Music, Science and Data-Driven Composition
The Music of Marco Buongiorno Nardelli


Marco is a scientist, composer and flutist at the University of North Texas

Marco Buongiorno Nardelli is University Distinguished Research Professor at the University of North Texas, a computational materials physicist, a composer, flutist and a member of iARTA, the Initiative for Advanced Research in Technology and the Arts. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Institute of Physics, a founding member of the AFLOW Consortium and a Parma Recordings artist. His music has been premiered, among others, by the New York Miniaturist Ensemble, London's C.O.M.A. group, the Accessible Contemporary Music ensemble of Chicago, the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra, GaTech's Sonic Generator, ICMC and University of North Texas NOVA Ensemble. Among his awards, the composition "Tzolk'in" for three marimbas was the winner of the 2010 Volta Trio Composition Competition. As a member of Ecco La Musica, he has released the critically acclaimed CD "Morning Moon" (Big Round Records, 2012).

Music and Data

In my most recent compositional project I explore the aesthetic potential of big data as artistic objects. Starting from the sonification and remix of complex data streams, my pieces reflect different approaches to data-driven composition and improvisation. Using the computer aided data-driven composition environment materialssoundmusic, the incoming data are manipulated with a broad palette of musical and esthetic choices before being finally engraved in the score. The music is born of a process like that of a sculptor who uses clay (the raw data) to mold any object or create any design, and embodies the continuous flowing of data all around us in a dialogue that ultimately reflects, in an artistic way, the binary nature of information.

To learn more:
www.materialssoundmusic.com
ermes.unt.edu

Recordings:
SoundCloud

Scores:
IMLSP

Compositions

Amargosa Triptich
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Amargosa Triptych was inspired by a chance visit to the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel in Death Valley Junction, CA, where "for more than 40 years, Marta Becket has lived and shared her art and dreams with those fortunate enough to find this wonderful and magical place". In this composition I explore the relationship among the nature of the desert, the nature of our memories and the nature of art. The piece is scored for prepared piano and utilizes a variety of extended techniques to convey all the contrasting feelings (awe, excitement, sadness, solitude, fulfillment, nostalgia, reminiscence, empowerment, helplessness) that I felt there. Amargosa Triptych is dedicated to Marta Becket and Jenna McClintock, who now carries on Marta's mission to make this world a better place by dancing on our own dreams.

Recording
Score
Ricercare
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for flute, player piano, electronics and live data stream. Flute, Ieng Wai Wong (NOVA ensemble), electronics, Marco Buongiorno Nardelli. Premiered at ICMC 2015.
The structure of Ricercare is a reinterpretation of the original "ricercare" style of the late renaissance and early baroque period. Here the word “ricercare“ (Italian for "to research") takes a double meaning: on one hand is the research the performer does to find the optimal connection between the flute and the sonification of the data stream in the basso continuo accompaniment; on the other, it refers to the scientific research work that has led to the data on which this composition is based.

Recording
Score
Contrappunto (player piano version)
In Contrappunto I (the first of my "Inventions from Data") the data stream is manipulated during the live performance creating a musical material that is influenced by the performer in any instance of execution. This is where the data-driven composition environment is most versatile, allowing for a large degree of improvisation and for a broad palette of esthetic choices. The duration of the piece is open and the recording on SoundCloud is just an example of the infinite possibilities that this piece opens.

Recording
Tzolk'in
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Tzolk'in is the name of the version of the 260-day Mesoamerican calendar which was used by the Maya civilization, and it is regarded as being the oldest and most important of the calendar systems attested in the region. The Tzolk'in calendar ("Tzolk'in" means "count of days") combines a cycle of twenty named days with another cycle of thirteen numbers to produce 260 unique days. The numbers 20 and 13 were important numbers for the Maya: twenty was the basis of the Maya counting system, taken from the number of human fingers and toes. Thirteen symbolized the number of levels in the Upperworld where the gods lived. This composition for three marimbas exploits the interlocking structure of the Tzolk'in calendar, where 20 melodic units are superimposed to 13 different meter regions, creating a cycle where pitch and rhythmic structures follow each other for 260 four-beat units for a total duration of 13 min. Performance by the Volta Trio (Chris Clarino, Jonny Allen and Erik Lutters, marimbas).

Recording
Score