STEFANO MOCCETTI
guitarist
FANTASY OF STRINGS
New music for violin-guitar duo
My collaboration with violinist Anton Jablokov began during the pandemic and gradually developed into an ongoing musical partnership. Motivated by the lack of balanced repertoire for violin and guitar, we started arranging and composing pieces together, aiming for a more equal dialogue between the instruments. Our process is grounded in improvisation and hands-on experimentation, with musical ideas taking shape directly on the instruments.
Fantasy of Strings (2024) originates from this creative process. From the beginning, we sought to create music that highlights the unique qualities of each instrument while encouraging dynamic musical exchange. This approach led to our first original composition, La Follia (2022), and paved the way for a series of new works for violin and guitar.
The original pieces on this album emerged from a deeply collaborative, instrument-in-hand process, where musical ideas evolve through improvisation and dialogue. The result is a collection of compositions that range from variation form (La Follia) to the more symphonic textures of Suite Ticinese, unified by a shared musical language yet rich in stylistic variety.
🎧 Listen on Spotify
💿 If you’re interested in purchasing a physical copy of the CD, feel free to get in touch via the contact section.
Collaboration with non-guitarist composers
Another strand of my collaborative work involves proactive projects with composers who are not guitarists. These collaborations are shaped through close dialogue, where ideas are actively tested and developed directly on the instrument. Rather than simply “translating” existing concepts to the guitar, the process often leads to discovering new sounds and solutions that emerge through experimentation and shared exploration. It’s a way of composing that values openness, curiosity, and mutual learning.
Instrument-in-hand composition
This approach is the common thread across all my collaborative projects. Composing with the instrument in hand is a key aspect of my artistic research. I explore the strengths, limitations, and implications of this way of composing, where the instrument becomes almost a true interlocutor and the relationship evolves into a dynamic composer-performer-instrument dialogue. This method allows musical ideas to grow naturally through physical gesture and sound, emphasizing intuition, immediacy, and responsiveness. The guitar becomes a creative partner, inspiring new, idiomatic expressions and encouraging experimentation that leads to original music deeply connected to the instrument’s character.