Program notes / Notas de programa
4 flutes quartetAbyssalCapricho for Clarinet in Bb and Youths OrchestraClarinet Quartet N#1Danzas circularesMimicNesticoSkizoSonic tunnelTele- Walls
4 flutes quartet
The piece is constructed over a simple "funk groove" pattern that is combined with
a chromatic descending line that appears in the piccolo. The register of the ensemble is totally developed, ascending gradually
to get its climax point towards the end of the piece when the three flutes become piccolos to play clusters in the high register.
Skizo
Something wakens, rises, lifts itself (like a mast,
an arm a head), something provokes, irritates.Something begins
moving (not too fast), something stirs without direction, like shifting branches, like a rustling agitation of the body.Directed speed, exactitude, precise rhythm (contrary to haste), rapid strides, surprise, the
movement of a serpent through leaves.You conceive yourself
in a limit state, by dint of inwardness, inside turns around, as if there were an outside of the inside, though this were
not, still, the exterior.It stirs, it throbs so powerfully
that it might even crack - but doesn´t crack.You take
yourself deep inside, you collect yourself at the limit of this depth, your body is internalized, loses itself inside, toward
its own land. (from
"The Responsibility of forms" by Roland Barthes)
Clarinet Quartet N#1
A palindrome is a sequence of units that has the property of reading the same in either direction.
The piece is based on the idea of a palindrome as
a cadence. A palindromecertainly creates the expectation
of a return to a place that is familiar, through an already transited path.A deceptive palindrome is a form of cadence too, but, through the samepath, it takes you somewhere else.
Walls
The piece is based on a nine-note block that is always observed from a different perspective. At the beginning it is seen
as a perfect vertical simultaneity, then turning ninety degrees to become a horizontal succession of pitches that appears
on the bass flute. The unison represents the moment
in a three dimensions rotation of the block in which all its components remain behind the only visible one, represented by
a single note. These procedures continue all through the piece
until the climax point where seven piccolos gradually appear to overlap the horizontal line by the two lower flutes.Towards the end the textures become more irrupting to conclude with achoral texture that emerges from the unison.
Sonic tunnel
The piece is based on the idea of constantly mutating elements.
Mimic
The piece is the
first of a series of compositions for solo acoustic instruments with an alternative controller. Conceived as a chamber music composition, the music is mainly governed by improvisation over
general guidelines given to the performers.The structure
of "mimic" is based on the idea of an illusory transformation in which - throughout the piece - one instrument becomes
the other one and vice versa.
Abyssal
The abyssal realm is very calm, being far removed from storms that agitate the ocean at the air-sea
interface. These low energies are reflected in the general character of the piece.
Nestico
The
piece evokes in its very beginning the rhythmic drive of the compositions by the renowned jazz artist Sammy Nestico. This
texture suggests a big band "soli" section that gradually mutates into a more polyrhythmic material. The overall structure of the composition constantly expands and contracts to get the most intense
moment towards the end when the piccolo and the piano play in the extreme register with the always flowing rhythmical foundation.
At the end, the solo piccolo makes the last introspection.
Tele-
The piece brings back the origins of telecommunication. This idea severely limits the
sonic environment: the rhythm is reduced to the basic idea of "short" and "long" values, and only a few
pitches are utilized throughout the piece.
Capricho for Clarinet in Bb and Youths Orchestra
The piece brings back one of the genres of Argentine folk music, the "carnavalito".
The rhythm of this genre is evoked all along the piece and its typical harmonic progression emerges towards the end in its
pure form. The solo clarinet develops an improvised-like line always counter positioned with the orchestra keeping a musical
dialogue until the ending.
Danzas circulares
The piece brings back in an avant-garde compositional language two expressions of argentine
folk music: the "gato" and the "baguala". The "gato" is a dance rhythmically vivid and picaresque,
which gives drive and direction to the overall structure of the piece.The "baguala" - with indian origins -is a melancholic chant with a simple melody built on three notes which
opens an endless space for development and experimentation. This fusion with argentine tradition and modernity reflects the
necessity to continue and develop the Latin American legacy.
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