(b. 1957, Palermo, Sicily).
Italian composer of mostly orchestral, chamber and vocal works that have been performed in the Americas, Asia and Europe.
Mr. La Licata studied composition with Eliodoro Sollima, as well as harpsichord and piano, at the Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini in Palermo, where he received a diploma in piano in 1978. A meeting with Aldo Clementi in Venice in 1981 was of critical importance to him. He later studied conducting in Geneva and London in 1982–83 and received a diploma in composition from the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome in 1983.
His music has been performed in Argentina, Austria, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia, and Switzerland.
He is also active in other positions. As a conductor, he founded the Zephir Ensemble for contemporary music in Palermo in 1988, with which he has organised the multimedia workshops Musica su più dimensioni. As a scholar, he participated in the preparation of a critical edition of the works of Bruno Maderna.
He has taught score reading at the Conservatorio Bruno Maderna in Cesena.
COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
STAGE:
Nel Paese d'altomare (opera for children in 1 act, libretto by Cesare Orselli, after Jules Supervielle), 3 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, young female voice/soprano leggero, young female voice, tenore leggero, tenor, comic bass, 30 children's voices, 8 recorders, flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, 8 violins, 3 violas, 3 cellos, piano, celesta, Orff percussion, 1988
L'Angelo e il Golem (variazioni scenico musicali, texts by Marguerite Yourcenar, the Talmud, E. T. A. Hoffmann, Fabrizio Lupo, Gershom Scholem, Wallace Stevens), soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, speaker, actors, contrabass recorder, distant ensemble (saxophone, trumpet, violin, accordion), ensemble (clarinet [+ A-clarinet], bass clarinet [+ clarinet], alto saxophone [+ soprano saxophone], bassoon, French horn [+ harmonica], trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, 2 cellos, 5-string double bass, piano [+ electronic keyboard], accordion, percussion), slide projections, 1997–2000
ORCHESTRAL:
Poema della notte, piano, orchestra, 1981
The Island of the Fay, 1985
Le Diable amoureux, clavichord, orchestra, 1989
Dans un bois, 1989
Studi su fondo blu, small orchestra (13 players), 1992
Les Ombres errantes, small orchestra (22 players), 1992
Chant pour un équinoxe, viola, small orchestra (2 oboes, 2 French horns, 20 strings), 1999 (version of work for viola)
CHAMBER MUSIC:
Improvviso, double bass, 1977
Come...preludi, flute, harp, viola, piano, celesta, 1977
Composizione seconda, flute, clarinet, French horn, violin, viola, cello, piano, 1979
Sonatina liquida, flute, piano, 1981
Les Tentations...ou Eros, Plutus et la Gloire, 2 flutes, alto flute, viola, vibraphone, 1982
Sonata...a tre, flute, violin, cello, piano, 1985
Peter Pan nei giardini di Kensington, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, 2 French horns, trombone, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano, 1985
Le Città invisibili, percussion ensemble, 1986 (also version for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, 1989)
Nella Stanza di Van Gogh, violin, 1987
Variazioni arabesque, flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, bassoon, piano, 1988
Tres Estampas del cielo, harp, 1990
Chant pour un équinoxe, viola, 1991 (also versions for viola, ensemble [alto flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, double bass, percussion], 1991; A-clarinet, viola, 1993; viola, small orchestra [2 oboes, 2 French horns, 20 strings])
Les Nuances du prisme, clarinet, harp, cello, piano, percussion, 1991
Ce pur fragment d'espace, oboe, English horn, A-clarinet (+ clarinet), bass clarinet (+ clarinet), bassoon, 2 French horns, viola, cello, double bass, piano (+ cowbells), 1992
Coincidenze, secondo studio sul blu, violin, piano, 1994
La Laguna, una luce (omaggio a Giuseppe Zigaina), string quartet, 1995
Sei Frammenti per Dino Campana, speaker ad libitum, clarinet (+ bass clarinet), violin, viola, cello, double bass, accordion, 1996
L'Essenza e il Soffio, amplified ensemble (bass recorder, contrabass recorder, violin, viola, cello), 1997 (also version for bass flute, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, vibraphone, 1999)
Flatus Vocis, contrabass recorder, fixed media, live electronics, 1999
Paysage avec F. P., flute, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, violin, viola, cello, piano, 2001
Due Studi nella geometria della differenza (da Chopin), clarinet, cello, piano, 2001
Purcell per Shakespeare, bass flute, clarinet, electric guitar, violin, viola, cello, vibraphone, 2001
CHORAL:
Scena ultima (text by Federico García Lorca), dramatic soprano, 3 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, bass, children's chorus, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1983
Noël sous les palmiers, children's chorus, piano 4 hands, 1983
VOCAL:
Pan d'Arcadie (text by Leconte de Lisle), mezzo-soprano, alto flute, English horn, bassoon, French horn, harp, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, piano, celesta, 1980
Nocturnos de la ventana, voice, 2 recorders, harp, lute, tenor viol, viola da gamba, cymbals, 1982
Le Réveil d'Hélios (text by Leconte de Lisle), mezzo-soprano, orchestra, 1983
Due Melodie (text by Susanne Kittel-Haböck), soprano, piano, 1984
Già vidi uscir di l'onde una matina (text by Matteo Maria Boiardo), soprano, piano, 1987
Andrem pel lito silenti (text by Gabriele D'Annunzio), baritone, clarinet, piano, 1988
Gli Occhi del silenzio, 3 sopranos, 2 altos, flute (+ piccolo), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), bassoon (+ contrabassoon), 2 French horns, harp, viola, percussion, 1987–89
Due Poemetti arabi, voice, flute, clarinet, harp, viola, cello, percussion, 1989
Tre Lettere di Nicolas de Staël (text by Nicolas de Staël), speaker, alto flute, bass clarinet, trombone, 1994
Episodi lirici da Erasmo, soprano, orchestra, 1994
A Poem of John Keats (text by John Keats), voice, clarinet, piano, 1995
Necessary Angel of Earth (text by Wallace Stevens), voice, alto flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, 5-string double bass, 2001
PIANO:
Due Preludi, 1981–82
24 Bagatelle, 1986
Da un sonetto di John Keats, 1994
ORGAN:
Un'Eco dal Ballo della battaglia, organ (+ handbells), 1996
L'Orologio nero di Cézanne, 1999
ELECTROACOUSTIC:
Phantasie über Erlkönig, fixed media, 1998
FILM SCORES (DIRECTOR):
Coincidence, violin, 1994 (Guglielmo Melloni)
Intorno ai cortili di Palermo, violin, viola, cello (Salvo Cuccia)
Story Board, fixed media (Jonathan Degani)
ARRANGEMENTS:
Polka from Zolotoy vek – The Golden Age, Op. 22 (Dmitri Shostakovich), violin, ensemble (flute, clarinet, French horn, violin, viola, cello, piano), 1989
Detskaya – The Nursery (Modest Mussorgsky), voice, flute, clarinet, harp, string quartet, 1990 (also version for voice, orchestra, 1992–94)
Per una riscrittura da Maderna (Bruno Maderna), flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn, harp, violin, vibraphone, 1993
Zwei Gesänge, Op. 91 (Johannes Brahms), voice, viola, small orchestra, 1997
Four Easy Pieces (Igor Stravinsky), flute (+ piccolo), clarinet (+ bass clarinet), violin, viola, cello, piano, 2000
DISCOGRAPHY
Due Poemetti arabi. Marie Luce Erard, voice; Francesco La Licata/Zephir Ensemble (BMG/Ariola: CCD 3002)
Le Città invisibili (original version). Gianni Cannioto/I Percussionisti del Conservatorio Vincenzo Bellini di Palermo (BMG/Ariola: CCD 3006)
Un'Eco dal Ballo della battaglia. Diego Cannizzaro, organ, handbells (CIMS Archivio: 005)
A Poem of John Keats. Marie Luce Erard, voice; Gino Sgroi, clarinet; Francesco La Licata, piano (CIMS Archivio)
Chant pour un équinoxe (version for viola, small orchestra). Placido Carini, viola; Julian Jacobson/European Union Chamber Orchestra (Città di Palermo: REGCD 135)
Les Nuances du prisme; Detskaya (Modest Mussorgsky) (original version). Marie Luce Erard, voice; Francesco La Licata/Zephir Ensemble (Zephir Ensemble: ZEPH 002)