AMN Reviews: Sergio Fedele – Le Melancholie di Tifeo [Setola di Maiale SM4400]

Sergio Fedele’s Le Melancholie di Tifeo is a unique work for an equally unique instrument. Taking its inspiration from the mythical figure of Typhon, the gigantic, monstrous, and half-human offspring of Earth and Tartarus, Fedele’s six part suite is an exploration of the sonic range made possible by the Ecatorf, a triple-belled hybrid instrument of his own invention. Fedele describes the Ecatorf as a slide reed contrabass instrument; it combines a trombone slide and tubing and valves from brass instruments with a soprano clarinet mouthpiece. Like Typhon, whom Hesiod described as emitting sounds only the gods could understand, the Ecatorf, with its unorthodox range and timbres, intensified by Fedele’s focused use of a variety of extended techniques, creates sounds seemingly beyond ordinary comprehension.

Daniel Barbiero