Project Info
Project Description
Metamorphoses
… homage à M. C. Escher
for chamber orchestra: *2*2*2*2-2200-timp.+1perc.-strings (min. 6.5.4.4.2 | max. 12.10.8.6.4)
- composition date: 2009/rev. 2010
- duration: ca. 11 min.
- detailed orchestration:
2fl. (2+picc.)/ 2ob. (2+eng.-horn)/ 2cl. (2+bass-cl.)/ 2fg. (2+contra-fg.)/ 2hr./ 2trpt./ timp./ perc.(1): 3 susp. cymb. [large/medium/small]; sizzle cymb.; 2 triang. [small/big]; tambourine [big]; very high bongo; wind chimes [mark-tree]; glockenspiel; vibraphone/
strings (min.: 6 vl.I / 5 vl.II / 4 vla. / 4 vlc. / 2 cb. || max.: 12 vl.I / 10 vl.II / 8 vla. / 6 vlc. / 4 cb.) - premiere: 24/July/2009 | Auditório Municipal da Póvoa de Varzim | Orquestra Sinfónica da Póvoa de Varzim/ dir. Pedro Amaral
- work awarded the 2nd Prize at the 4th International Composition Competition of Póvoa de Varzim (2009)
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.
(May/2009)
buy sheet music / rental materials:
https://www.editions-ava.com/pt/metamorphoses-homage-à-m-c-escher