Palladio

When we decided to record Stravaganza, a discussion ensued as to what other work of mine
would sit as a companion piece on the album. Although it might not appear to be the case, both
Stravaganza and Palladio are, in terms of musical form, concertos. Palladio is in the form of a
concerto grosso, dating from the Baroque period where a group of soloists perform with an
orchestra as opposed to the norm of one soloist, as in Stravaganza. When appraising the
situation, Palladio seemed an ideal candidate to balance Stravaganza but with changes. I
decided to add some wind instruments that came into baroque music: flute, oboe, bassoon,
trumpet, horn, trombone to add a new timbre to the original instrumentation which originally
was just a string orchestra.

In addition, the music was extended with many of the motifs within the piece repeated
somewhat towards minimalism - Palladio Reimagined was created. It is bigger, more dramatic
and exciting and with a lot more colour than before with different instruments exchanging
phraseslike a musical ‘Q & A’.

There is another connection here between the architect Palladio, who inspired my work of the
same name, and the cover artwork, Interno teoretico (theoretical interior) by the artist Andrea
Vizzini. I am drawn to Vizzini’s series of Interno teoretico by the mix of the old and the new,
which always seem eccentric to me and this work, with regard to the painting within a painting
(on the left) by Francesco Guardi (1712-1793) of The Rialto Bridge in Venice, according to
Palladio’s design (which was never constructed). Andrea Vizzini was born in Sicily and now
lives and works near Venice. In his works on canvas, such as this, he “reconfigures the sense
of myth, art history, and literature with a visionary gaze”. The Punta della Dogana by
Canaletto created in 1730 and the sculpture of Angel Gabriel outside the Castel Sant Angelo
Rome also appear, as a homage, in the overall work.

Karl Jenkins - 2024