From … dunque;, written in 1981 – notice the title’s ambiguous punctuation, which begins with a suspension and ends with a resolution that doesn’t seem to be conclusive – to nero written in 2011, the composer’s interest alternated between instrumental music, perhaps potentially the most creative area and more suited to his aesthetic spirit, and vocal music, which, although always being of a high standard, is inevitably restricted to the sense of the text; between ‘pure’ music, free of any external demands and linked only to the pleasure of writing (Stop and go, Break, Break in Break, Notturni, Six memos, sabi e wabi, aloë, etc.), and music dependent on other factors (I giardini d’infanzia, Là, dove scivola la terra, Fino all’ultimo giorno, Stella!, etc.). Despite this diversity in interest, Lucchi’s coherent writing makes all his compositions clearly recognisable and confirms a well-defined personal compositional style. If the ruins of post-Webernism, from the mirage of total serialism to the rejection of any reference to tonality, has characterised the whole second half of the twentieth century, people like Lucchi, who have experienced an end-of-age phase of reflection, have not hesitated to adopt a more ‘human’ approach to music and, while maintaining a strong forward-looking inclination, have managed to unite this with a vision of music that neither denies its past nor hides from its present.

In the 1980’s, when the respected but certainly not very popular radical avant guarde had entered a blind alley, a period which coincides with the official start of Lucchi’s compositional activity, it was acknowledged that linear narration, the absolute certainty of meaning (by now associated only with styles that were already in the repertoire) and of experimentation for its own sake, were disappearing. Experimentation for its own sake was often done in good faith, but the resulting compositions were unable to communicate because of always having to establish themselves and redefine their semantic and cultural contexts, from which to draw energy to be sustained.

Analysing the historical context and looking for a convenient label, everything could be summarised with the term ‘post-modern’, although it is obviously inadequate in rendering all the particularities involved. However, the elements of polystylism, the use of pre-existent materials and techniques, and the mixing and matching combination game with which the sounds are organised and put together can only indicate a return to an aesthetic stance of ‘pleasantness’, completely in contrast with the non-acceptance of anything to do with consonance, which is typical of the ‘modern’ period in music. Being careful of inevitable implied meanings in the use of any terminology, it is not inappropriate to examine certain pieces, such as Break, Stop and Go, Break in Break, perhaps the most important in Lucchi’s entire output in forging his personal style, and identify the elements of that systematic interchangeability that make his musical language so clearly defined. Such elements appear insistently, almost becoming a true and proper idée fixe, and these characterise a large part of Lucchi’s compositional technique: the combinational games are amalgamated and come up again and again in an eternal cycle; thus, from being simple organisational strategies to be developed within a piece, they become true and proper cycles (Notturni, Six Memos, aloë, sumens), an expression of continual recombination that transcends even the experience of writing and listening and expands to infinity.

Even in the more “narrative” pieces, dolce è la luce, Tanghi, etc., the discourse is continued in a personal way, from time to time manifesting itself with an ironic glance or with clear spiritual references, almost as if rejecting that so-much sought-after expressive personality that every artist often vainly desires, leaving, instead, listeners free to construct or interpret according to their own capabilities in an atmosphere of mutual respect, in which the artist figure is no longer sacred, even though his personality remains and continues to play the vital role of spiritual, ethical and aesthetic guide.

Everything expressed by Rolando Lucchi, in fact, even amidst the multitude of interests and activities that make him stand out, assumes a hint of extraneousness from human needs, of elevation above purely aesthetic objectives, without ever losing sight of a world, like the one around us, which is strongly attached to standardized values, objectives and functions.

Marco Russo, April 2012