Works

Instrumentation (detailed)

Winds and Brass	2 Flute (Piccolo), 2 Oboe (French Horn), 2 Clarinet (Bass Clarinet), 2 Bassoon (Contrabassoon), 2 Horn, 2 Trumpet
Percussion	Timpani, Percussion
Strings (plucked / bowed)	~ First Violins, ~ Second Violins, ~ Viola, ~ Cello, ~ Double Bass

Performer(s)

The fantastic world created by the engravings of the Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelius Escher (1898-1972) has always fascinated me. The imagination, but also the rigorousness with which his “metamorphoses” are assembled is, at the same time, astonishing and intriguing. The apogee of this style is the fantastic sequence “Metamorphosis II”, a mural which decorates the central station of the Post Office at The Hague, in Holland. The clarity of “speech” in this huge drawing, derived from an amazing sense of technical perfectionism, always seemed to me applicable to Music, in which case, I think, it should be throw the continuous variation technique. That’s what I attempted in my own «Metamorphoses» for orchestra. This piece is organized in 15 sections all linked in a continuous flow, and derived one from another by common motives (melodic, rhythmic and/or harmonic). The basic principle here is continuity, variation is the process, but in the end the goal is to communicate with the listeners, as much as Escher did with his drawings. Luís Carvalho May/2009

Work	Type	Date	Organization/Event	Venue	Town	Country	Performers	Notes	Inv Row
Metamorphoses... homage à M. C. Escher	Premiere	2009/Jul/24	31º Festival Internacional de Música da Póvoa de Varzim	Municipal Auditorium	Póvoa de Varzim	Portugal	Orquestra Sinfónica da Póvoa de Varzim, Pedro Amaral (director)	Notes