This in the very first piece I have written since I joined the MMus programme in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music. This piece is divided in to three contrasting movements (slow – fast – slow), which reflect different ways of seeing a lament. Although this is a new piece, I tried to recover some materials from some of my earlier compositions: this is a way of exploring some musical ideas that were not used intensively on other pieces. Thus, in the first movement, with a two part division, I tried to use sound contrasts between soli and tutti, as well as some timbre differentiations using techniques as sul ponticello and sul tasto. In the second movement, rhythmically more energetic, my main concern was the harmonic progression, sometimes using melodies provided by solo instruments. The third and last movement is a kind of chorale, where I used some solo melodic lines, mainly on the double bass which has been quiet for the entire first movement.
The title and the character of the piece reflect my feelings on first arriving in London. As I am not a poet or a story teller; I try to express some of my emotions through music.
Hugo Ribeiro October ‘05
