I Fiori del Sole

A mystifying set of brief pieces for keyboard from Fedrigotti and Lorenzini, I Fiori Del Sole is another of the great run of albums that Franco Battiato produced and oversaw for the Italian avant-garde record label, Cramps. Both musicians are classical pianists; Fedrigotti graduated from Milan Conservatory, while Lorenzini studied at the Conservatory G. Verdi alongside Antonio Ballista, another significant name in the Italian underground, for his performances on Battiato albums. These are simple works, steeped in the duo’s collective histories with classical music, but granted a distinct otherness when fed through the abstracting lens of Battiato and co.’s prog-adjacent aesthetic. I Fiori Del Sole very much feels as though it’s fallen from somewhere unknown, and hasn’t quite found its place in the history of minimalist composition, though you can certainly read this material as precursory to modern composers such as Sarah Davachi, who bring early music and minimalism together in a similar fashion.