Matracas (ratchets)
The five instrumentalists use two ratchets in the first part of the piece. One small and one big - demonstrated in the score as follows: image of small and big (see below "notas de performance"). For purely artistic reasons, I looked for two speeds in the performance of the ratchets - the normal sound being fast, noisy. Thus, these instruments are played both fast and slow. These two speeds were represented in the score by two lines. There are changes in speeds (accelerations or decelerations), shown in the score by the line graph that goes from one line to the other.
Bells:
The bells represent the arrival of hope. As I said before, the bells are rung to notify people of the arrival of the cross near their home. Although there are no preset rhythms - the rhythm usually follows the pace of the player - in this piece I have set different rhythms for each instrumentalist. The bells are played by the flautist, clarinettist, violinist and cellist.
The form of this piece can be analyzed from two perspectives, which converge to form my unique artistic identity: religious and secular. Regarding the religious perspective, focusing on the organization of Holy Week in Braga, I divide the piece in the following sections:
1) until bar 121 - Maundy Thursday;
2) between bar 122 and 140 - Good Friday;
3) second part of the piece (from bar 141) - Easter Sunday.
4) from bar 180 - the idea is to “prepare” the return to Lent.
My secular viewpoint is mainly focused on the idea of overcoming problems, particularly death. the idea that “as long as there is a road to travel, we will continue”.
These two perspectives result in my presentation of my identity in the piece. This piece was written, as many other pieces since 2018, at a really difficult phase for me. Despite the difficulties I faced, I persisted in creating music and further refining my musical language and artistic identity. It was essential for me to capture the entire process of mourning that I was experiencing. The piece begins with a quiet, introspective tone that gradually builds in intensity over the months. It culminates in a profound sense of pain and reflection, and ultimately offers a glimmer of hope for a better future, even as I recognize that adversity will inevitably recur, as is the cyclical nature of life.
So, considering this personal side, we can divide the piece as follows:
1) The first part can be divided into four sections:
a) up to bar 121 - identifying the existence of the problem, trying to fight against reality.
b) between bars 122 to 128 - death.
c) between bars 129 - 139 - mourning and grief after death, knowing that you've lost someone.
d) from bars 140 - The “total” silence, where I asked the instrumentalists not to move, works as mental contemplation, assimilating and accepting everything that happened up to that moment.
2) The second part of the piece has another character, a different tension. An expression of hope. Nevertheless, at the end of the second part - starting at bar 180 - I return to the initial idea, using the image of "fire" with some of the elements that I will present later.
Sound of flames (sound of fogaréus):
The sound of the fogaréus was worked on in the following ways:
1) using the “clicks” of the fire burning, produced from:
a) flute: bars 32 and 33;
b) clarinet: bars 15-17;
c) strings:
i) circular bowing, flautando - violin, b. 17.
ii) battuto ricochet - violoncello, b. 26
iii) guiro mov., flautando -
(1) violoncello, bar 27;
(2) bars 59 e 60;
d) piano: gliss on keys - without pressing the keys - white keys: bars 8-10;
As shown above, in the piece for ensemble we can see a representation of the Holy Week celebrations in Braga, while the piece for solo flute explores the sonic and musical possibilities of the same sounds in different contexts.
Coming from the previous compositions for large groups ("ensaio para um s. joão" e "braga: à [b]olta do s. joão") and ensembles ("home(m)" e "do lume que pesa"), I sought to challenge myself by creating a solo piece that stood in stark contrast. With this objective in mind, I delved deeper into the sonic landscape established in the preceding work, exploring the rhythmic elements and musical gestures that emerged from the "matracas" and fire.
There are big differences between this piece and the previous: firstly, starting by pointing out the obvious, this is a piece for a solo instrument. This allows for a greater aural focus in the handling of the sound elements. The rhythms and the musical gestures that were first created for the group piece are now the main focus of the solo piece, and they're carefully blended into the solo performance. Secondly, the form of the piece is also different. In this piece I didn't try to present the events themselves, but to focus on the sound of the piece. I wanted the sound of the flames and the matracas to be a result of each other. The "matracas" (with their aggressive sound) and the "fogo" (fire) are two elements that oppose each other, but also complement each other. The tension between these two elements gradually eases towards the end of the piece. At the end of the piece, I tried to create a sense of calm and serenity.
It was a challenge that pushed me to explore the depths of my musical creativity and uncover new dimensions within the familiar sounds that had captured my imagination.
Introduction
"do lume que pesa" (in English “of the weighing fire”), for flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano and electronics, was commissioned by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble. For the composition of this work, I used sound and emotional elements present in the Easter triduum. Here, I tried essentially to develop elements present in the processions of Holy Thursday (Procession Senhor Ecce Homo), of Good Friday (Procession of the Burial of the Lord) and the “Compasso Pascal”, a tradition of Easter Sunday. However, I focused primarily on the image of the farricoco, with matracas and fogaréus, as well as the emotions present in the celebrations of Holy Week in Braga, as I will elaborate on in the following sections.
The farricocos are dark, penitent and meditative figures that walk the streets of Braga in processions on Thursday and Good Friday. Besides the noisy matracas, some of the farricocos carry fogaréus - iron containers raised on rods - that light the streets as they go by.
Here, one wanders between the gloom and the light that emanates from the stoves, creating a contemplative exploration of solitude, yet imbued with a glimmer of hope for what lies ahead.
“do lume que pesa”: title explanation
Initially, my idea for the piece’s name was: “negro: desnudo”, using the visual image of the farricocos, dressed in black, with bare feet in the street. From a more personal point of view, this name had some logic as I was in mourning and presented myself uncovered, exposed in the music I wrote. When I start a new piece, I am always afraid of exposing too much of my private, personal life. At the time, I wrote this and other works like "was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?", "[a]void" and "pranto", I thought the best way to overcome the mourning would be to use that personal sorrow in the music I write. Nevertheless, given the duality that I will present in the piece between the Braga tradition and my personal life, I decided to present that personal background relatively clearly from the beginning of the work.
The name change occurred during the process of composing this piece. With “do lume que pesa” (“of the weighing fire”, in English), although I still allude to the farricocos that carry the fogaréus in the procession, I preferred to focus on the image of "the weight", a fire slowly burning, but that, at the same time, can be a reference to hope in the future.
In this way, I sought to contrast the light emanating from the fogaréus with the black that the farricocos wear.
Thus, starting from this image of the farricoco, I used in this piece different elements of the Holy Week in Braga, from objects (matracas and fogaréus) to the emotion present during the week, between Thursday and Sunday, according to the Christian practice. In this way, this piece is the continuation of the work I have been developing using elements from Braga’s culture.
Process of composition
When I started writing the piece, I tried to find sounds in the instruments that would allow me to represent some of the sounds in Holy Week (brainstorming): a) represent the emotions that Christian tradition tries to reproduce during this event; b) imitate the sound of the ratchets; c) the sound of fire. In addition, I sought to develop a trajectory in the music, which started from "penitence" and ended in “hope”.
From a purely artistic point of view, I started this piece with the aim of improving the way I handle movement and breaths (pauses), using specific sounds related to the holy week in Braga in an abstract way.
Form:
In “do lume que pesa”, although I do not try to recreate a “tour guide” of this event in Braga, the form of the piece follows, approximately, the chronological order of the events of the Easter triduum. While this piece is not programmatic in the strictest sense, as I aim not to merely present the festival itself, my intention is to abstractly “represent" it through the musical elements.
Although this is not a programmatic piece - in the strict sense that I do not want to present the event itself. I want to 'represent' it abstractly (at least as far as the musical side is concerned). Thus, the first part of the piece focuses on the sound of the ratchets used by the farricocos.
Consequently, the opening section of the piece centres around the sound of the matracas, traditionally wielded by the farricocos.
To better understand the elements of Braga's "Holy Week", read this section.
Reflection
This was the way I used some elements of Braga Holy Week in "do lume que pesa". I think I managed to transport to this piece the main sounds of the Holy Week in Braga: the bells, the matracas and the “silence” of Good Friday. Besides that, I tried - maybe from a very personal point of view, but that's what composition is all about - to transfer the emotions represented in the Easter triduum to this piece.
Nevertheless, the main goal, in compositional terms, was to work the sounds of Braga's Holy Week in the instruments, in a way that they could interact musically with the sounds above represented. It was a slow work, of great search, and, perhaps because of that, it was a process that left me satisfied and helped me to grow personally and artistically.
From a purely artistic point of view, I started this piece to improve the way I treat movement and breaths (pauses), using specific sounds related to the holy week in Braga in an abstract way.
From this piece came the idea of creating a miniature (a piece of about 2 minutes) for flute solo. There are still some themes that I intend to develop, using the same elements (but seeking other shapes, working the materials in other ways), and using other elements that I did not have the opportunity to use in this piece, like, for instance, the Lausperene.
By composing this piece, I also intended to know better the history of the Holy Week in Braga, looking for the main elements that integrate it. I also did it with the aim of divulging this part of my culture, still poorly known outside the Iberian Peninsula. This culture is part of my identity as an artist.
“do lume que pesa ii” (2020)
The solo flute piece 'do lume que pesa ii' draws upon the compositional elements, such as techniques and musical gestures, developed for the ensemble piece 'do lume que pesa', which is described above. These elements are developed in a more abstract manner in the solo piece."
2) As a development of the sound of fire, and due to the way it is treated in electronics, I also tried to use "air" sounds.
a) voices:
i) [s] - violin, b. 9 and 10.
ii) [u]->[i] - violoncello, b. 10.
iii) [r] in pianissimo - with and without tremolo - b. 11-14 (clarinet, violin and violoncello).
b) flute
i) normal air sound - bar 4
ii) inhale, one note, crescendo with an attack at the end: b. 57;
c) clarinet: inhale, one note, crescendo with an attack at the end: b. 57;
d) strings:
i) flautando, fast bow - b. 11.
ii) bow on the body of the instrument: violoncello, b. 6; violin, b. 24 and 25.
iii) col legno tratto, example - violoncello b. 23-25; violin, b. 27.
e) piano:
i) gliss with the hand on strings: b. 6;
ii) with a card on the strings - example- b. 46 and 47.
f) electronics: I recorded the sound of a fireplace and boiling water, working the sound electronically by, among other changes, cutting it, changing the speed, and adding different types of reverb.
A gente vai continuar
When I started composing this piece, I thought of using a slow melody in the second part, which would represent my mourning. During the process of composition, I changed the idea to a melody that could express “hope”. So, I used, in a crafted way, on the piano, a melody by the Portuguese composer/singer Jorge Palma. I used “A gente vai continuar” because of the lyrics that the song has, especially the part of the chorus: “Enquanto houver estrada p’ra andar A gente vai continuar” (“While there is a road to walk, we will keep going).
The piano plays a "reduction" of the melody, while the strings play until bar 157, two chords of the song's harmony. Finally, the electronics came from the sound work of a piano improvisation based on this song and the reduction made for this piece.
After a moment where the bells disappear, with a diminuendo (bars 165-167), each of the instrumentalists (fl, cl, vln and vcelo) plays, solo, increasingly distant in time (i.e., does not change dynamics), until we reach the end of the piece. The violinist and the cellist ring the bells for the very last time at c. 176, leaving, until the end, only cl and fl to ring the bells.
In addition to using ratchets on stage, I have developed their sound in the following ways:
a) voices:
i) voiceless, air sound;
1) [ru], clarinet - bar 12;
2) [r], violin - bars 13 and 14;
3) bars 48-52
b) flute:
i) [gr] + trill between two notes + trill half-open <-> closed mouthpiece (example: b. 21 and 22);
ii) [gr] + trill between two notes + trill half-open <-> open mouthpiece;
iii) exhale - [r] and [rô] - fingering ad libitum (with defined rhythm and register changes):
1) [r] example: b. 25 and 26;
2) [rô] example: b. 48 and 49;
3) [ru] example: b. 50 and 52.
iv) inhale - [r] - fingering ad libitum (with defined rhythm and register changes), bars 32 and 33.
v) exhale, [ru], just one note, with crescendo and attack at the end - bars 51 and 52.
c) strings:
i) overpressure:
1) bars 25 and 26 (increasing pressure);
2) bars 34 and 35 - pianissimo and piano.
ii) behind the bridge, overpressure: b. 29 and 30
d) piano:
i) repetition of high pitches - bars 16 and 17. There is a developed version on bars 50-52.
ii) scrape the string with the fingertip/nail - bar 20.
iii) gliss on keys - without pressing the keys - white keys, bars 30-34 (with tremolo), looking for the idea of “fire”-matracas-"fire".
See all the examples in the following slides:
