Exploring the limits of sound with Gabriel Prokofiev

di Nicola Giaquinto - 21 Settembre 2024

The 2024 Edition of the Bartolomeo Cristofori Piano Festival delves deep into the theme of music and technology. The evolution of the instrument, new scoring techniques, and the implementation of high-tech equipment into a compositional setting all contribute to the constant creative flow of new sound worlds.

When talking about combining these two elements there is no guest more appropriate than Gabriel Prokofiev, British composer who will premiere one of his pieces alongside Lukas Geniušas during the second concert of the festival.

On your biography page the first phrase we read is “Composing music that both embraces and challenges western classical traditions”. What is the meaning of this for you?

I really value classical tradition, but at the same time I think there are certain aspects of it that us composers of the 21st century should not be afraid of embracing. There is a plethora of interesting musical ideas coming out of periods of rejection that are worth exploring.

On one hand you can think about how stiff the presentation of classical music sometimes feels. The way concerts are laid out still feels very much out of touch with modern life… they sometimes feel too formal, rather early in the evening, lacking communication with the audience and with restrictions clapping restrictions… This does not align with how people live nowadays.

On the other hand I am interested in bringing in musical elements from outside the classical world. Actually, that was tradition before. There used to be a much bigger dialogue with folk music and popular dance in the past, which is in stark contrast with the rather academic and inward looking contemporary music scene of today. My main interest is in engaging with contemporary culture, whether it’s using turntables for a concerto or working with electronics.

When did electronics become a major part of your musical style? What is the potential that you saw in it?

It kind of happened in two ways.

My teenage interest started in the 80s. I was ten or eleven years old and I always found myself playing around with CASIO Keyboards and Synthetisers with a friend of mine.

I use electronic music when I feel like it is going to bring something interesting to the music… there has to be a reason for it.

Then, when I started studying at Birmingham University, which specializes in electroacoustic composition and has a very good sound theater for really immersive concerts (BEAST, Birmingham Electroacoustic Sound Theater), I was drawn to a completely different side of music… One were you explore the real limits of sound, outside of harmony and melody. As a composer in my twenties, this creative freedom allowed me to escape the pressure of music history and the legacy of my grandfather.

I use electronic music when I feel like it is going to bring something interesting to the music… there has to be a reason for it.

Do you ever find yourself stuck between tradition and innovation when working on a new score? 

When I am composing I do not want to be self conscious and worry about such issues. You have to forget about any external factor – which in my case is also having a well known grandfather – and be honest with your musical ideas.

I don’t think I really feel stuck, I just follow my instinct.

When I am composing I do not want to be self conscious and worry about such issues. You have to forget about any external factor – which in my case is also having a well known grandfather – and be honest with your musical ideas.

After I have done some sketching I might find that some things are not really working, and that’s when the craftsmanship aspect of composing comes in. It is also important to face risks and do the things that feel a bit dangerous, because they might lead to the best result.

What are the challenges of blending electronics in a more classical setting? What’s fun about it?

The problem with electronic music has to do with performance and its lack of expressivity. A lot of the time it can really just come down to people in front of a mixing desk pressing the play button and moving a few dials.

Usually, blending the different sound worlds and making them sit together harmoniously is the biggest challenge and it took me a while to really dare to combine the two. For a while I was composing electronic and acoustic pieces separately, but about ten years ago I started to really dare amalgamating the two. The key is making sure that each has its own space in the texture.

What are some examples of unusual sounds that you were able to sample and turn into music?

It depends on the project, in some of my most recent ones I sampled sounds from the real world.

Last year, for the Goya exhibition at the Palazzo Reale di Milano, I wrote a piece for string quartet and electronics that also included sampled sounds from elements found in the paintings… leaves shaking in the wind, branches, the sound of stones rubbing against each other.

Interestingly, once these sounds are transformed you cannot really recognize what they are, but they definitely bring extra character.

“Music Ex Machina” is the motto of this year’s Cristofori Festival, what’s your stance on the relationship between music and technology? How do you see these two elements evolving together?

The piano itself is a great example of technological evolution. How changes in the steel frame and the hammer action have created new ways of expression for countless virtuosi overtime is quite astonishing, but as someone interested in electronic music and programming with sequencers I like that the piano allows me to create many textures that may be humanly impossible.

As far as the future is concerned, I do not find the idea of a “machine-only live performance” to be that that interesting… combining electronics with a great live performer and creating something quite unique is much more rewarding.

There are lots of fears about AI, but so far I am trying to just ignore that while recognizing its potential utility as a tool.

On Saturday you will be premiering one of your pieces alongside Lukas Geniušas. What can the audience expect?

Lukas and I are going to have fun with the idea of “human and machine” while exploring three different sides of piano and electronics. I am going to be performing with a laptop and various devices connected to a mechanical piano (sequenced piano), which I will distort and process with the real piano to create contrasting and harmonious moments.

The piece Transhuman Etudes is marginally connected to the Toccata Op. 11 and the Suggestion Diabolique by Sergei Prokofiev, carrying off from that almost mechanical ostinato approach. There is one piece that is a bit more impressionistic, where the electronics are synthesized, almost sounding like a synthetic orchestra. Lastly, a very industrial sound… a stark reflection of electronic communication which takes the piano into a really clicky kind of world.