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Futuro Antico. Interview with Giorgio Battistelli
Feb 28, 2023
Ludovico Pratesi
He builds bridges between the past and the future, as well as between art and music. This is the essence of time for composer Giorgio Battistelli, who has been invited to reflect on tomorrow.
What are your references in art? Do you have sources of inspiration?
I believe it is necessary, within the vastness, complexity, and layering of artistic languages, to identify a punctum that allows one to orient oneself in the horizontal and vertical dimensions of art. This leads me beyond the perimeter of my strictly musical language. In my creative present, these cross-references to the specificities of different arts intertwine and refract in the construction of bridges that connect, to name a few, Monteverdi and Jünger; Bach and Bacon; Borges and Mahler; Duchamp, Stockhausen, and Cage.
Which of your projects represents you the most? Could you tell us about its genesis?
The project that represents me the most is the one I am currently writing. More generally, I believe that all of my works, both symphonic and theatrical, are ultimately one single work that continues to change, develop, and evolve within each subsequent piece. It is a constantly transforming material that becomes a constructive concept within a narrative of spaces: a principle that is at the core of my 1980 work Experimentum mundi, in which I explored the relationship between symmetry and asymmetry in rhythm and time.
What importance does the genius loci have within your work?
Roots are fundamental to me, even though, of course, roots are not immobile; they move toward new directions, which may be different and sometimes distant—if not opposite—from their origin. However, the cultural layers of my place of origin are a continuous source of renewal and regeneration. They project me into another dimension. I have always thought that being born in ancient Albalonga, the residence of the Second Parthian Legion, reflects in my writing. In this sense, I feel like a legionary who sets out to conquer new territories but then returns to the place from which he started to regenerate before embarking on new expeditions.
How important is the past in building the future? Do you believe that the future can have an ancient heart?
I do not believe in amputating our past. Every gesture of my writing establishes a relationship with the past. Here, I return to the concept of building bridges as a foundational core of my musical language, from the past to the present and vice versa. The present helps me understand the past, suggesting perspectives in which to project the utopia of a possible future horizon. To see the invisible and hear the inaudible: a dramaturgy of elusive relationships. In this work of constructing relationships between worlds, even diachronic ones, I believe there lies, today, one of the functions of the artist.
What advice would you give to a young person who wants to pursue your path?
I would advise them to choose and not to be chosen. They should seek to listen to their own voice and their own doubts. One must be aware that writing and the underlying thought consume both body and soul. I would recommend not to consider writing as merely a technique for entertaining one's existence. Finally, I would advise against succumbing to the temptations of power and the culture of narcissism.
In an era defined by post-truth, does the concept of the sacred still hold importance and strength?
The perception and appearance of the sacred manifest when one experiences the moment of enchantment, in the instance of ecstatic rapture. In that liminal dimension, of temporal suspension, lies a kind of magic. The sacred emerges in a space that is neither visible nor audible, and in that moment outside of time and space, spirituality surfaces.
How do you envision the future? Could you point out three ideas that you believe will guide the next three years?
I think the future will increasingly need the past. Knowing how to read the past means being able to trace the tools necessary to build the future. The past is a paradigm that can be changed through awareness of the present. Borges says that “the future is inevitable, precise, but it may not take place.” The accuracy of the future may not happen. It is a disorienting, paradoxical concept, but intensely true. The construction of the future will depend on how we interpret the legacy of the past. Almost all ideas have already been thought of: Einstein even claimed to have had only two genuine ideas in his life. To put it in the words of Alexander Pope, it is the verbal form that gives an impression of novelty, not the content. It follows that it is the intellectual heritage of the past that will fill the reservoir of thought from which the future will nourish itself. Understood in this way, the future is almost always just a possible interpretation of the past.