Otto Ottimo
for Delphine Gauthier-Guiche
Being a series of stream of consciousness playing
and acting scenarios for solo horn player,
using mainly the octatonic mode.
The words all have sounds relating to "octatonic" ("ottotonico"
or more commonly "scala alternata" in Italian)
and the horn attempts to illustrate each one in various themes,
such as the Pines of Rome theme by Respighi,
a brief departure from the octatonic to indulge in augmented seconds
for the Eastern promise of the Ottomans,
Wagner´s Valkyries theme for L´Ottocento,
the romantic Che farò senza Eurydice from Gluck
slipping into the scala enigmatica
(for the Giovanotto in the audience)
before finally returning definitively to the octatonic
with a final swig of gin and tonico.
Props required:
Music on stand, Italian dictionary,
a glass of some liquid
(preferably gin and tonic)
Pictures of Wagner, Gluck and Respighi
would also be good, but not essential.
The horn player may also wish to plant a young person
"Giovanotto" (or "Giovanotta")
in the audience to ogle at!