A bird in the garden
for orchestra and two female voices
This piece was written in the Young Composers Meeting 2013 (Holland). During one week, young composers had the opportunity of working together with orkest de erepris and singers from the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag, under the mentoring of the following teachers: Louis Andriessen, Martijn Padding, Richard Ayres, Carola Bauckholt and Dmitri Kourliandski.
The poem was written by Friedrich Daumer (1800-1875); the English translation is found in the Liebeslieder Waltzer by Johannes Brahms:
Som sem saída
for orchestra and speaker
The audio recording was made in a concert hall; however, this piece was originally conceived to be played in the open air, in remote places of Portugal’s interior. It has been performed at the castles of Marialva and Vilar Maior, and at Loriga, a riverbank in the mountain of Serra da Estrela.
Texts by Américo Rodrigues.
Orquestra Filarmónica
Portuguesa
Conductor – Osvaldo Ferreira
Speaker – Igor Gandra
Pianist – Vasco Dantas
CCB (Lisbon)
01-05-2022
Sul
for ensemble
The name of the piece – Sul (south) – alludes to a sound world coming from southern Europe. Besides a particular use of the plucked instruments, where the guitar and mandolin play an important role, I was inspired by the ornamentation, the lamento expression, and some modes used in this region. The last section of the piece is an arrangement made after a Sephardic melody (from the medieval song Lavava y suspirava) which is, for me, a sum of the musical richness and confluences found in the traditional music of the Iberian Peninsula.
This piece was developed under the project Transmission possible from the Nieuw Ensemble.
Recording: Nieuw Ensemble
Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, conducted
by Mark Simpson
Conservatory of Amsterdam
Teatro Nacional de São Carlos
10-06-2011
2019
Floating
for small ensemble
This piece was written as part of hcmf//’s European Composers’ Professional Development Programme.
Floating was created in collaboration with Icarus Ensemble in two workshops. One way to invite collaboration was the use of recorded sounds coming from my own voice, to which the musicians reacted through their instruments. We started by exploring timbre combinations between voice and the wind instruments from the ensemble, and these experiences became the guiding thread to the final piece.
I’m very thankful to the kind, joyful and creative collaboration from Icarus Ensemble.
Performers
Icarus Ensemble
Location
Huddersfield Contemporary Music
Festival (UK)
Date
2012
Music for ECO
a sound drama by Teatro do Frio
This piece is part of the music for ECO – a musical drama in the landscape – by Teatro do Frio.
ECO is a sound drama that looks at the landscape through the body, orality, sound and acoustics, focusing its search in moments of beauty that occur for no plausible purpose. This desire is based on the premise that any urban or rural landscape comprises stories and a multifaceted life composed of more or less visible phenomena, which in turn, are experienced more or less consciously by the people who inhabit these spaces.
Performers
Cello: Ana Isabel Oliveira
Harp: Angélica Salvi
Flute: Sílvia Cancela
Violin: Henrique Apolinário
Studio recording made by Quico Serrano
Location
ECO was presented at Parque de S. Paio,
Vila Nova de Gaia
Date
September 2017
A Portuguese Lullaby: Dorme meu menino
for female voice, harp and Portuguese guitar
Andaluz
for ensemble
This piece was inspired by the descriptions of Andalusian music as it was practiced in the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages, found in the books “O meu coração é Árabe” and “Arabesco da Música Árabe e da Música Portuguesa” from Adalberto Alves. My guideline was to suggest some of the environments that are part of an Andalusian musical event (Nuba), but in an essentially free and intuitive way.
Performers
Remix Ensemble
Location
Casa da Música, Porto
Date
June 2008
Arrangement: Lavava y suspirava
for ensemble
I came across the song Lavava y suspirava by its interpretation from Montserrat Figueras and Hespèrion XXI. Coming from a Sephardic origin, it was sung in the Iberian Peninsula at the time of the queen Isabel I, in the 15th century. This song brings to me echoes of a time where Jewish and Arabic poetry and music were listened everywhere in the peninsula. The immaterial nature of sound makes difficult to rebuild such a beautiful and rich confluence; and from this longing to listen was born the will to do this transcription.
The distance between the time where this song was circling in the peninsula and the time of the transcription brings the necessity to raise the attention to hear, as if we were listening from behind a closed door. In some moments we can listen to the original melody more clearly, and in others a little opacity comes.
I respected the pitches of the song’s melody, and the rhythmic flow – however, as it is originally sung in a flexible and free way, and I transcribed only for instruments, there is some freedom in the rhythm. The short introduction was freely composed by myself.
Performers
Nieuw Ensemble.
Instrumentation: Flute, Clarinet (in b flat),
Mandolin, Guitar, Harp, Percussion, Viola
and Violoncello
Location
Den Bosh (Holland), and the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam)
Date
April 2011
A Civilização
for soprano and ensemble
This piece had as its starting point the book “The city and the mountains” (A cidade e as serras) from the Portuguese writer Eça de Queirós.
I gave a special attention to the passages where the humor in its various forms (picturesque, humorous, ironic, etc.), assumes the leading role. Among these, I retained particularly the descriptions of the going to the opera: it is regarded as a social event, an excuse to show the best clothes, accessories and makeup (the famous face powder). The solo soprano takes the role of attraction – she must have an impressive pose of diva and thrill the audience with her dramatic skills.
Another situation widely described by Eça de Queirós concerns the ‘gadgets’ of the urban civilization of the 19th century – appliances sometimes of dubious utility that could become a nightmare if mishandled or damaged. If used extensively could also have the disadvantage of making everyday life very dull.
Performers
Voice: Aleksandra Bajde
Harp: Anneleen Schuitmaker
Portuguese Guitar: Rafael Fraga
Location
Composers’ Festival, at the Conservatory of Amsterdam
Date
9-06-2012
Adormecer
for orchestra
This piece has two main moments. In the first one there is more flow of activity; each instrument has an independent voice that stands out or goes to the background complementing the other voices. The second moment is more static: the melodies of each instrument will be diluted to result in a harmonious whole, lightly punctuated by some melodic drawings.
The analogy expressed in the title alludes to the moment where, falling asleep, we are assailed by various thoughts, even if unintentional, and how these are becoming more vague, giving place to a smooth and quiet rest.
Performers
Sinfonieta of ESMAE (students’ orchestra
from Escola Superior de Música e Artes
do Espectáculo do Porto)
Location
Teatro Helena Sá e Costa (ESMAE), Porto
Date
February 2007
In the Middle
for an ensemble from Atlas Academy
Atlas Academy is a laboratory for the creation of innovative intercultural music, where composers work closely with musicians from all over the world.
I’ve tried to find a melodic and harmonic ground that would be inviting for the musicians to create short phrases and to give their own expression and rhythmic flow to the parts I’ve written. The very final of the sketch is a vocal improvisation by Elchin Nagijev.
Performers
Kamancha: Elshan Mansurov (Azerbaijan)
Duduk: Gevorg Dabaghian (Armenia)
Tar: Elchin Nagijev (Azerbaijan)
Qanun: Bassem Alkhouri (Syria)
Harp: Ernestine Stoop (The Netherlands)
Location
Workshop Atlas Academy, in the
Conservatory of Amsterdam
Date
August/September 2011
Claro-escuro
for electronics
This piece has departed from an audio format considered “less sophisticated” – the general midi – with the goal of creating several variables to give it a more personal and characteristic sonority. The title comes from the subtleties and variations that exist within a black and white tool.
Performers
Electronics
Location
Played in several events, including “Festival Atlante Sonoro XXI”, in Roma
Date
April 2011
