The Exhibition Playlist

DE CHIRICO. MAGIcal reality

Depth, enigma, dream, and revelation are key terms for both Giorgio de Chirico and his brother Alberto Andrea de Chirico (1891–1952).  Beginning in 1909, the two brothers jointly develop the idea of a metaphysical art (arte metafisica), a term designed to identify a mode of thought and experience that transcends the boundaries separating painting, literature and music.

Alberto de Chirico’s musical gifts reveal themselves early. In 1906, he studies composition in Munich with Max Reger (1873–1916). Giorgio de Chirico attends these lessons as a translator, and views reproductions of works by Böcklin found in Reger’s collection .

Alberto de Chirico’s compositions are characterized by apparently disjointed, disharmonious tones and sounds. In 1914, under the stage name Savinio, he gives a performance in Paris of the work Les chants de la mi-mort (The Songs of Half-Death), which combines music, literature, theatre and stage design. His title alludes to the ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) concerning perceptual experience that occurs between waking and dreaming. It is a condition of wake dreams which is also central for Giorgio de Chirico‘s concept of the revelation.

With the playlist of Alberto Savinio's Chants de la mi-mort you can immerse yourselves in the mood of metaphysical art.