How a guitar composition is born: Bach, the minimalists and inspiration

I studied harmony and counterpoint, though I never studied composition.

A great help came from analysing J. S. Bach's chorales: I try to listen to his works critically, to grasp, even in a small way, a compositional art that was never predictable and always innovative, even in its own time.

I am also very interested in contemporary minimalist composition and in serial music.

In the end what you listen to, and how you listen, matters a great deal: with the aim of learning a musical language and making it your own, to fit your style.

We are, and create, what we love

We are the sum of what we listen to, and above all of what we love and what suits our spirit.

Artists almost always shape their style this way: the key is not to imitate (we would only ever be poor copies) but to create a recognisable style of our own.

Inspiration can come from many things: a thematic cell buzzing in your head that you develop over time, or a quotation picked up while listening, as with my Study in D major, born from a theme by Piccinini and turned into a light, pleasant waltz.

What matters is not to compose for the sake of it, because the listener can tell.

Some of my compositions

You can hear where this path has led in Metamorfosi, Study No. 1, the Toccata in the style of S. L. Weiss and the Sonatina Oriental.