Creation : 18.09.1984 – Festival Musica in Strasbourg.
Music and conception : Franco Donatoni
Number of musicians : 6 percussionists
Duration : 10 mn
Publisher : Ricordi/Salabert
Darkness was written in 1984 and is dedicated to the Percussions de Strasbourg.
« The number of instruments used is relatively limited; frequently used, they are the ones which offer the greatest interest from the point of view of the rhythmic articulation. Each of the five sections is marked by the use of instruments with a homogeneous timbre which gradually give way to the new instruments: they creep in progressively, and their timbre will dominate in the next section. To the homogenous timbre of each section corresponds the monoform structure of the articulation: the continuum, phonically sparkling, exposes gesturally static passages, even if the overall pattern is none other than a crescendo. »
Franco Donatoni