Anthony Fiumara

The skin of the sound, that’s what it’s all about, the unapproachable beauty of the sound itself. Anthony Fiumara is just as fascinated by sounds produced in pop and electronic music as those produced by a symphony orchestra. As a composer he’s always a producer, too, creating circumstances that allow time to flow fully with sound, and with beauty.

WEBSITE: anthonyfiumara.com

LISTEN: As I Opened Fire for orchestra
Noord Nederlands Orkest and Antony Hermus, conductor

The title As I Opened Fire refers to the eponymous painting by the American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein based his triptych on images from a comic strip, which he presented in a more or less narrative sequence: a brief moment in an air battle.

Lichtenstein emphasized the primary colors, black outlines and enlarged Benday dots that you often find in mechanical reproductions. He cared more about the image than the theme of war. “Highly emotional content, yet detached impersonal handling”, as he once described his aim as an artist. The music of As I Opened Fire is also one of the primary colors, black contours and enlarged Benday dots.