Vol 7 Test 7 Part 4

Section 4
Part 4 You will hear a music student giving a talk about an Italian composer. First you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40. Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.

(19:38 - 19:56)
Good morning. We're really pleased that our university is going to hold a concert featuring the music of the Italian composer Salvatore Schiarino. He's considered one of the leading composers of modern classical music in Europe.

(19:57 - 20:17)
His music is highly unusual, so in order to prepare you for this concert, I'm going to talk about his life and music. First, some biographical details. Salvatore Schiarino was born in the Italian city of Palermo in 1947.

(20:18 - 20:41)
Though he did receive some music lessons, he is mainly self-taught as a composer. After a few years of university in his home city, he moved to Rome in 1969, where he studied electronic music. This experience served as a turning point in the development of Schiarino as a composer.

(20:42 - 21:19)
Turning to his work, he composed a great deal in the 1970s and was a music teacher until 1982. Apart from composing music and teaching, he has also produced a large number of essays on a range of topics, such as the philosophy behind his work and musical form. Throughout his career, he has won numerous prestigious awards, most notably a major prize in 2011 which recognised his musical originality.

(21:19 - 21:45)
So you could say that he is one of the most important composers of our times. Now I'll talk about the characteristics of his music, which some people are a bit surprised by. The first thing that many listeners will notice about Schiarino's music is the frequent use of silence.

(21:46 - 22:26)
What is also striking about his music is his preference for extremely soft sounds that are sometimes at such a low volume that they can hardly be heard. The other unusual aspect of his music is that he frequently requires musicians to play their instruments in unconventional ways, so that, for example, a violin may end up sounding very strange and creating sounds we generally associate with nature. Actually, his novel instrumental techniques have often been imitated by other composers.

(22:26 - 22:49)
As a result, he is widely regarded as a pioneer in terms of creating new sounds. It may sound strange, but Schiarino himself has likened his music to a volcano viewed from afar. As you'll see, it builds up slowly to an exciting climax.

(22:51 - 23:10)
Let's move on to talk about the particular piece that we'll hear at the concert. Many people consider it to be his finest work to date. It's an immense piece of music for piano, chorus and orchestra that was completed in 1979.

(23:11 - 23:33)
The work is dedicated to a friend who died unexpectedly, so it was written as a kind of memorial. In many ways, it is representative of his work as a whole in terms of the sound that it creates. It's technically formidable and it's a very challenging piece for musicians to play.

(23:35 - 24:05)
The piece opens with a low sound of great complexity that is similar to thunder. This low-pitched noise is sustained almost uninterrupted for 45 minutes, which may sound quite boring, but I found it to be very haunting and atmospheric. The sound, by the way, is created by large vibrating sheets of metal, which are slowly manipulated by two percussionists.

(24:05 - 24:38)
There are very quiet and strange chords produced by string instruments and very complex piano melodies that quietly appear and then disappear. Even though the piece will be, for many people, very unusual in terms of the sounds it creates, it actually has a very conventional structure, which is just another surprising aspect of Schiarino's work. Now let's move on to another work.

(24:41 - 25:56)
That is the end of Part 4. You now have one minute to check your answers to Part 4. That is the end of the listening test. You now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to the listening answer sheet.