lettura del labirinto
per cembalo solo (2024)
with or without video
76 minutes | no.36
Italo Calvino’s fantastical novel Invisible Cities (1972) is a frame story in which the common thread is a tireless conversation between Kublai Khan and Marco Polo.
The second, more emphasized narrative is a set of prose poems, in which the young merchant describes his travels, regaling the Tartar emperor with an ornate series of bite-sized fables.
Many evenings have passed when eventually the Khan confronts the Venetian with the question why he does not include his home city.
Marco Polo responds by saying: ‘every time I describe a city I am saying something about Venice.’
By dividing the chapters into eleven thematic groups of five each, the book portrays a total of fifty-five fictitious cities, ingeniously fabricating a vast labyrinth for the mind.
By way of homage to Calvino, lettura del labirinto aspires to create a parallel universe by fathoming the map of Venice, itself a staggering warren of alleys, bridges and little squares.
The work depicts a walk through all six neighbourhoods (‘sestieri’), starting at the eastern corner of Castello and ending near the western edge of Dorsoduro.
During this so-called Eulerian trail any feature on the map is visited only once, while crossing the same path twice is avoided.
Along the way we pause at fifty-five locations: 39 ‘campi’, Piazza San Marco, another 14 ‘campi’ and 1 ‘ultima fermata’.
Whereas some squares look deceivingly similar, as if triggering a game of spot the differences, others have distinct, sometimes even unique characteristics:
the leaning bell tower of San Pietro, the spiral staircase of the Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo, the striking symmetry of the Procuratie Vecchie and the Procuratie Nuove, the Ponte dei Pugni just off Campo San Barnaba, to name just a few.
And although these features are not fictional, their musical interpretation is imaginary:
a collection of miniatures, evoking a feeling of getting lost and forever being incarcerated in an urban maze.
[2] Cannaregio [15’00”]
[3] Santa Croce [07’49”]
[4] San Polo [08’41”]
[5] San Marco [13’44”]
[6] Dorsoduro [17’13”]
When performed in its entirety, lettura del labirinto lasts approx. 76 minutes.
It consists of six consecutive movements, each dedicated to a ‘sestiere’ (district or neighbourhood) in the city of Venice.
As an alternative of performing the entire work, one is permitted to play the following movements on their own:
Castello, Cannaregio, San Marco, and Dorsoduro.
Santa Croce & San Polo always have to be performed together as a diptych.
photo: Venezia fuori dalla pandemia (2021) by Gianfranco Missiaja (reproduced with permission)
Scoring
harpsichord solo (2 manuals + 4' + lute)
composed with financial support from
Performing Arts Fund NL
Dedicated to the memory of
Louis Andriessen
Première
20 November 2025
Prix Annelie de Man 2025
Orgelpark, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Jane Chapman (harpsichord)
videos
complete collection
[1] Castello[2] Cannareggio
[3] Santa Croce & San Polo
[4] San Marco
[5] Dorsoduro
copyright disclaimer
Wherever possible, reasonable efforts have been made to contact individuals appearing in content, asking for consent to appear.Those who have objections are urged to contact the publishing house Éditions R2.
photo on the far right: Jane Chapman at Prix Annelie de Man, 20 November 2025 by Claudia Hansen (reproduced with permission)
Press
[...] lettura del labirinto (2024) for harpsichord explores the six neighbourhoods if Venice, starting with Castello and heading over to Dorsoduro. Rijnvos’s departure point is Italo Calvino’s 1972 novel Invisible Cities but the outcome is different: each set comprises a series of short pieces named after each of a district’s many campi (squares), and most last little longer than a minute. Jane Chapman plays these absorbing miniatures with imaginative virtuosity.
John Allison, BBC Music Magazine, January 2026
Richard Rijnvos is a composer who sticks to his metier. No climate despair, no street noise, just intelligent note arrangement. He often does this with one city in mind: Venice, or "La Serenissima". Take lettura del labirinto, a harpsichord piece that premieres on November 20th at Orgelpark in Amsterdam, but which is already available for streaming. Though, street noise after all: in 55 pieces, Rijnvos captures a walk through Venice. They form miniatures of one to two minutes each, with subtle shifts in melody, rhythm, and harmony. The music sounds both familiar and unpredictable. [...]
Guido van Oorschot, Volkskrant, 13 November 2025
Hearing Jane Chapman perform lettura del labirinto was an unforgettable experience. This monumental harpsichord solo was paired with video scenes of Venice - sometimes holding a single still moment, other times drifting forward by boat - and what emerged was not music for film, but a genuine dialogue between the two. The music illuminated the images, and the images echoed the musical gestures: the movement of a crowd mirroring rhythmic energy, or swirling motifs aligning with the boat’s turning through the canals. This artistic composition reminded me of Koyaanisqatsi, with a similar intertwining of sound and picture that invites reflection. Watching Venice from Amsterdam felt poignantly relevant, with both cities facing the realities of rising sea levels. The impact of this audiovisual journey stayed with me long after the final note. Jane’s performance carried both clarity and imagination, guiding us through this labyrinth with deep sensitivity.
Katarzyna Kowalik, 24 November 2025
