Luca Patrone – “Cardano” is one of his most profound musical pieces

The self-taught Italian composer and musician, Luca Patrone is able to crossover between solo piano compositions, and fully fleshed out ambient, new-age and downtempo styled electronic music with effortless ease. One of Patrone’s latest single releases, “Cardano” is to be considered, thematically, one of his most profound musical pieces. The track title metaphorically refers to the Cardin shaft (Cardano), invented by Gerolamo Cardano, one of the most influential mathematicians of the Renaissance. The Cardin shaft is a component with universal joints for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, and is used to connect other components of a drivetrain that cannot be connected directly because of distance or the need to allow for relative movement between them. This transmission of rotary motion at various angles allows different mechanical parts to all run smoothly without collision or friction.

Luca Patrone relates the importance of the Cardin shaft principle, which allows and propels fluid movement in mechanical parts, to human relations. If used in our everyday experiences, people of different colors, cultures, beliefs, creeds, nations and religions, who lock into the principal of the Cardin shaft, would be able to interact, connect and progress together, yet with each proudly maintaining their diverse and independent identities.

“Using the cardano approach in our life will make a great difference,” explains Luca Patrone. “It means attending to other people’s needs and lives, and helping them so we can start the cardano rotation. As the cardano starts rotating, we will improve someone else’s life, and as they understand and use the same approach, it will begin to improve other people lives. This will eventually have a viral effect, and once many people use this approach, we would all live better, and in a smarter way,” he concludes.

Luca Patrone is no stranger to piano minimalism, and on “Cardano”, the Italian composer homes in on every tiny detail, as he steadily builds the harmonic relations of the arrangement. Over the course of the 5-minute record, he gives each note ample space to ring, relishing the pauses as much as the eloquent melodic motifs.

Patrone explores a range of shades of post-classical and ambient minimalism. While the music stays steady in its wistful atmosphere, centered on just the player, his piano, and the unspoken narrative of the recording.

On “Cardano”, nostalgia and intimacy suit Luca Patrone compositional style, which relies on both tugging at the heartstrings, and cerebral impulses. Then song moves subtly but briskly, flaunting a bright shimmering melody as Patrone weaves the notes, chords and tones into one moving whole.

It’s in tracks like this that the music feels most three-dimensional, a reminder that simplicity doesn’t always need to forgo depth. Here, the piano grows from a gentle whisper into a warm murmur. It’s in these shifting moments of moving sound that the music becomes radiant.

Luca Patrone music favors fluid lines and wistful melodies. Even when it pulsates with energy, it prizes beauty, lyricism, and elegance. His playing is spare and patient as he builds the consistence of his melodic phrasing.

The notes come together insistently until they intertwine and wash over each other in shimmering sweeps of sonic bliss. A sense of fluidity gives the record its shape-shifting identity. All of which shows that Luca Patrone’s strength as a musician isn’t in the complexity of his playing, but in the storytelling and emotional nuances he gets out of his instrument.

Any new release from Luca Patrone is cause for celebration, but his latest “Cardano”, promises a uniquely articulate thematic approach, even for the gifted and thoughtful Italian composer and producer.