In focus

Ka'mi's channel on Youtube: kamixmusik

Questionnaire / Interview

PART I – Roots and Education

How did music begin for you? Where do you identify your musical roots? Which paths led you to composition?

The fascination with music and sounds began very early, so early that I cannot really specify it. Yet the study of music started considerably later, already during adolescence, first when I received a mandolin left by my paternal great grandfather. My dedication to this instrument posteriorly led my parents to offer me my first guitar. My granduncle, Mário da Silva – a fascinating person and a talented guitarist – supervised, quite dedicatedly, my first steps on this instrument. Consequently my education was autodidactic and, in this sense, it was always associated with a compositional side. I used to read books on musical theory, tonal and modal harmony, acoustics, counterpoint, etc., from which I tried to extract knowledge and concepts which I could introduce into my music and way of playing. My friend and percussionist Miguel Freitas was teaching me solfeggio while I was trying to attend some master classes like the ones at the Hot Clube in Loures, where I had the privilege to study with Vasco Agostinho. My autodidactic approach led me equally to ceaselessly look for knowledge on the repertoire from such diverse areas as classical music, jazz, rock, the so-called “ethnic music”, etc.
My decision to dedicate myself exclusively to music resulted from my growing interest in this art, and so I began studying Musicology at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FCSH) of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL). The scientific method and the depth of historical knowledge gave me another maturity, whose influence I felt when posteriorly I went to study Composition at the Lisbon Superior School of Music (ESML).

Which moments from your music education you find the most important?

I do not consider it a finished process. For me education has no ending. Still in December I began having horn lessons…
The moments are quite a few and varied, not all of them contributed to my career as composer, and not all of them are positive moments, which does not preclude their importance. In retrospective, and without wanting to remove the value from other important situations (see biographic note), I attribute more and more inestimable value to the years when, as student of the FCSH, together with my friend and colleague Guilherme Proença, I attended almost uninterruptedly the Music Seasons at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, from the so-called “early music”, classicism, romanticism, etc., up to the annual Gulbenkian Encounters for Contemporary Music, still existing at that time. This effort was only possible thanks to the generosity of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to music students, and in this case Musicology students, for which I am extremely grateful. It was a regular acquaintanceship with music from different genres and musical periods, of highest quality and level of interpretation, in the space and time where the sounds exist and the music happens… in situ.

PART 2 – Influences and Aesthetics

Some would say that due to its nature music is essentially incapable of expressing anything neither emotion, mental attitude, psychological disposition, nor any natural phenomenon. If music seems to express something, it is only an illusion and not reality. Could you define, in this context, your aesthetic stance?

The question brings about a veiled comparison: the more abstract nature of music... Is music really more abstract than any other form of art or artistic expression? Is any other art able to express anything, without it being only an “illusion”, in my opinion a product of culture constructions? This could lead us to more philosophical questions on nominalism, realism, conceptualism, etc.
According to our cultural construction, music is in its materiality constituted by sounds and silences (which does not mean the absence of sound) – independently of their quality and properties, music operates within the framework of the sound sphere (although not exclusively). Sound is an alternation or variation in atmospheric pressure, which is not only heard but also equally felt. Therefore music is one of the unique art forms, which truly interacts with the receptor at a physical level. I think that in this way the less abstract nature of music’s prime matter is exposed… now, about music itself...
My aesthetic stance towards this question is one of indifference given its irrelevance. In music, and particularly in my music, it is irrelevant if anything is liable of being expressed, if anything is understood as such and/or if anything is intended as such. The reception of a work is a complex and knotty phenomenon, which does not necessarily correspond to what is proposed, if that ever occurs… the univocal in music is equivocal. And there, it proves to be itself a product of the abstract… which precisely for that reason, is able to express anything, even if it does not exist, or even the nothingness…

Are there any extra-musical sources, which in a significant way influence your music?

To find music in everything that surrounds me is not an option, it is not a choice or even an ambition. It is a way of being and a form of being in life and in the world. Whether it is the product of human activity or nature, the absorption and the understanding of what surrounds me in a musical sense is spontaneous and subconscious. Therefore, it is difficult for me to understand the distinction of a category, which is being explained as extra-musical. Perhaps this way I include myself in a vision of music closer to Boethius...
Still the first object of my attention is mainly associated to sound events (which are also extra-musical) and to situations that might translate themselves into formal “narratives”. However these extra-musical references are neither of programmatic character, nor do I intend to have them recognizable in my work. In reality, it operates mostly at a level, where even I forget their sources, in other words, they are not even recognizable by me.

PART 3 – Language and Compositional Practice

How do you characterize your musical language?

Since 2007 I have been exploring different forms of applying systems of pitch-organization, that differ from that of the division of the octave in twelve equal parts. In parallel with matters of relations between pitches and their result, whether vertical or horizontal, I am interested in what other pitch organizations can give us at the level of timbre and colour, that are inaccessible in the conventional equally-tempered system. In this realm I should also emphasise the importance of the role of dynamics in my work: dynamics is not only a question of volume or sound intensity, it is linked to our perception of timbre, as well as to the perception of a sound’s pitch.
I will resort often to the harmonic series, not in the sense as to provide for a consonance, which has been sought by many composers since the publication of the results of Helmholtz’s research, nor as in the case of spectral music, to reproduce the behaviour of some given spectrogram. The harmonic series functions for me as a structuring element, which through its relations enables the transition between different systems of pitch organization – from something close to diatonicism, passing through whole tones, to chromaticism, extending to quarter-tones, sixth-tones, eighth-tones, etc.
Structurally I employ the same type of proportions (and consequently of relations), which I obtain from this series, without it implying the formal flow of the work. At this level I indulge myself the freedom of choice between what the material proposes, the musical gestures, which it employs or derive from it, the creativity and/or inspiration of the moment, or even a priori decisions.

Which techniques do you employ in the composition process? Are there any musical genres / styles for which you show preference?

The techniques to which I resort are always linked to one or more specific compositional problems. For this I seek to articulate the processes that would better respond to the problems, or which would better adapt them to my particular solution. Next, some examples of the variety of devices to which I resort to.
In Epígrafe, Epífrase e Epifonema (2003) I resorted to symmetrical chords whose axis could alternate on one note or one interval. The development of the form and of the material’s events was freely drawn on an A3 sheet, which posteriorly I projected on the score, proportionally and subordinated to a “low definition” grid.
In the piece for solo piano, Étude d’Ut: Absence d’une Mémoire Présent (2003), I employed chromatic processes on diverse musical parameters, exploring linearity as variation, submitted to a process of limitation – the avoidance of the octave – interval, to which I reserved the piece’s final space.
In Fragment (2004) I used an excerpt of the piece for guitar, Discrepantia (2002), which I explored thoroughly, resorting firstly to a fixed pitch-registration, then to multiplication of chords (the fragment transposed by itself), and finally proposing an intervallic succession of the fragment’s juxtaposition. This process gives origin to a pitch-net for the whole instrumental scope, which remains static, obtaining the resulting dynamism from the instrumental figuration and articulation.
In the case of Harmonias Simétricas | Simetrias Harmónicas (2005) for guitar quartet, I adopted the intervals, which at that time my friend and composer Hugo Ribeiro favoured so much – interval 1 and 7 (minor second and perfect fifth) – to explore possibilities in a severely restrained environment. In the last section of the piece I adapted the same type of structures, not to concrete intervals, but to intervals between the cardinals of the harmonic series.
In Peça para Eça – Narrative for Orchestra (2007) I had as departure point my piece for flute, Enquanto Canto Encanto Quanto. The challenge was to transform this essentially monodic music in a work for orchestra. Among other processes of proliferation of material, there is a relatively extensive section in the woodwinds, which is based on the principles of counterpoint (measure 189 to 252), whose rules were specifically designed for this exact situation and particularly to the proposed material.
More recently I have resorted to structures directly related with the harmonic series, and with the proportions of its relations also present at the level of temporal structure. Thus being, points on the temporal line, in which an event should occur, are determined a priori, without exactly predefining the quality of this event. It is a type of a relatively opened system, which gives me a first instance of organization as well as freedom of choice and greater plasticity in the compositional process. This technical procedure had its beginnings in Oito Minutos for orchestra (2007) and Jenseits des Klanges (2008), subsequently achieving a more organic level in Sonderart des Kreisens (2009/10) or wyschnegradsky_revisited for 8 instrumentalists (2011).

In the context of your practice as composer how could you define the relations between science (physics, acoustics, mathematics) and music?

As if continuing a previous response... I see science as abstract music.
But we can make the discussion more scientific. Here are two equations, which in my opinion could define the relations between music and science (and the reason why sound and music are different things):

Science = Nature – X
Music = Nature + Y

My invitation for discussion remains open.

What is your relation towards new technologies and how do they influence your way of composing as well as your musical language?

It is important to understand what “new technologies” mean. It is a terminology, which has already acquired its own space, however without making clear what it encompasses or what its limits are, and in its more complete designation presents itself as “new technologies of information and communication”. On the one hand they are so prevalent, that it would be difficult to an individual to be able to assert his/her “exo-existence” in regard to them. On the other hand they can be so specific that they exclude technologies, which are close to them in the principles and for the same ends, although different in the means.
It is important to demystify the role of technology in the world today and especially its application in music: not always the more recent developments signify an advance; not always is an advance something qualitative; and what is even more important, in art, any technological advance, even though qualitative, should not be an end for its own sake.
For a guitarist, making use of technological means, either analogical or digital, is something more and more current. My practice in this field has always brought me perplexity in view of the enormous differentiation that is possible in terms of the obtained results. It is indispensible to have a methodology as well as specific and clear criteria, in order to avoid becoming slave to the situation. Already in the mid-90s I started using musical notation software. The advantages are mostly obvious, but many composers still do not recognize the restraints and the influences, which this practice can assume in our own musical writing. Within this framework I took a conscious decision to renounce the mentioned technologies during the creative process: first I use paper and pen and only afterwards I make the transcription to the musical software. This way my working on paper is decisive in the notation of the score. Yet this method does not avoid the side-effects, just softens them. The multiple upgrades of the most used programmes haven’t brought, to my mind, any kind of solution to these questions. Nevertheless they are tools of utter utility and of widespread usage.
It is in the field of the so-called electroacoustic or acousmatic music where these “new technologies” have been having a greater impact and emphasis. My experience here essentially concerns using samplers, sequencers and sound synthesis in what is understood as “electronics on tape”. Electroacoustic tape music puts me in the privileged situation of synchronicity of the roles of composer and performer. My production in this area is relatively reduced in comparison with instrumental music, but I do recognize that some conclusions, which I took for my more recent instrumental music, were the outcome of experiences, which I carried out particularly on the “Csound” program.

PART 4 – Portuguese Music

What do you think of the present situation of Portuguese music? How could you define the composer’s role nowadays?

Perhaps it would be more adequate do talk about music in Portugal and not Portuguese music.
In January 2008 on the occasion of the premiere performance of Peça para Eça in the framework of the Workshop for Young Composers of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, in conversation with Pedro Boléo from the Público journal I briefly traced the scenario of music in Portugal. At that time I mentioned what to me still seems important today: there is an enormous potential, especially at the level of human resources. The question, which I then put, remains equally present: can we substantiate this potential?
Despite some institutional efforts they still cannot achieve what would be necessary. In most cases the major developments have been taking place with individual effort, initiative and sacrifice. The financial issues are sufficiently fundamental in order not to be neglected in this analysis, but in my opinion the more interesting projects consisted of altruistic entrepreneurship, many times without any kind of budget, or at most extremely reduced. The new generations together with the involvement and good will of some “veterans” have been offering innovative initiatives and a musical quality quite far above what the investment in the area has been.
Chamber music ensembles have been proliferating – an evident factor of a transformation on the musical panorama in Portugal, as well as of a new mentality and stance of the musicians in their relationship to the social fabric. Only just 10 years ago the situation was different. Then the musical production was (still) roughly associated with institutions – at that time on a seminar at the ESML Christopher Bochmann identified this situation as unique in Europe. Another sign of the transformation is the “boom” at the level of Composition in Portugal, and to which the establishment of the discipline at the level of higher education certainly also contributed. Eurico Carrapatoso identified this phenomenon as the “second renaissance”, in a terminology, which can be seen as describing two different situations: on the one hand, a second golden age of composition in Portugal, just as it was during the Portuguese renaissance; on the other hand, literally as a rebirth of the musical art in a country where the exceptions confirmed its inexistence.
These developments, even though seemingly interesting and rich, are not sufficient. The musical life cannot live on outbursts. From a historical point of view these aspects have tendency to be ephemeral episodes. The urgent aspect would be to structure the potential at hand, with the purpose to guarantee continuity. And here we have a problem, not merely of conjuncture but also political, financial, social, cultural, educational and historical.
The musical education is of superlative importance in establishing a society that endeavours and interests itself in the art of sounds, and I shall not enter the domain of financing or patronage, etc.
Another point concerns music criticism, or better, the absence of music criticism. Together with the previously referred developments in the portuguese musical life, we have been experiencing, paradoxically, the disappearance of music criticism. I have received with great interest the news about some initiatives to invert the direction of this situation. If there is to be an actual “second renaissance” then it will be strange for the future generations the oblivion of the whole phenomenon by the diverse forms and spaces of social communication. The absence of music criticism consequently means the absence of reception of musical production. It equally means, although not directly, a society’s valuation of what is being proposed. In the final analysis, its absence precludes the space for discussion, mitigating the existing potential.

The composer’s role is principally a social matter. It is not up to the composer to define it or decide upon it. The acceptance or renouncement on the composer’s part might affect his personal trajectory, yet the role of the composer will always be determined by the social fabric.
The above mentioned “boom” will also need to be understood in the framework of what it represents in terms of a social response. Perhaps we still lack historical objectivity in order to better understand this phenomenon.

According to your experience what differences can you distinguish between the Portuguese musical environment and in other parts of Europe? What distinguishes Portuguese music in the panorama of contemporary musical creation?

This question poses itself immediately when somebody establishes himself outside of Portugal. I could only refer to what I have personally experienced and what is rather circumscribed to the area of German language (Germany, Austria and part of Switzerland). This was the question which, during the first three months of my stay in Austria, in Graz, rather recurrently came back to me more frequently. After those initial months, the question disappears naturally... but without getting an answer – and this can be explained.
If one would speak of a particular project, in comparison with another project made in Portugal... for instance, comparing the Gulbenkian Encounters for Contemporary Music (unfortunately no longer organized), with the Wien Modern Festival (a reference and a case of success). It would be then possible to make an analysis of the target audience, of the attendance, of the involved means, of the event’s status, of the impact in the media, the programmes’ content, the programmatic line, etc. Eventually one could draw conclusions on a course of action, which might or might not emulate results, and/or identify characteristics specific for each situation, but whose line of action would also be itself a possible object of analysis. From this, a model could create be created, which could be better adapted to the idiosyncrasies of the music scene either in Portugal or in Austria.
When the question is given to us in a more general form, it looses its sense and does not encounter response (besides mere speculation), because we are talking about so distinct realities, as if they concerned two different universes. And different does not imply a valuation. One needs similarities in order to find the differences...

PART 5 – Present and Future

What are the motives for your choice to live / develop your activity outside Portugal?

Continuation of my studies; to encounter other challenges; to develop my knowledge of German language, etc.

What are your present and future projects? Could you highlight one of your more recent works, present the context of its creation and also the particularities of the language and techniques used?

At the moment I concentrate my efforts on the conclusion of my PhD, whose subject is microtonality, focusing more specifically on the string quartets of Georg Friedrich Haas.
In the field of composition I am working on a recorder quartet entitled y sigue caminando, in which I resort to a compositional device similar to Xenakis’ “sieves” (a kind of filter), but with a personal application of the principle. This work should be presented in November.
The last piece, which I wrote, was for a project of the artist Hong-Kai Wang, invited by the Arnold Schönberg Centre in Vienna to integrate the exposition on the occasion of the institution’s 15th anniversary. Hong-Kai invited 12 foreign composers who live in Austria to reflect on the following subject: “What’s the consequence of musical change?” Out of this discussion should result the material for the text employed in the composition of 12 pieces for voice. The scores were to be exposed together with excerpts of footage form the rehearsals with the composers and performers.
And so I wrote the piece A.Sch_B: In memoriam Manuel João Fernandes (1920-2012), for two “prepared” singers with different voice registers, around a high-standing Cocktail Table. The piece is dedicated to my beloved grandfather.
It is is composed of 40 fragments disposed in a circular form in two A3 pages; it is an open form; there are no clefs, but there's an instruction that the voice of the higher register (in this case the soprano Gaia Mattiuzzi) should read the score as if notated in treble clef and the voice with lower register (in this case the baritone Andreas Jankowitsch) should read the score as if notated in bass clef. The material is restricted to the pitches evoked in the title, notated in both above-mentioned clefs: A, Es, C, B, and B flat (read in the German use) and plentiful inflections of quarter-tones. Both singers use “heads” from the recorders (soprano for the lower voice and alto for the higher voice), which serve as filter and as modulation of the voice, either leaving the tube open or closing it, as well as passing through intermediate positions, in accordance with the notation to each fragment. The singers should circle around a Cocktail Table where the score is set and illuminated by a candle. They also have strings with small bells attached to their arms and legs, which attribute a resonance to their movements – the objective is to restrain the quality of the movements. The singers should try not to produce sound with the bells, which happens to be impossible. The voice dynamics is limited by the technical capacity of the singers in emitting the singing with the most possible intensity, however without producing the sound of the recorder, and consequently the emission of a pitch on the instrument. The intelligibility of the text is secondary, but the attempt to achieve it is intended. The singers have various possibilities of choice throughout the score; from one fragment to another they are confronted with multiple choices. The piece’s beginning is defined in two indicated places in the score, from which the two singers start to read the score. From then on it belongs to their full responsibility to develop the piece, as well as to decide on finishing the reading of the score. This is attained by the extinguishing of the candle by one of the singers using the head of one of the recorders. The right moments for this effect are indicated in various places of the score. The minimal duration is 1'50'' and it should not surpass 17 minutes.

Afterword

It is always with extreme difficulty that a composer talks about his / her music. Some aspects concerning the language and musical style, compositional techniques or aesthetic stances, would be probably more easily approached and responded to in third person, by a musicologist. The composer tends to have a distorted vision about what he does, tendentiously underestimating what he did and being completely fanciful on what he intends to do. Some of the above questions could take months to respond; I intended to answer synthetically, although convinced that some of the responses would probably be different if given again, on another occasion.