This composer, musician, teacher and electronic music performer would have turned 50 on August 31, 2023; thus, the September In Focus the MIC.PT dedicates to José Luís Ferreira.
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Lento non troppo
Moderato
Scherzo - Allefro molto
Allegro Assai
Instrumentation
Musical Category Orchestra
Instrumentation (general) Orchestra
Program Notes
The so called experimentalism perhaps it can be, in the domain of the arts, the essential scholars’ mission of searching and collecting documents which later on will serve other scholars to write History. While faced with truthfulness, the historians and the researcher’ role - as well as the artists and the experimenters of new approaches to aesthetic languages’ role - is always worth of deepest respect. However, no one can deny - nor hide – that, there’s a clear difference between an historian or a creator’s specific functions and the work exerted by assorted kinds of researcher. Like the historian has the duty to verify the validity of the sources that guide him, also the artist should develop a certain capacity of research, not limiting himself to interpret and to use the data that had been transmitted to him. Although, different methodologies of work are assumed, sometimes enclosing a certain antagonism of processes. I will always pointed out the allure that multiplicity of aesthetic options in the XX century music exerted in me. This occurrence is preponderantly concerned with the researchers’ work. However, in certain fields, it was observed an overvaluation - or missed interpretation - of pure experimentalism, confusing this activity, many times valuable, with the true composer’s art. So, it’s obvious that such attitude would weak the good music’s cause, little by little transforming it into a laboratory product, leading to a lack of not necessarily specialized but truthful public, above all not hypocritical in its bravi and applauses, dealing with what they do not understand. In some cases, this material is not even destined to be understood and only exists (and this is already important…) to supply workable elements that musicians will work later on transform into music. In fact, a moment will arrive when it becomes necessary to apply on an authentic workmanship - and not only on eventually interesting sonorous sketches - all the vast source of accumulated experiences.D. João II, King of Portugal, used to say “There’s owl’s time and hawk’s time”… In the same way, there’s also periods when is convenient and necessary to research, for the reason that is part of any musician’s professional development. But there comes the time when, those that have natural talent, will really be respected as composers. This Third Symphony – requested to celebrate an historical event of my beloved city: Viana do Castelo - is only just an example of the principles that I corroborate. I would like to point out the fourth movement, where I use thematic material from the sound-track of one of my films - “The Guilt” (A Culpa). This is once more an example of the tendency I always felt to approach assorted styles on the same piece - or even on the same single page… - always assuring an aesthetic coherence that I consider fundamental. António Victorino D' Almeida
