In his fairly free applications of serialism and frequent use of aleatoric procedures,
Bruno Maderna represents a compromise between the supposedly irreconcilable approaches of
Pierre Boulez and
John Cage.
Maderna took this middle course not as an ideological or theoretical position, but rather as a practical means to his creative ends: the music's effectiveness was of paramount importance, not its methodology. As a result, Quadrivium for four percussionists and four orchestral groups (1969) seems more focused on the interplay of musicians in spatial arrangements and their coloristic possibilities, and less about the microcosmic operations of rows and patterns. Aura for orchestra and Biogramma for large orchestra (both 1972) are similarly broad-brushed, and their shimmering timbral effects and sweeping masses of sound verge at times on the sonic explorations of the spectral school. Yet there is also a charged emotional component in
Maderna's music, which is expressed with an orchestral richness comparable to Berg's, and an intensity that often recalls that composer's Expressionism, albeit filtered through
Maderna's late avant-garde gestural language. The Sinfonieorchester des Norddeutschen Rundfunks, led by
Giuseppe Sinopoli, is vibrant and energetic, and DG's sound quality is excellent.