I began to
compose and to study composition during the Soviet period, or rather, in the
times of Communism. I consider the first period, shall we say, - the
“traditional” period, because, at the time Russia was closed. Or rather, for
example, I knew Stockhausen’s or Boulez’s music when I was nineteen or twenty
years old. Before that, I knew Bartok, Messiaen, Webern well,… but besides this
I knew nothing.
I was lucky,
one of my teachers was Edison Denisov, who travelled a lot and had many scores
at home. He gave classes on “The History of the Music of the 20th century” and
we used to listen to a lot of contemporary music, but when I was nineteen or
twenty years old. I consider the first period “traditional” because I was very
much influenced by the music of Bartok, Shostakovich and, perhaps, Debussy. And
the first works I composed (for example, the Quartets, the “Concert for Violin
and Orchestra”,the “Sonata for
Piano” and vocal music) are fairly influenced by these composers. I consider
this the “traditional period” in my creation. More or less four or five years
before arriving in Portugal, my language evolved considerably. Or rather, I
think that this was perhaps the more “experimental” period of my life, because
at that time I composed a few works where I did not use bars, I did not use
traditional notation, many special effects. For example, already in Portugal,
one of the works I composed in the first years is called “Vocalise”, has this
type of writing, and I think that it is possibly one of the works of the
vanguard, [in my work as a composer].
I came to
Portugal in 1993. I was invited by Luís Cunha, who created a professional
school of music in Estoril. There were three courses in this school: the first
course was the “Instrument” course, and then there was “Theory and Composition”
and the third course was “Instrument Construction”. I was invited to give
classes in the Composition course. We had disciplines such as “Free Composition”,
“Composition Laboratory”, “Analysis”, well, that circle of important themes for
Composition. I gave classes until 96, and then, in that year I went after a
vacancy for Composition Teacher here in Aveiro, I started as assistant and I
have been here for 9 years now. I then did my Doctorate on the orchestral music
of Jorge Peixinho, which I took 5 or 6 years to do, because I did it in
Portuguese and, of course, it was quite difficult. On the other hand, as there
was no material on the music of this composer, I analysed all of his work and
then I only used a part of the analysis I had done.
I have
really a lot of material on Jorge Peixinho’s music, and, for example, I think
that I used only a fifth of it for my Doctorate. Or rather, I only used the
works which I consider to be the most important in Jorge Peixinho’s artistic
career.
Concepts
and METHODs OF COMPOSITION: THE idea AT work
For me,
composition is a way of expressing the sentiments, and I may perhaps be a
little “traditional” in this aspect. Because I think that composing just to
compose and to create abstract structures is to make science rather than music.
And for me, music, shall we say, sonority, is like words; for example, a poet,
a poet expresses ideas and feelings, just as music can. Therefore when I
compose, I have a very free manner of doing so. There are sometimes moments
when I see that I have to stop and look, because it seems that... there is
something wrong! I then compose in a very strict way, always using a certain
structure and I don’t deviate from that. Then, an idea comes up and I try to
balance it with the material I already have and I can, again, continue the
composition in a more intuitive way. Because, of course I always have the
structures I use at the beginning in my head and I cannot forget them, because
the music evolves and I cannot, for example, stop this evolution and begin
other material which has nothing to do with the initial material.
For example,
what happens with Mahler’s music, who is one of my favourite composersand by whom I am somewhat influenced
these days, there is always an idea. For example, the 9th Symphony, where we
have the last movement which is Adagio and which, shall we say, is the main
movement. All the previous movements gradually lead to that Adagio. And we
understand, step by step, what it is that the composer wants to transmit. This
“idea” in music, seems very important to me. By way of example, I have a work
which is called “Motum Contrarium” for violoncello and double bass. The idea of
this work is, shall we say, a little extra-musical. Both of these instruments
is a character. And the work begins in a very high register, in which the
double bass has a melodic function and plays, shall we say, from a higher
register than that of the violoncello. Then, little by little, they create a
very dense counterpoint, and descend down to the low register. And in this
process, the violoncello gradually predominates; or rather, predominates in the
melodic sense. It begins to interpret the more melodic material and the double
bass then goes on to have the function of a special effect. Little by little
they descend to a very low register in which they then also, at the end, use
scordatura. This idea is extra-musical, but when someone hears the music they
feel that there is something leading the material. Or rather, from the
beginning to the end it is a piece in which there is an idea, there is a form,
there is a structure. The existence of the idea is, for example, one of the
things we see in Ligeti’s music, which I like a lot and who is also a composer
who has influenced my work. For example, even in the Quartet no. 2, a quartet
which uses a lot of special effects, there is always the idea. Or, for example,
in Lutoslawski’s music, which I also like, it is the same thing. For example,
we can have the image of a Sonata form, there is no Sonata form, but there is
an image in the way he creates and conducts the material. I even analysed, for
example, his Symphony no. 2, the first movement, and I analysed it as a Sonata
form, although the material is not traditional. And why did Lutoslawski use
such an old form now? Because based on this form the composer can transmit
ideas. If anyone has something to say, it can be said within a certain
construction, or rather, within the Sonata form. When we hear, for example,
this first movement, it is practically impossible to define the Sonata
structure, because it has so many special effects, it has a specific material;
however, when we analyse it we see the structure clearly.
THE
CONCEPT OF EVOLUTION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF WRITING WORKS
Another
aspect which I also consider very important is evolution. I clearlyremember when I was still a student and
one of my composition teachers, Albert Leman, said that our work should evolve
like a plant. Or rather, a plant is born and then it creates a certain
structure, which is very logical and very natural. In other words, we have to
hear the initial material clearly and lead this material in the way the
material itself wants. This is what I call evolution. And this is why the
moment of composition is for me an intimate moment, as I have to be alone, I
have to hear the material that I myself have created clearly, and create a
form, a more natural structure of moulding the materials. This is evolution in
global terms. There is also evolution in hetero-rhythmical terms, which is, in
fact, also very important. For example, from the most indeterminate structures,
from the most aleatory structures, and even, for example, from the most rigid
structures and vice versa. I use this type of evolution frequently in my music;
for example, one of the last works that I composed in Portugal is “Recitatives
for Percussion”. And in this work I used the evolution of fixed structures into
indeterminate structures and vice versa.
I think that
for me, then, evolution signifies that we are, for example, in the first bars
of a work, and we have a certain material. And what do I do in the initial
stage of creation? I have to analyse the material well and understand what the
material can give. Or rather, I need to create a point of arrival for this
material. Or shall we say, the material evolves up to a certain point, where it
is transformed, where we create other material. I think that the most important
process in composition is precisely this: to understand the direction that this
material can evolve into.Sometimes there are various directions for its evolution and we have to
choose one direction. In this case I do the following; I compose a fragment, shall
we say, separately and try to see the direction of the evolution of this
material. I do it like that. Continuous evolution... this, shall we say, also
has a lot to do with an open work, it has to do with the meaning of the open
work, which creates the continuous evolution, where nothing is repeated. In
this sense, I can say that I have never used this type of language; or rather,
for me it is important for the listener to be able to remember something he has
just heard, because if he has something in his head, and ten minutes later he
remembers it, this demonstrates that the material has quality.
For example,
in 94, 95, perhaps, I might have thought about style. I used to think: “Ah!
This is very contemporary, This is not very contemporary”, or “The sounds, for
example, like Ligeti...”, etc. Now, since 94 or 95 I don’t think like that, I
want to write what I want...For
example, I had a student last year who was very concerned with the music he was
writing, if it was more tonal or atonal... and we always, shall we say, used to
correct tonal aspects into atonal, or atonal to tonal. However, this is an idea
which no longer exists today. The concept of tonal or atonal music. If a
composer uses, for example, the chord of “C, E, G”, it does not mean it is
tonal, because tonality no longer exists. Just like atonal music. These
concepts died some years ago. We are already experiencing another reality,
therefore a composer should not be afraid of using any aspect. Or rather, he
can use the scale of C Major. Although, of course, an intelligent composer will
not compose “tonic, sub-dominant, dominant, dominant, tonic”, because this no
longer exists, really.And the
fame I have earned is perhaps because in these most recent works I am no longer
afraid to compose, I express what I want, or rather, I am completely free. For
example, I compose and I feel like doing something outside of the structure; I
do it because I want to and I think that it sounds good.
One of the
latest works I composed, “Music for violin and piano”, was perhaps the one I
had the least difficulty in composing. I composed this work in ten days, in
Moscow; it was a commission for an international violin competition in Lisbon,
and was an obligatory piece. I had a month to compose it. I then arrived in
Moscow and had no ideas. I knew I had little time, so I had to get on with
it... I remember that one day I went out walking, and an idea popped up, shall
we say, an idea which appears in the first bars of this work. Then, I got home,
I wrote out the idea and continued, without thinking very much about the
structure, nor about any rigid aspects. I wrote freely, during, for example,
three hours. After a few days, I returned to it and then played what I had
written and I thought it was fine. I mean I composed in an aleatory way without
a set structure. Then I continued to compose and the work appeared, and I
cannot even say which material I used, what structure or what language because
I don’t know; so it came about just like that, very naturally. I tried to
express a certain lyricism in this work, because I think that it is an aspect
which is lacking these days, really. This aspect, for example, was very
important in Mahler’s music; I sometimes say that a Symphony by Mahler could be
reduced to the Adagios, because it is this that the public waits to hear most
in a Symphony by Mahler, that is the Adagio. Why is it that the Adagio is so
important in one of Mahler’s Symphonies? Because it expresses a very particular,
very specific lyricism. And nowadays we no longer have this lyricism which
“touches” people; in this work I wanted to transmit something of this point of
view: or rather, to compose very lyrical intimate music, and this is why I
therefore used quite simple material and I tried to configure the piano and
violin well together in order to give the sensation of intimate, lyrical music.
In Portugal
I have been influenced not only by great composers, but also by my students.
For example, as I give composition classes and I analyse many works by my
students, I often have to explain why something is not good or why something
would be better... Or rather, as soon as I look at the score, I already have
enough experience to understand if something could be better...Or if it would
be better to go back to the beginning?... This experience I have gained also
helps me to compose, as very often the composer has the material, but does not
know how to develop it and has to spend some days trying to understand the
material. We can say that I, lately, pay little attention to the material and
understand what it is I want to do. Something else that has influenced me here
in Portugal was the music of Jorge Peixinho who is a composer who I relate to
very much. Not in the sense of the musical language, it’s not that. But in the
sense of his perspective as a composer, because he also only got to know
avant-garde music very late, just like me. Then, just like me, he has a lot of
freedom of expression and uses most of the techniques which existed in the 20th
century, or even before, in his work. Or rather, he was never limited to a
given technique or to a certain musical language. And in this aspect, shall we
say, he helped me, because I felt supported in some way by Jorge Peixinho in my
perspectives, although he died in 1995.