Laudes
Scene VII from The Shaman, Heretical Story of Francis of Assisi
In this piece, the Canticle of the Creatures of Francis of Assisi takes on sonic form.
The words no longer belong to Francis, nor to any single author. They rise from distant drones, like the echo of a natural event. Sung over rhythms that recall medieval laude, this ancient text crosses eight hundred years of history and speaks to those who still know how to listen to the earth, the wind, the fire, the water.
The clarinet plays like a modern observer, revealing the hidden joy of this praise, its intimate, lyrical, and radiant nature. The voices intertwine, disappear, re-emerge. Matter sings its own soul. The shaman of Assisi has completed his journey. He returns in the song of his companions, telling, with the irreverence of a jester, the vital depth of everything that exists.
This piece is the seventh and final scene from The Shaman: A Heretical Story of Francis of Assisi, a poetic and musical work that tells the life of the (not yet) saint as an initiatory journey between the worlds of the visible and the invisible.
Credits
Clarinet: Alessio Zanovello.
Sopranos: Paola Comerio and Chiara Scotti.
Tenor: Mario Giaccoboni.
Baritones: Marco Grattarola and Andrea Manstretta.
Lute and theorbo: Luciano Bernardi.
Synthesizers, harpsichords, portative organ, and percussion: Carlo Matti.
Production, mixing, and mastering: Carlo Matti.