»Eine Art ›Möglichkeitsfeld‹ von Scelsis Musik« Michel Roths MOI für Ensemble

The project "Scelsi Revisited", which has been promoted since 2013 by the Klangforum Wien and the Isabella Scelsi Foundation, invited several composers to produce original works from recordings created with the ondiola by Giacinto Scelsi as preliminary studies (later unused) for their own compositions. On his composition "Moi", Michel Roth employs a dualistic approach to the material created with the ondiola by Scelsi. On the one hand, he engages with the intricate history of Scelsi's compositional practice, opting for a meticulous transcription of an original tape assigned to him – hence one of the meanings of the title, which alludes to Vieri Tosatti's well-known article "Scelsi, c'est moi" from 1989. Conversely, Roth utilises alternative original Scelsi material as a point of departure for formulating the harmonic and rhythmic design of a new original compositional layer, which runs parallel to the transcribed texture. Through analytical observations, based on an examination of the sketches, the aim of this essay is to underscore the most salient characteristics of these two layers, and their interconnections.