a depiction of the inner battle, the harmonic material will progressively shift from one harmony to another. The texture will follow this progressive shift from a static texture to a progressive, denser counterpoint.

Score: https://www.babelscores.com/catalogs/instrumental/4727-la-ultima-catabasi