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“José Luís Ferreira, 1973-2018 · (interpolation) · continuity and narrative.”
JAKUB SZCZYPA

  One of the first José Luís Ferreira’s works that I heard live was “Avant” for flute, clarinet (bass clarinet), piano, violin, cello, and live electronics (‘live electronics’, an essential detail in the case of this composer). The concert, performed by the Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble conducted by Pedro Neves, occurred on December 4, 2010, at Cascais Art Centre to celebrate two important events for Portugal that year – the Centenary of the Republic and the 150^th Anniversary of the Friendship, Peace and Commerce Treaty between Portugal and Japan. “Avant” (from French – ‘ahead’, ‘forward’ or ‘in front’) is a curious and enigmatic piece, a work-in-progress ¹, which, as at that time the composer pointed out in the programme notes, ‘functions as a proof of an original concept – there is a possibility of creating live electronics that resonates before (avant) the instruments, or at least the acoustic instruments’ sounds completing (or complementing) the musical figures.’ ² In his doctoral thesis, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems”, José Luís Ferreira wrote: ‘This work intends to create a paradox regarding the paradigm that an electronic sound, within the real-time strategy, can only appear synchronically with the instrumental sounds, or as their succession. In other words, one composes a work within this strategy, creating the illusion that the electronics appears before the instruments.’ ³

  The problem of ‘anticipation and succession’, or else, of ‘before and after’, raised by José Luís Ferreira in the work “Avant” and his doctoral thesis, can lead us to other considerations of a more general nature (isn’t it one of art’s main roles?). On August 31, 2023, José Luís Ferreira would have celebrated his 50^th birthday; the composer left us five years ago on February 26, 2018. It’s precisely the point in his path’s temporal line which for us constitutes the ‘before and after’ moment; ‘before’, when the composer was still here, ‘in flesh and blood’; and ‘after’, when it’s up to us to ‘complete the musical figures’ José Luís Ferreira left.

  ‘Musical lives cut short isn’t just a rock’n’roll phenomenon’ ⁴ – said the writer and BBC Radio 3 journalist Tom Service, on the pages of The Guardian. It’s curious that the more premature the disappearance of an artist, the more need we develop to romanticise their life, ‘casting them as figures who lived at a fever pitch of inspiration and genius, the existential cost of which was a Faustian pact with early death.’ ⁵ Undoubtedly, this is one of the best ways to create mythology around a person. Let’s take some examples from classical music’s history: Franz Schubert (disappeared at the age of 31), Claude Vivier (at the age of 35), Henry Purcell (at 35), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (also at 35), Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (at 37), Fryderyk Chopin (at 39), George Gershwin (at 39), Fausto Romitelli (at 41), Alexander Scriabin (at 44), Cornelius Cardew (at 45), Alban Berg (at 50), Kurt Weil (at 50), Gustav Mahler (at 51), Gérard Grisey (at 52), Karol Szymanowski (at 55), Claude Debussy (at 56), .... Romanticising, mythicising, creating stars and celebrities – all these approaches are natural, up to a certain point. Yet, they are also quite symptomatic of our contemporaneity where what’s emotional and momentary, like fireworks, frequently supersedes what’s rational, which, by definition, is more thoughtful and thus more ‘tedious’. Nonetheless, wouldn’t it be better for us and the prematurely disappeared if, instead of letting ourselves get carried away by the gusts of the heart, we had a more sensible attitude, with our actions directed by the will and need to ‘keep one’s legacy’s vivacity and continuity’? It certainly is one of the approaches cultivated by the MIC.PT since its foundation.

  When we grieve the premature death of a composer who was only beginning to find their voice or who found this voice and was on the crest of the wave of their creativity, we also grieve, by implication, each work this author has never finished or begun. José Luís Ferreira, composer, teacher, and performer (performador) ⁶, disappeared at the age of 44, at the peak of his creative capacities, ‘in the phase of full affirmation of his long-term research; thus, he wasn’t re-questioning his aesthetics, but rather re-affirming it’ (said Miguel Azguime in the MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019) ⁷. This precocious disappearance raises various questions in us, some of them merely hypothetical, for example, ‘how the next version of “Avant” would be’, or ‘in which direction would José Luís Ferreira’s catalogue of works, language and aesthetics grow’, or still ‘how the history of Portuguese music would have changed if José Luís Ferreira hadn’t disappeared so early’. To these questions, we can only give hypothetical and illusory answers, just as hypothetical and illusory is, for example, the finalisation and realisation of Mahler’s unfinished “10^th Symphony” from the sketches the composer left. Nonetheless, these hypotheses and illusions are of great importance for us to maintain an (apparent) continuity of José Luís Ferreira’s path; to take off the weight from the fact that the last post on the composer’s Facebook page (still active…) is from January 8, 2018; and to try to fill this gap with our narrative.

  Fortunately, in the case of José Luís Ferreira, in the years following his disappearance, various people from the contemporary music scene in Portugal, who have been close to him, have gotten involved and continue within this involvement to keep his work alive and recognised. Since 2019, at various academic and non-academic venues in Portugal dedicated to contemporary music creation, one has organised performances in memory of José Luís Ferreira, whose examples are the “Infinite Blue” (“Infinito Azul”) recital by the pianist Ana Telles or the concerts organised by the DME Project, among others.
  In the programme of the “Infinite Blue” recital premiered in the context of the Música Viva 2019 Festival at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon ⁸, Ana Telles performs not only José Luís Ferreira’s works – “Objet Trouvé”, “Objet Trouvé II”, and “Um autre objet” –, but also pieces dedicated to him, with or without electronics, by various other composers, such as: “Fantasia Sognata Toccata (Leyenda)” by Bruno Gabirro, “Triste Tríade” by Christopher Bochmann, “Broken” by Eduardo Luís Patriarca, “Tierce de Picardie” by Eurico Carrapatoso, “Monólito. Ébano” by Jaime Reis, “Litanies” by Jean-Sébastien Béreau, “JLF” by João Madureira, “Porquê...? Memória de um abraço antigo” by João Nascimento, and “Balada para o Zé” by Miguel Azguime.
  The DME Project ⁹ initiatives, “In memory of José Luís Ferreira”, include concerts for different music formations, offering a path within the composer’s work – from purely electroacoustic music up to the music combining acoustic instruments with electronic sounds, passing through works with a theatrical nature.
  In the context of the activities whose aim is to maintain the memory of José Luís Ferreira alive, one can also highlight the initiatives by the Portuguese Music Research and Information Centre – the In Focus from March 2019 ¹⁰ in which some of the composer’s friends, colleagues, students, teachers, and collaborators responded to the Questionnaire about his music and path; and also the two Música Hoje radio programmes, broadcast on the Antena 2 (Portuguese National Radio) on February 8 and 22, 2019 ¹¹, with a Round Table moderated by Pedro Boléo and including the participation of the composers António de Sousa Dias, Carlos Caires, and Miguel Azguime, and the saxophonist and composer Philippe Trovão.
  The latter told the MIC.PT in 2019 that as a teacher ‘José Luís Ferreira wanted to change mentalities. Both with the Mixed Music Lab and his Composition and Synthesis students, he wanted to take electroacoustic music further to more people.’ ¹² The Lab, which presently has José Luís Ferreira’s name, is another crucial vehicle through which José Luís Ferreira’s students and colleagues can give continuity to his work and thought. Based at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (ESML) and founded in 2014, this project’s initiators, Carlos Caires and José Luís Ferreira, conceived it as a means to develop competencies in the domains of improvisation, experimentation and performance (performação) ¹³ of mixed music (from existing repertoire or created by Composition students specifically for this project). The Mixed Music Lab – José Luís Ferreira ¹⁴, presently directed by the composers Jaime Reis and Carlos Caires, has carried out diverse activities since its creation, among which one can highlight the concerts and informal auditions by the ESML, concerts at the Música Viva Festivals organised by the Miso Music Portugal, artistic residencies at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, concerts at the Lisboa Incomum organised by the DME Project, participations at the ESML Composition Week and concerts within the “Old is New” International Conference organised by the CESEM – Centre for the Study of the Sociology and Aesthetics of Music (NOVA University, Lisbon), in partnership with the ESML.

  The examples mentioned above, of the initiatives around José Luís Ferreira and his music, constitute clear proof that the work developed by this composer continues to resonate with the various people who crossed their path with him – musicians, composers, and students. Without any doubt, these initiatives constitute a crucial vehicle in the transmission of his legacy. However, as José Luís Ferreira used to challenge his students, it’s always necessary to go further because time’s implacable in its advancement, always forward. A certain degree of forgetfulness in memory preservation is inevitable and, perhaps, even necessary to balance the facts and mythology. Maintaining this balance in an appropriate and healthy state is undoubtedly one of the key elements to creating and perpetuating a narrative about José Luís Ferreira, not precisely for him, who already belongs to the past, but for the present and, above all, for the future. Let’s recall, thus, some key facts from José Luís Ferreira’s artistic life.

  José Luís Ferreira was born in Lisbon, having grown up with Beethoven’s music and Amália Rodrigues’s fados. ‘Perhaps it’s a strange connection, but it was what my mother used to listen to. Since very young, I’ve learnt by heart and air-conducted Beethoven’s symphonies and endured the fado (longing) of Amália’s fados… My music education began through listening; I owe this to my mother (and Beethoven). I became a musician thanks to my mother – she gave me a lot and opened different doors when I was growing up. Composition came later...’ – said José Luís Ferreira in the MIC.PT Questionnaire/ Interview from 2013, when he celebrated his 40^th anniversary.
  What followed this initial period, with concerts at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and lessons at the Academia de Amadores de Música in Lisbon (including Analysis and Composition Techniques with Pedro M. Rocha), were the studies at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (ESML), where José Luís Ferreira worked with Christopher Bochmann, António de Sousa Dias, and António Pinho Vargas. In parallel to the Composition Course, he attended seminars and workshops with diverse composers, such as Emmanuel Nunes, Jean-Claude Risset, John Chowning, Per Anders Nilsson and Trevor Wishart, among many others. ‘Pedro M. Rocha opened the composition door. At the ESML, I had the privileged contact with such teachers as Christopher Bochmann, who taught me the fundamental aspects of composition techniques and planted the foundations to acquire a métier; with António de Sousa Dias came electroacoustic music; and with António Pinho Vargas the whys and the formal control.’ ¹⁶ ‘As soon as José Luís Ferreira started studying Analysis and Composition Techniques (ATC) at the Academia de Amadores de Música with Pedro M. Rocha, the exercises immediately became very captivating for him. He divided the time between studying Double Bass and Composition. As time went by, the interest towards composition was increasing and taking more and more time of his life’ ¹⁷ – said Ricardo Guerreiro in the MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019, dedicated to José Luís Ferreira. And he added: ‘I remember very clearly that from a certain moment, perhaps at the beginning of the third and last year of the ATC, it was obvious for the both of us that we would try to enter the Composition Course at the ESML, despite having been musicians and performers praised by the teachers. But, to make things short, what seemed to engage us more and more was the logic of music creation.’¹⁸
  In his practice of composition, José Luís Ferreira has drawn references from diverse composers, such as Gérard Grisey, Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann, yet whose starting point in music has always been the sound. ‘There’s a work by Gérard Grisey, which I don’t listen to often because of the so-called anxiety of influence (Harold Bloom). The work is “Vortex Temporum”. It has three movements – the second dedicated to Salvatore Sciarrino and the third to Helmut Lachenmann. Mentioning this work is only a way of presenting these three composers, who have been my references, and they couldn’t have been more disparate…’ ¹⁹ José Luís Ferreira’s music for different types of instrumental and vocal groups, with or without electronics, has been performed (performada) ²⁰ by diverse groups, for example, Remix Ensemble Casa da Música, OrchestrUtopica, Lisbon Sinfonietta, Ricercare Choir, Saxofínia, Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble, Machina Lirica, MPMP Ensemble, and the Lisbon Regina Coeli Choir, among others. José Luís Ferreira has developed the essence of his musical grammar in direct connection with technology and computer music – domains where he restlessly and persistently made research (also within aesthetics), affirming his creative freedom.
   How do some participants in the MIC.PT Questionnaire from March 2019 describe José Luís Ferreira’s music in seven words only ²¹?
· António de Sousa Dias: I would say that José Luís Ferreira’s music is up-to-date, fresh, surprising, challenging, provocative, experimental, motivating.
· Carlos Marecos: lively, with pulse, theatrical, miscellaneous, up to date, sometimes ironic, technological.
· Jan Wierzba: system, scheme, improvisation, romantic (not in the sense of romantic music but literally), narrative, adventurous, rock‘n’roll.
· Miguel Azguime: intense, rigorous, elaborated, up-to-date, restless, imaginative, beautiful.
· Philippe Trovão: beautiful, challenging, up-to-date, inspiring, different, intelligent, expressive.
· Ricardo Guerreiro: organic, inspired, inventive, rhythmic, sectioned, challenging, varied.
   The composer shared the results of his artistic, creative, and technological exploration with his students in a pedagogical context, particularly within the Mixed Music Lab at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (ESML). Apart from being a teacher at the ESML, José Luís Ferreira was also a Sound Practice teacher at the Fine Arts Faculty of the University of Lisbon and a curricular plan coordinating teacher of the Music Production and Technologies course at the Image and Communication Technical School of Lisbon (ETIC). ‘What I know of José Luís Ferreira as a pedagogue is the musical capacity of his students, which I could see and hear. Here I’ve recognised his broad understanding of what music is today and a historical and avant-garde perspective that he knew how to transmit, encouraging research and innovation. Without any doubt, José Luís Ferreira has contributed to the advancement of his time’ – said Miguel Azguime in the MIC.PT 2019 In Focus ²² and at the Round Table, dedicated to José Luís Ferreira and broadcast in February 2019 in two parts within the Música Hoje radio programme (Portuguese National Radio – Antena 2) ²³. ‘José Luís Ferreira used to spend days at school. His enthusiasm was contagious, and the Lab had an interesting students’ participation and presence’ ²⁴ – remembered the composer Carlos Caires in the same Música Hoje radio broadcast. ‘During the classes, José Luís Ferreira shared his enthusiasm creating an attraction towards what he was saying. He was a teacher that challenged his students to go further, confronting them or putting them in uncomfortable situations. His challenge was to put us at ease with our sounds and instruments. During the improvisations, he manipulated and reacted to the sound in real time’ ²⁵ – said the saxophonist and composer Philippe Trovão, and José Luís Ferreira’s ex-student, in the MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019. And he added: ‘At the Composition classes, he insisted on giving attention to each of the students and their ideas, complementing them with more information, or indicating a new path. He was an available and challenging professor who wanted to break barriers and could adapt to any situation.’ ²⁶
   José Luís Ferreira defended his doctoral thesis, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems” (Portuguese Catholic University; guidance by António de Sousa Dias), in March 2014. Its primary premisses the composer put into practice within various contexts, particularly with the ESML Mixed Music Lab, the MPMP Ensemble, and within the projects developed with the Miso Music Portugal. In the thesis, José Luís Ferreira defends the position and function of the electronic music performer (performador). ‘Their role is to play with the musicians. And this magical game occurs only when there are others’ ²⁷ – emphasised Carlos Caires in the Música Hoje radio programme. According to José Luís Ferreira, the performers’ role isn’t only to execute, but they are rather ‘musicians whose chief objective is the realisation of a sound-based score (…). The performer (performador) can’t only be an executant, a player, or a mere vehicle. Without any doubt, it is in their condition as a signal reader that the performer (performador) becomes a mean of music expression within the performative field.’ ²⁸ In his doctoral thesis, José Luís Ferreira also says: ‘…the relations giving privilege to musical expressiveness are the ones between humans and not the human-technology relations. However, one achieves the freedom of performative expression when the acoustic and electroacoustic means are equal. It implies that the electroacoustic mean should be malleable and thus performable within a system behaving like the instruments.’ ²⁹

   José Luís Ferreira’s fascination with the possibilities offered by technology in the domain of music is unquestionable. However, I would say that the composer had quite a healthy relationship with technological means, and one can find this attitude reflected in his doctoral thesis. It wasn’t the technology by itself that José Luís Ferreira had an interest in. In his relationship with it, within his research and pedagogical activities, the composer sought to chart new paths for his music, where technological means play a significant role; however, they never overweigh the human creative capacity. Not machines but people, through their métier within various domains connected with artistic creativity (including computer music), can introduce the new and make art move forward. I think this is one of the most essential lessons José Luís Ferreira gave us, and we shouldn’t leave it behind. This lesson should constitute a critical part of our narrative about him. As various other composers have always done, José Luís Ferreira found a glimpse of freedom in this approach.

July-August, 2023 · © MIC.PT

José Luís Ferreira · Playlist

FOOTNOTES

¹ The work “Avant” has three versions. Two versions (from 2010 and 2011) José Luís Ferreira mentions in his doctoral thesis, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems” (Portuguese Catholic University, March 2014). Regarding the third one, the conductor Jan Wierzba told the MIC.PT in 2019: ‘We recorded it with the MPMP Ensemble for a CD to be released, where José performed with us at two concerts. It was the third version of the piece, made specifically for these concerts and recordings. It’s dear to me because I participated in it. For José it was a working process with some very close friends involved in the construction of the piece and its recording: Tatiana Rosa, Daniel Bolito, Miguel Costa, Isa Antunes, Catarina Távora, Philippe Marques, Duarte Martins and Luís Delgado.’ (MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019; translation to English: Jakub Szczypa).
² According to: Jakub Szczypa, “In Search for Electroacoustic Potential. Between the Japanese and Portuguese Cold”; New Music Review Lounge; December 18, 2010.
³ José Luís Ferreira, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems”, doctoral thesis under the guidance of António de Sousa Dias; School of Arts – Portuguese Catholic University; March 2014; p. 121. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
⁴ Tom Service, “Musical lives cut short isn't just a rock'n'roll phenomenon”; “Tom Service on Classical Music”, The Guardian, February 15, 2012.
⁵ Ibidem.
⁶ Performador (performer) is a term in Portuguese used by José Luís Ferreira in his doctoral thesis, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems”. Op. cit. José Luís Ferreira explains the term and its derivations (performação, etc.) in the 2^nd Chapter of the thesis, “Reflections on the performer (performador), player (intérprete), and performance (performação)” [“Reflexões sobre o performador, o intérprete e a performação”]: ‘In the course of our research we prefer to opt for the use of the term performer (performador) to designate the musician, whose primary objective is the realisation of a sound score, to the detriment of the habitual Portuguese-language designations, such as executer (executante) or player (intérprete), and for considering that they are not sufficient to characterise this task. In Portuguese, one rarely uses the term performer (performador) in the music framework. It habitually serves to designate a multifaceted artist, combining various forms of expression in their presentations.’ (p. 49; translation to English: Jakub Szczypa).
⁷ Miguel Azguime in the MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
⁸ More information on the Música Viva Festival 2019 edition available at: LINK.
⁹ More information about the DME Project available at: LINK.
¹⁰ MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019 dedicated to José Luís Ferreira. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
¹¹ The two Música Hoje radio programmes, produced by the Miso Music Portugal for the Antena 2, are available on the RTP – Play.
¹² Philippe Trovão in the MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
¹³ Term used by José Luís Ferreira in his doctoral thesis, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems”. Op. cit.
¹⁴ More information about the ESML Mixed Music Lab – José Luís Ferreira available at: LINK.
¹⁵ MIC.PT Interview with José Luís Ferreira published in the MIC.PT In Focus section in November 2013. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
¹⁶ Ibidem.
¹⁷ Ricardo Guerreiro in the MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
¹⁸ Ibidem.
¹⁹ MIC.PT Interview with José Luís Ferreira published in the MIC.PT In Focus section in November 2013. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
²⁰ Term used by José Luís Ferreira in his doctoral thesis, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems”. Op. cit.
²¹ MIC.PT In Focus from March 2019 dedicated to José Luís Ferreira. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
²² Ibidem.
²³ The broadcast of the two Música Hoje radio programmes with the participation of José Luís Ferreira’s friends, students, teachers and collaborators – António de Sousa Dias, Carlos Caires, Miguel Azguime, Philippe Trovão e Pedro Boléo (Round Table moderator) – occurred on February 8 and 22 on the Antena 2 (Portuguese National Radio), and are available on the RTP – Play. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
²⁴ Ibidem.
²⁵ Philippe Trovão in the March 2019 In Focus. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
²⁶ Ibidem.
²⁷ The broadcast of the two Música Hoje radio programmes with the participation of José Luís Ferreira’s friends, students, teachers and collaborators – António de Sousa Dias, Carlos Caires, Miguel Azguime, Philippe Trovão e Pedro Boléo (Round Table moderator) – occurred on February 8 and 22 on the Antena 2 (Portuguese National Radio), and are available on the RTP – Play. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
²⁸ José Luís Ferreira, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems”, doctoral thesis under the guidance of António de Sousa Dias; School of Arts – Portuguese Catholic University; March 2014; p. 49 and 66. Translation to English: Jakub Szczypa.
²⁹ José Luís Ferreira, “Mixed Music and Dynamic Relations Systems”. Op. cit., p. 16.