anti-paysage by Thomas DeLio

anti-paysage, a double album of works by composer and theorist Thomas DeLio, offers a musical experience like no other: Precise sound structures that remain open to multiple avenues of interpretation. Taking cues from the beyond-sparse, sometimes silent textures of Morton Feldman and John Cage, DeLio investigates the totality of auditory experience, whether through instrumental or electroacoustic techniques.

DeLio’s work consistently centers on sound as a whole—beyond pitch, rhythm, or isolated elements—to evoke complex sonic landscapes. His electroacoustic compositions, particularly the series anti-paysage, offer a striking example of his unique artistic vision. Drawing inspiration from the literary theory of Arthur Rimbaud, as explored by critic Marjorie Perloff, the term “anti-paysage” (roughly translated as “anti-landscape” or “negative-landscape”) serves as a conceptual framework for these pieces. The works feature a fascinating interplay of sound as an entity in itself, co-existing with surrounding sonorities rather than emerging from traditional performance gestures.

As DeLio describes it, “Through these works, I have tried to create a world where the sounds refuse to create a context for themselves.” This ethos shapes a sonic world where clusters of moments and surfaces take precedence, free from the confines of traditional narrative or structure. The compositions allow the listener to experience a world of sound that is unbound by expectation, immersing the audience in a vivid reimagining of the auditory world.

The album includes three pieces from the anti-paysage series, which exemplify DeLio’s signature approach to sound as a collection of disparate yet interconnected moments. The instrumental works on the album—such as …sound / shivering / silence I & III, …klingend I & II, and Transparent Wave IX—similarly challenge conventional expectations of musical form, inviting the listener to engage with sound from multiple perspectives. These pieces explore the malleability of material, emphasizing that no single vantage point is definitive in the experience of music.

In addition to these electroacoustic and instrumental works, anti-paysage features several vocal settings of poetry by esteemed writers such as Paul Celan, P. Inman, Lorine Niedecker, and Cid Corman. DeLio notes that, for him, “Music always creates a parallel dimension to text,” and one’s understanding of these settings lies in exploring how those dimensions can diverge and interact while maintaining an essential connection to the original text.

Thomas DeLio (b. 1951) is an internationally recognized composer, theorist, and author. His recently published book, The Marvelous Illusion: Morton Feldman’s The Viola in My Life, was released by Oxford University Press, and his collected essays can be found in Essays on the Music and Theoretical Writings of Thomas DeLio and two volumes of his writings published by The Edwin Mellen Press. In 2011, the University of Maryland Library’s Special Collections Division established The Thomas DeLio Papers, and his work is also archived in The Contemporary Composers Web Archive of the Ivy Plus Libraries program, preserving the legacy of his contributions to contemporary music and theory.

Thomas DeLio is a composer and theorist, internationally renowned in both fields. He has composed music for soloists, chamber ensembles and orchestra, and is especially noted for his work in computer music.