Carlo Domeniconi
Carlo Domeniconi was born in Cesena in 1947 and began guitar studies at the age of 13 with Carmen Lenzi-Mozzani. Around the same time, he also started composing his first pieces. After completing his diploma at the Conservatory of Pesaro at just 17, he moved to Berlin, where he earned a second diploma. He later studied composition and held a teaching position at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin from 1969 to 1992. Between 1977 and 1980, he served as the first guitar teacher at the Istanbul Conservatory.
His familiarity with Indian, Arabian and Turkish musical traditions, including rhythmic and tonal systems, shaped a distinctive musical language and enabled him to develop a personal style.
The Italian composer and guitarist is regarded as one of today’s leading figures in guitar music. His works focus primarily on the guitar, including pieces for solo guitar, duos, trios, quartets, as well as works combining guitar with other instruments or voice. Domeniconi has written more than 20 guitar concertos, with roughly half for solo guitar and the remainder for various instrumental combinations. Frequently performed works include Medium Sweet Guitar Concerto, Concerto Mediterraneo for two guitars, Concerto di Berlinbul for Turkish saz and guitar, and El Trino del Diablo, written for solo violin, speaker, soprano, two guitars, string quartet, accordion, piano, viola da gamba and percussion. This last work was performed in Berlin on the occasion of his 50th birthday.
As a performer, Domeniconi has presented his own compositions in concerts worldwide for more than 30 years. Many renowned musicians, including David Russell, Alvaro Pierri, John Williams, the LAGQ, Dale Kavanagh, Marco Socías, Pavel Steidel and Shin-ichi Fukuda, have incorporated his music into their repertoire. Works such as Koyunbaba, Variations on an Anatolian Folksong, Hommage à Jimi Hendrix, Toccata in Blue and Sindbad are now widely performed, and several recordings of these pieces are available.
Reviews of Domeniconi’s work have appeared in Classical Guitar, Le Cahier de la Guitare, Il Fronimo, Gitarre Aktuell, Gitarre und Laute and guitart. Two examples include:
“Domeniconi’s music seeks repeatedly the synthesis of East and West. He seems able to take the quintessence of different cultures and tell them anew. A hypnotic inevitability goes through his music.” — Michel Lydon, Soundboard, 2001.
“An element of hypnosis is present in much of Carlo Domeniconi’s work. Surrender to it, and the chances are that you will enjoy the music on his own terms; begin to analyse it, and you will find yourself wondering if it has quite enough to satisfy your western ears.” — Colin Cooper, Classical Guitar, 2008.
