LA LEGGEREZZA DELLA MUSICA for flute and piano " Lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility and multiplicity, like the sudden, agile leap of the poet- philosopher who raises himself above the weight of the world, showing that with all his gravity he has the secret of lightness; and that what many consider to be the vitality of the times - -noisy, aggressive, revving and roaring – belongs to the realm of death, like a cemetery for rusty, old cars." Italo Calvino. The subjects of lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility and multiplicity became obsessions with Calvino before his death in 1985 and served as the themes for six lectures he was commissioned to give at Harvard University.

Calvino regarded these subjects as vital virtues for literature (and life) in the 21st century. Looking back over 40 years as a writer he wrote, "my working method has more often than not involved the subtraction of weight". Arguing that "heaviness" was the natural condition of life, Calvino believed an essential escape could be offered by "a different space". By which he meant a world not of dreams, but of a different perspective and logic, a "lightness of thoughtfulness" rather than a "lightness of frivolity." In his pursuit of an art that is like "a weightless element that hovers above things" Calvino continues to offer inspiration to those artists of the 21st century who work with materials as insubstantial as words, sound and ideas. JAG/05I

Youtube broadcast : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXsGoOIis-A Chatterton, McCright

Commercial recording 2010 on LP Bulgaria Recordings label; Duo: Andrea Ceccomori flute and Elitza Harbova piano.