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Minute Quartet - Piero Milesi (2000)
From the sequel to the 1980 Miniatures album compiled by Mott The Hoople keyboard stud Morgan Fisher. We’ve dipped into first volume twice now, but here we have the idea revived in the 21st Century.
Here’s what Fisher’s website has to say of the project:
A full 15 years after the first “Miniatures” album, Morgan decided it was time for a sequel. He thought that with the speed and efficiency of the internet, this new album could be put together in much less time than the first one.
Actually - mainly due to the much more international scope of this sequel - it took six years to complete! But it certainly was worth the effort. This astounding album brings together 60 musicians and creative artists of all genres - contemporary classical, funk-rock, ambient electronic, free jazz, liturgical chant, world techno, etc., etc., - the bizarre, the eccentric, the contemplative, the rebel-rousers, the pioneers, the philosophers (insert a string of “etceteras” here).
Hailing from 18 countries and five continents, each artist expresses their unique message in just one minute (give or take a few bars).
Piero Milesi is an Italian composer who scores films, does arrangements for Italian pop stars. (e.g., Fiorella Mannoia, Luciano Ligabue) He is also a sound artist, generating sound installation pieces.
Here, he seems to attempt to take a long form score for some epic film or dance performance and squeeze all the dramatics into one minute. The rises and falls, the joy and the heartache; it all gets condensed into a wonderful little package.
His work has been called “light, fluent and most attractive” by the London Times. I’d have to be inclined to agree.
