Music is a wonderful game of interweaving sounds and nobody knows how important it is to play with passion and seriousness better than children! Indeed, Alessandro Solbiati’s dedication on the three volumes of Corde e martelletti is to Gabriele and Lea, his beloved grandchildren, and to all children. To his dedication I add my own and, besides, a few notes about this recording that may help you understand why I talk about playing a game rather than simply playing music and why this long work is something you can also have fun with.

Dear children, to play these one hundred short pieces you really have to use every part of the piano: the keyboard alone (obviously!…), the strings … alone, the wood, the cast iron frame. The strings, wood and cast iron. Then the keyboard and wood. Things start to get interesting! I’ll go on: the keyboard and strings, the keyboard and voice! I’ll go on even more: the keyboard alone, but with prepared strings! Meaning what?! Meaning that you have to use lots of patafix or blu-tack (a mouldable sticky paste), metal chains, coins, glasses, pieces of inner tube, rubber balls, heavy cloths and various other objects. I’ll give you some examples. In numbers 67 and 68 Alessandro Solbiati asks for one-cent coins to be inserted between the strings of four notes in the middle register in order to obtain the sound of bells (they are difficult to fit, but the perfect size!). In number 77, to produce the wailing effect, it is necessary to rub a bottle neck, a small metal cylinder frequently used by guitarists, along the strings. The muffled, irregular trills and flutters of number 78 are produced by placing a heavy cloth on the string board in the middle range. In number 86, the squeaky door evoked in the title is a metal ruler rubbed across the lower strings, and the unexpected and terrifying dramatic stroke at the end requires the presence of small metal plates on the strings in the medium-high zones, which I have replaced with rather heavy and flashy necklaces and earrings that I often wear! And still on the subject of vanity trinkets, for number 88 as well as 31, in which a metal chain is required to be placed over the strings, I chose a lovely string of light, resonant… and elegant white pearls! To perform number 39 you have to look for a bicycle with a punctured tyre, cut off a piece of inner tube, roll it up and rub it along the strings to hear sounds so shrill you’ll plug your ears! And as if that wasn’t enough, you need a glass (a small glass, I used one I usually drink limoncello with) to move with more or less pressure inside the string board. To play 49 I stole a glove from an accordionist very dear to me and… voila!… my arms slide better on the keyboard. In 56 I really enjoyed screaming, being amazed, feeling disappointed, desperate!!! …but then relieved and cheerful! And in number 62 I became a percussionist. The same goes for number 17, a very fun dance without notes. While in 62 the strings are stopped (as happens in many other pieces in the collection, e.g. the marvellous 22, 23, 24 and 61), number 17 is realised entirely by tapping with your nail or knuckle on the free strings, on the wood and the cast iron. In other cases, as at the beginning of number 99, the percussion is made using timpani mallets; at other times by beating on the edge of the instrument, as in numbers 47 and 90. And number 64? A nonsensical tongue-twister in a speaking voice recorded while recovering from a bad bout of flu. The timbre of my voice lowered, it became darker. So I decided to have a go at number 64 (and not only this one) and I was convinced! As they say, not all bad things are without something good! For number 65, on the other hand, take a small hard rubber ball, one of those fantastic ones I used to love as a child because they bounce so high, and attach it to a knitting needle (you can ask your mum…er…maybe your granny…do mums and grannies still knit?!…). Like that you will create a fascinating resonance from which well-known melodies will emerge.
There are several pieces where Alessandro Solbiati mentions composers of the past or pays a tribute to them. In addition to 65, just mentioned, numbers 46, 74, 80 and 84 are other examples. In general, it is important to become familiar with the sostenuto pedal, the central pedal of the grand piano, so little used in the traditional repertoire and yet so useful here! Also, try pressing the sustain pedal and placing a finger on several points of the strings connected to a single key: what happens? You will hear harmonics. It will be an amazing discovery. You can try this out this when studying, for example, number 48 or 72, which are two of many pieces of calm, poetry and extreme sweetness. Other such examples are numbers 13, 18, 24, 32, 35, 43, 45, 48, 51, 63 and 91, contrasting with the energy of numbers 41, 79 and 50, to name but a few, and the explosive dynamic force of numbers 28 and 85. It is important to learn to coordinate your two hands, often shared between the keyboard and string board, as in number 92 (one of the darkest and most mysterious in the collection), 38 or 54. In other cases, everything takes place entirely in the string board, as in numbers 16, 57, 71 and 96. Also common is the use of the full range of the keyboard, which in several cases is very amusing and captivating, like numbers 14 and 15, where the composer creates two opposing characters: one bad and one good. In 14 the good guy’s voice, warm and patient, is entrusted to the bass and the bad guy, ill-tempered and shrill, to the treble. In 15, the good, sweet and reassuring character is expressed in high notes; the bad is entrusted to the bass and has a disturbing and frightening personality! Just a few more words about number 100. Maestro Solbiati delivers a warning: never forget the importance of playing together with others. And so, after ninety-nine pieces, he adds one, consisting of eight sections, to be performed by four hands. My keyboard partner was the wonderful pianist and friend Emanuela Piemonti and we recorded it on a cold day with clear skies, after a good meal of sharing and laughter.
Enjoy yourselves, children. Be curious, always. Explore, experiment. Listen to yourselves, to the others, to everything that surrounds you, wherever you might be. If you let yourself be drawn into the study of these three beautiful volumes and more, if you enter the magical world of contemporary art music, you could become a serial collector: every object can in fact be used to obtain a wonderful or, in the worst case scenario, interesting and new sound that has never been imagined. In the words of John Cage, who based his reflections on music on the assumption that everything is sound: «People may leave my concerts thinking they have heard noise, but will then hear unsuspected beauty in their everyday life». So play the games, make music, have fun and be happy!

I sincerely thank Alessandro Solbiati for the constant exchange of impressions and ideas he had with me during the recording of these hundred pieces, making this experience even more special and important. I thank Emanuela Piemonti for her precious collaboration. I dedicate this work to Francesco, my strength, my support, my everything.