Il suo divertimento era di contare le stelle

Recording of the live performance at Le Torri dell’Acqua, Budrio.

The short piece is a commission of the FontanaMix ensemble for the 200th anniversary of the composition of Giacomo Leopardi’s Poem L’Infinito. The piece is written for bass clarinet, electric guitar, piano and cello. On 16 October 1820, Giacomo Leopardi wrote the sentence that gives the title to this piece in his personal diary - which became part of the posthumous Zibaldone di pensieri (Zibaldone of Thoughts) - as if it were an echo of the fairy-tale and forgetful spirit that was to take shape in Canto notturno di un pastore errante dell’Asia. It seemed to me that this brief statement was well suited to the character of this short composition. From the darkness of the silence, bright but distant stars stand out in a clear sky, drawing the geometry of a constellation, only apparently elusive to inattentive eyes and ears.

The score of the piece.