Please Sign in to see price
Cat-No:DS50/1
Release-Date:12.12.2025
Configuration:LP Excl
Barcode:
pre-sale
Last in:-
+ Show full info- Close
pre-sale
Last in:-
Cat-No:DS50/1
Release-Date:12.12.2025
Configuration:LP Excl
Barcode:
Non Exclsuive Title! Preirder Only. No Returns.

Format: Box-set, includes LP, Book and Poster (200 copies only, limited
stock remaining)

Within the world of theatrical archives, there are the known, the
unknown, the forgotten, and the lost. Demetrio Stratos' stage
compositions for Teatro dell'Elfo's groundbreaking 1979 production
Satyricon - directed by future Oscar winner Gabriele Salvatores -
represents one such lost artifact now wondrously returned to life. This
radical sonic work, integrating extended vocal techniques, Balinese
instruments, and pioneering whale song recordings, stands as the final
masterpiece of Italy's most visionary vocal experimenter, lost for over
four decades until Die Schachtel's extraordinary recovery. As Stratos
himself explained: "The musical operation performed on Satyricon is
particular: the composer-musician here does not compose, but borrows
ready-made music, vivisects it, melts it, intervenes and recomposes it
on magnetic tape. The structure of the signifier, from a morphological
point of view, presents itself as a conceptual collage."

The music is obtained by utilizing compositions and musical elements
from David Behrman, Joan La Barbara, Balinese Ketyak, Turkish Nay flute,
Yugoslavian bagpipe, Pan flute, and whale song, with synthesizer
interventions by Paolo Tofani. It began as part of something known - a
wild, immersive theatrical event that inaugurated Teatro dell'Elfo's
historic venue in 1979, was almost entirely forgotten, becoming lost and
then unknown. The original production marked a radical departure for the
company: no longer popular street theatre, but a dark, immersive,
sophisticated spectacle that transformed their space into a rough wooden
arena with a sand floor. Demetrio Stratos, working with Paolo Tofani
(fellow Area member), created an entire sonic universe that subverted
every conventional function of stage music. Their composition wasn't
accompaniment, but autonomous sonic dramaturgy that integrated extended
vocal techniques, archaic electronic elements, Nay flutes, Balinese
instruments, and pioneering whale song recordings.

The result was a three-dimensional soundscape that enveloped audiences,
creating an otherworldly acoustic dimension. Stratos' score even
intervened in the actors' vocal delivery, with the recordings capturing
both the performance and his coaching sessions with the cast. The
production featured young actors destined for fame - Elio De Capitani,
Ferdinando Bruni, Cristina Crippa, Corinna Agustoni, Ida Marinelli -
guided by Gabriele Salvatores in this adaptation of Petronius' ancient
novel.

Shortly after the Satyricon performances, Stratos was hospitalized for
the condition that would lead to his death at just 33 years old. This
work represents his final composition - a haunting farewell from one of
Italy's most innovative sound artists. Die Schachtel presents this
recovered work in collaboration with Teatro dell'Elfo, pulled from the
original magnetic tape and carefully restored.

Satyricon '79 is one of the great artifacts of 1970s Italian avant-garde
- a wild, grinding sonic expose which sucks the ear into its depths,
made in the spirit of collaboration and creative risk-taking. The
edition includes critical apparatus with essays, testimonies from
protagonists, and period photographic documentation, documenting an
unrepeatable moment where theatre, vocal research and sonic
experimentation converged. This release marks a poignant moment in
experimental music history - Stratos' final work, now rescued from the
archives and restored to its rightful place in the canon of Italian
avant-garde masterpieces. A true wonder of towering historical
importance. As essential as it gets for any fan of experimental music,
or the history of the Italian avant-garde. Fully restored and newly
mastered from the original analog tapes. Absolutely essential.

Track list: https://tinyurl.com/yaae25sp

a1. Filastrocca (Nursery Rhyme) 1:11
a2. Scuola di retorica (School of Rethorics) 2:08
a3. Retarius in lotta (Retarius' Fight) 2:13
a4. Scena, Fiaba, Pantomima (Scene, Tale, Pantomime) 5:24
a5. Quartilla 0:31
a6. Quartiere dei bordelli (Brothels' Quarter) 2:26
a7. Mercato, nebbia (Market, Fog) 1:02
a8. Orgia (Orgy) 2:34

b1. Bali 7:02
b2. Epitaffio (Epitaph) 1:09
b3. La nave (The Ship) 1:34
b4. Inizio tempesta (Storm Begins) 1:04
b5. Tempesta violenta (Violent Storm) 1:30
b6. Succhiata (Sucking) 0:12
b7. Naufragio (Shipwreck) 1:33
b8. Giardino di Circe (Circe's Garden) 0:43
b9. Proseleno 0:51
b10. La Maga (The Witch) 1:19
b11. Mangiando il cadavere + L'uccello (Eating the Corpse + The Bird) 2:27




Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More