Exordium - Oscar Bianchi

Following his successful collaborations with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (2010), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (2011), and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (2013), Oscar Bianchi has written another piece for symphony orchestra, conceived this time as a space filled with meanings, as expression developing through nodes and breakthrough points. is vast subject will be represented in a large-scale orchestral cycle based on the art of rhetoric, for which Exordium, composed for the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, is just the overture. Here is what the composer says about his work: 

Why the art of rhetoric? 

In the age of Trump and Brexit, when media manipulation and primitive populism pose no smaller threat to our sensitivity than social and economic progress—a return to factual discourse based on common sense seems more necessary than ever. It is the moral imperative that guides me both as an artist and as a citizen. 

Is the art of rhetoric, however, not merely a way of persuading people to believe in some specific thesis, as opposed to all other theses? 

Admittedly this is true. But the essence of art also lies in what it inspires in us, and what calls for a developed critical sense—necessary both to construct and to understand all the messages. Out of the media and macroeconomic conflict, a new age is emerging in front of our eyes, and a new system of government. Today’s reality is becoming more and more complex. It is only through introspection and a critical sense that we can avoid blindness and irreparable mistakes in our appreciation of reality. Music as an existential message has both a social and an intellectual aspect. It can therefore contribute to the process of building awareness, by disseminating not only new forms of language, but also—a new approach to listening.