Works

Instrumentation (detailed)

Percussion

Vibraphone, Tam-Tam, Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbals, Timpani, Bass Drum, Cowbell , Temple Block, Crotales, Tubular Bells

Performer(s)

Music for Percussion was written during the first lockdown in Portugal in connection with COVID - 19 – March 2020.

It is a work about nothing, without any programmatic intention, except that the music breathes for itself – without concept. The composition process resembled sound painting, but in deferred mode – with a large blank sheet of paper in front of me and several coloured pencils between my fingers, I painted what I wanted to hear.

It quickly became clear that this would be a work that would thrive on gestures, textures and the approach to space (physical - with the spatialisation of the musicians; and the work of 'space' in the musical narrative). The structure of Music for Percussion then oscillates between gestures and textures, with the exception of a Choir that acts as the central pillar and mirror of the work. This Choir is inspired by the harmonic work of Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa and is written entirely for gongs, vibraphone and bell plates (with the exception of some notes). However, the harmony develops in extreme slow motion, forcing the musicians to exert immense effort, care and rigour between triggering notes and cutting resonances in a race against the beautiful and the fragile.

João Carlos Pinto

Notes

Work	Type	Date	Organization/Event	Venue	Town	Country	Performers	Notes	Inv Row
Music for Percussion	Premiere	2023/Sep/02	Festival Itinerante de Percussão | special 2023	Casa da Música	Porto	Portugal	Bruno Costa [ESART], Miquel Bernat [ESMAE], Eduardo Cardinho [UA], Pedro Carneiro [ESML], João Dias [UM], Marco Fernandes [UÉ], Miguel Herrera [ANSO] Mário Teixeira · conductor	Notes