Three Pieces for Orchestra
Instrumentation: 2(2nd dbl. Picc).2(2nd dbl. E.H.).2(2nd dbl. B.Cl.).2/4.2.0.0/Timp./1 Perc./Strings/
Duration: circa 15 minutes
Copyrights: work registered with BMI
Mov I, The Headless Horsemen’s Dream
premiered by Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paul Haas; live recording.
Mov II, How To Make a Coup D´État in Three Easy Steps
premiered by Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Joana Carneiro; live recording
Mov. III, Iberian Crossfade
premiered by Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, conducted William Eddins;
live recording by Memphis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by David Loebel
Program Notes:
The Headless Horsemen's Dream - A movement composed as if a short theater-play. After an introduction (the opening of the curtains), the musical character shifts from wild and exuberant to introspective and idyllic states, followed then, by the final drop of the curtain.
The middle section, the actual play itself, has a dream-like character, a sound metaphor for making the impossible possible.
How to Make a Coup D'Etat in Three Easy Steps - A piece where the fast succession of sections is accompanied by the mutation of stylistic traits: the ruling principles of a given section are deposed upon the arrival of a new set of materials. Within the trajectory of each section, the listener can perceive a curve of stylistic change. Furthermore, the overall trajectory of the movement is in itself a larger example of the same idea, driving the concept of style mutation from the beginning (figurative) to the end (geometric/abstract gestures). Transition between musical scenes represent “transfer of powers” between the ruling procedures in use and by the actual orchestration. These transitions of power range from rather smooth to rather abrupt - the coup d´état.
Iberian Crossfade - Iberian Crossfade assumes story-telling as a polyphony of narratives, i.e., not just one story line, but several. The perception of these narratives changes according to their function and surroundings. Similar class-objects are to be heard thorughout the movement shifting in function as they evolve from foreground to background elements, or vice-versa.
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The Fact of the Matter as a Matter of Fact
Instrumentation: 2(2nd dbl. Picc).2(2nd dbl. E.H.).2(2nd dbl. B.Cl.).2/4.2.0.0/Timp./1 Perc./Strings
Duration: circa 12 minutes
Copyrights: work registered with BMI
Premiered by Orquestra do Algarve, conducted by José Rodilla, Feb. 1, 2008 (Sagres, Portugal)
Excerpts:
Recorded live at Culturgest, Lisbon (Portugal), June 7th, 2009.
Performance by Orquestra do Algarve, conducted by Cesário Costa.
Movement I, Movement II, Movement III
Program Notes:
The Fact of the Matter as a Matter of Fact, a work written between July and December of 2007, has as point of departure the use of the harmonic series - properties common to physical and biological systems (ex., the human voice, strings of a violin, etc) - as source for both melodic and harmonic materials.
In the first movement, the woodwinds have a predominant role imposing their waving melodic gestures over the pizzicatos of the lower strings. The flow of events as presented since the beginning is, at a given moment, gradually replaced by a texture of high polyphonic density, as a sound metaphor to a temporary opening of a window with view to a very contrasting musical reality. Just as this other sound reality emerged from the original waving gestures, so it will disappear, closing that imaginary window, and so returning the listener to materials presented earlier in the movement.
The second movement begins under a calm but tense mood, a little like the calm felt before a storm. The flute and viola share the idea of a melodic line (a simple gesture downward, interweaved between the two instruments). The background texture that supports the lines of the flute and viola is initially stable until a tense cello line pulls the entire orchestra into several explosions of colorful sounds. The next section is a calm, warm chorale, returning the melodic material to the woodwinds, supported by long notes in the strings. The chorale is then followed by a new orchestral explosion, this time, dropping the listener into the opening material of the movement.
To conclude, the third movement is a dance for the whole orchestra of great rhythmic vitality, and playful character.
This piece is dedicated to Maestro Cesário Costa.
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