Organization/Event 25th Gulbenkian Encounters of Contemporary Music
Venue Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation - Great Hall
Town Lisbon
Country Portugal
Program Notes
This work is based on a poem by the portuguese poet Mário de Sá Carneiro. Its poetic synthesis tries to condensate in a few phrases the complexity of many uncertain personnal inner flows that originate the work of art.
Like in a labyrinth, the music itself tries to remind us frequently of places and musical moments heard earlier in the piece, but the uncertainty of the labyrintic space leaves us with the doubt if those places were really visited, or if it is just an illusion.
This piece won the 1st Prize in the Bourges Competition 2002.
Poem.
Perdi-me dentro de mim
porque eu era labirinto,
E hoje, quando me sinto,
É com saudades de mim.
Passei pela minha vida
Um astro doido a sonhar.
Na ânsia de ultrapassar,
Nem dei pela minha vida...
Translation.
I was lost inside of myself
Because I was a labyrinth
Today, when I remember myself
I miss the time passed by.
I went though my life
Like a crazy comet, in a dream
With the wish of going further
I forgot my own life.
This is one of the works where I have tried to fully interact the tape part with the acoustic instruments. This is done I several ways, using processes such as transformation of acoustic models, reaction of pitch and timbre gestures from tape to instruments and vice-versa, and phrase structure where the elctronic sounds are integrated, as if they were another instrument, not a simple addition to the instrumental gestures. Therefore, the instrumental sounds (timbrical, gestural, etc.) are in some way expanded beyond their natural limits. And the tape part adquire an “instrumental” flavour that allows them to react as if they were a live instrument.
Commission
Date 2001
Commissioning Body Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation - Music Service
