The composition " ... sofferte onde serene ..." (" ... serene waves endured ... " ) was written on the occasion of deaths both in Nono's family and that of his friend the pianist Maurizio Pollini for whom this piece and others were originally composed. The taped piano sounds, played with sustaining pedal always down, resonate like the sounds of bells reverberating over the lagoon and the sea near Nono's house. The interior of the piano is played with hand-muted strings and the striking of the other pedals to (re-)create natural environment-like timbres. The overall impression of the piece is that life goes on, and one necessarily endures at the "equilibrium of the profound interior" (Kafka).

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