Laborintus II is a 2012 album by Belgian choir Ictus Ensemble and American vocalist Mike Patton.

It is a recording of the 1965 work of the same name by Italian composer Luciano Berio, which in turn featured lyrics taken from fellow Italian Edoardo Sanguineti's 1956 poem Laborintus. The performance was recorded live at the 2010 Holland Festival. Berio's composition has been described as combining elements of jazz and electronic music, while its libretto borrows elements from the works of poets Dante Alighieri, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, in addition to Sanguineti's work. Berio has named "memory, death and usury" as the work's main [2] concerns, believing these to also be themes present in the works of Alighieri. Released on July 10, 2012, the album debuted at number 23 on the American Billboard Classic Albums chart. It has received mixed reviews from critics, with most responses highlighting its challenging and free-form composition.

Laborintus II is a recording of Luciano Berio's 1965 composition of the same name. Berio had written the piece for the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's birth, and had incorporated elements of Edoardo Sanguineti's 1956 poem Laborintus as its lyrics. The original poem has been described byAllRovi's Thom Jurek as speaking of "the timelessness of love and mourning, while acting as a [3] critique of the commoditization of all things". In addition to Sanguineti's poetryitself based on themes found in Alighieri's Divina Commedia, Convivio and La Vita Nuovathe piece uses excerpts from the Bible and the writings of poets T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. Musically, Laborintus II incorporates elements of jazz and electronic music while evoking the [4] compositions of Italian opera composer Claudio Monteverdi. The piece's main structure is what Berio called the "catalogue, in its medieval meaning"an enumerated list in the style of Alighieri, using the poet's themes of "memory, death and [2] usury". Members of the Dutch choir Nederlands Kamerkoor have also cited usury as a key theme [nb 1][5] in the piece, describing the composition as "an indictment against the practice". Berio considered some elements of Laborintus II to be "autonomous", capable of standing on their own in addition to being component pieces of the full work; the composer considered this to be applicable [2] to both the libretto and the musical score, which he saw as extensions of each other. Berio had performed the piece at the Holland Festival in 1973; this recital included car tyres and a blow-up [6] doll on stage. The album was recorded live at the Holland Festival on June 18, 2010, in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. The piece was performed by Mike Patton and Belgium's Ictus Ensemble, and was conducted by Georges-Elie Octors. Solo pieces were performed by Ictus Ensemble clarinetist Dirk Descheemaeker, trumpeter Loc Dumoulin, trombonist Michel Massot, double bass player Gry [7] Cambier, and percussionists Michael Weilacher and Gerrit Nulens. Nederlands Kamerkoor provided the choral accompaniments to the performance. The album marks only the third recording of the piece to have been released since it was first broadcast on French radio by Office de [8] Radiodiffusion Tlvision Franaise. Speaking of the piece, Patton has said "I can listen to Berio

and Nono as easily as I can to Morricone but like all modern music of Italy, it is unfortunately marginalized [...] Maybe because of the language barrier, maybe because its not easily understood. Berio, who was teaching in California when he wrote this piece, was listening to jazz, [6] pop and folk music and incorporated all of it in his works without prejudice".

Laborintus II combines orchestral, choral and spoken word elements across its three [9][10] parts. Patton's spoken-word narration is mostly in Italian, with some sections spoken in [1] English; his words are alternately whispered, declared or shouted and carry a variety of emotional tones as the piece progresses. The choral parts are given in response to the narration, and consist of both unified chanting and disjointed arguingthe latter of which serves to increase the piece's [3] [9] tense atmosphere. This is accompanied by three female vocalists whose voices range [10] [3] from soprano singing to "cooing" and "howling". Musically, the piece incorporates elements of jazz and 20th-century avant-garde music. The [9] instruments in the orchestra frequently interrupt both each other and the female voices, while [3] sections of the composition seem as though they are improvised. Laborintus II makes use of both [3] traditional percussion instruments and electronic rhythms the latter of which have been [9] compared to the compositions of Raymond Scott whose interplay serves to "erect musical and [3] textural architectures, then disassemble them quickly". The first part of the composition features the three female voices creating a "mournful" tone while [1] the orchestra plays recurring musical passages; this changes to a discordant crescendo in the [1] second part, marked by Patton's narration becoming increasingly shouted and the orchestral [9] accompaniment more "hyperactive". The third and final part returns to a more "tranquil" tone, [1] focussing on drums and jazz woodwind instruments.
[4][9] [10]

Laborintus II (nota dell'autore)

Laborintus II

per voci, strumenti e nastro magnetico (1965) Testo di Edoardo Sanguineti Composto nel 1965 su commissione dellO.R.T.F. per celebrare il 700 anniversario della nascita di Dante,Laborintus II prende il titolo dalla raccolta poetica Laborintus di Edoardo Sanguineti. Il testo di Laborintus II sviluppa alcuni temi della Vita nuova, del Convivio e della Divina Commedia di Dante e li combina - soprattutto attraverso analogie formali e semantiche - con testi biblici e con scritti di T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound e Sanguineti stesso. Il principale riferimento formale di Laborintus II il catalogo, inteso nella sua accezione medievale (come per esempio le Etimologie di Isidoro di Siviglia, anchesse presenti in questopera), che mette in relazione i temi danteschi della memoria, della morte e dellusura - cio la riduzione di tutte le cose a un solo metro di valore. A volte le parole isolate e le frasi devono essere considerate come entit autonome, altre volte invece vanno ascoltate come parte della struttura

sonora concepita come un tutto. Il principio del catalogo non si limita solo al testo, ma serve anche da base alla struttura musicale stessa. Visto sotto un certo aspetto, Laborintus II un catalogo di riferimenti, di atteggiamenti e di semplici tecniche strumentali; un catalogo dal carattere un po didattico, come le immagini di un libro scolastico che tratti delle visioni dantesche e del gesto musicale. Le parti strumentali sono sviluppate soprattutto come estensione dellazione vocale dei cantanti e la breve sequenza di musica elettronica concepita come prolungamento dellazione strumentale. Laborintus II unopera scenica; pu essere trattata come una rappresentazione, come una storia, unallegoria, un documentario, una danza. Pu essere rappresentata a scuola, a teatro, in televisione, allaria aperta e in qualsiasi altro luogo che permetta di riunire un uditorio.

Mike Patton / Luciano Berio & Ictus Ensemble Laborintus II (2012)

Clsica Contempornea / Experimental Por Tilo Nurmi

La obra discogrfica de Mike Patton contina engrosndose con los ms diversos y bizarros proyectos musicales de los que seamos testigos en el ltimo tiempo, y Laborintus II viene a ser el ms reciente lanzamiento que lleva su firma en lo que va de este ao 2012. Para ponernos al corriente, Ictus es un ensamble de msica clsica contempornea, originario de Bruselas, Blgica, fundado por Jean Louc Pluvier en el ao 94, y que est compuesto por una veintena de msicos que tienden a ofrecer conciertos temticos (en el que desarrollan un concepto en particular) y conciertos de retrato (inspirados en compositores contemporneos), con msica vinculada al teatro, el jazz y el cine. Dirigidos por el percusionista y director musical Georges-Elie Octors y en el marco del Holland Festival del ao 2010, en la ciudad de Amsterdam, Mike Patton e Ictus Ensemble junto a The Nederlands KammerKoor registraron Laborintus II, su propio homenaje al compositor italiano clsico Luciano Berio, muerto en Roma en Mayo del 2003. Berio es reconocido por ser uno de los principales baluartes de la vanguardia musical en Europa y de la msica experimental, y es adems considerado un pionero de la msica electrnica. Para este registro, Mike Patton oficia de Narrador de la obra (con Mondo Cane qued claro su dominio del italiano), y sin haber participado en los arreglos o haber intervenido en los aspectos musicales, este registro posee los elementos caractersticos del universo pattoniano: Vanguardia, experimentacin, rareza, teatralidad, un marcado componente cinematogrfico y por supuesto, calidad interpretativa. Laborintus II fue escrito originalmente por Luciano Berio entre los aos 1963 y 65, con texto del poeta y profesor italiano Edoardo Sanguineti, para tres voces de mujer, un recitador y ocho actores. La interpretacin de Ictus Ensamble incluye flauta, clarinetes, harpas, trompetas, trombones, cellos, contrabajo, batera y percusin con un sobrio trabajo en coros

de Nederlands KammerKoor. El disco del mismo nombre, est dividido en tres partes de 11, 15 y 5 minutos respectivamente, que mantienen una tensin constante que perdura durante toda la obra, con momentos de caos e intensidad, como los primeros minutos de la segunda parte, seguidos de una calma escalofriante, dilogos, susurros y momentos de free jazz hacia la mitad de la misma. Tres partes que pueden parecer mezquinas en cantidad, pero de una calidad indiscutible, condensando en poco ms de 30 minutos de duracin toda una rareza musical, que brinda un hermoso tributo a la obra de Luciano Berio, nos ofrece una inmejorable oportunidad para conocer la historia y msica de este gran compositor, y de paso, suma un hito ms en la abultada discografa del siempre inquieto e inquietanteMike Patton.