“Estruturas Gêmeas” is one in a series of eight "Structures" pieces, unified by the sounds of modern music of this period, such as cluster tones, atonality, indeterminacy, experimentation with new ways of writing, as well as new sounds on conventional instruments. This work, translated as Twin Structures, was premiered in Brazil by Paoulo Affonso de Moura Ferreira and Maria Angelica Ketterer. This work has already been performed in Argentina, Paraguay, the United States, and Spain, and is often performed by Brazilian piano duos. I composed it in memory of Esther Scliar, soon after her death. I decided to place two pianists side by side, as if they were twins, feeling at that moment a spiritual twin of Esther's, myself. In 1987 I transcribed the piece “Imagem Carioca” (Rio de Janeiro's Images), originally for orchestra, for four guitars. The work has been played on numerous occasions by guitar ensembles in Brazil and Spain, and was premiered in 1987 in Rio at the Villa-Lobos Museum in a special concert commemorating my twenty-fifth anniversary as a composer. The composition suggests the accompanying percussion group at a samba school, with a lyrical middle section. Impulsos No. 2” was composed in honor of José Siqueira, my first composition teacher. The premiere occurred in 1997 by Arthur Gouveia and Celso Garcia. In the work I used material from my song “Berimbau”, based on myths from the Amazon. I have dedicated a good part of my musical output to the guitar. There are several reasons for this: the appearance of many excellent classical guitarists in Brazil during the last twenty years; the ongoing tradition of guitar playing within popular urban music (principally choro and samba in Rio de Janeiro); my frequent visits to the interior of the state of Rio de Janeiro, where the instrument plays an important role; and finally, the influence of the powerful works of Heitor Villa Lobos. Páprica” is dedicated to Bartholomeu Weise and premiered in the Municipal Theater of Niteroi in 1999. It is part of the "Spice Series," a group of works named for spices, for different solo instruments, all constructed on the T-System (see Tacuchian's biography for more information on the T-System). The external sections are in Tempo Rubato, contrasting with the central section in Tempo Giusto. Ricardo Tacuchian |
