The Puppeteer, for alto saxophone and string quartet
Comissioned by: Orchestrutopica
Composed in: 2008 (revised in 2012)
Dedicated to: Maria Gádor Soriano
Premiered in: Festival do Estoril | August 2008
There is a dramaturgy associated to this piece.
The underlying script does not contain any verbal sounds by the performers; it only suggests musical and bodily expressive gestures. The dramatic nature of the piece is easily understandable. However, the fruition of the piece, not only by the audience, but also by the performers, can be strongly enriched if its cenic/theatrical component is explored. It can be staged with much or little detail, according to the venue and the expected audience.
For the premier of the piece, and also for the writing of the script, I relied on the precious collaboration of the spanish musician/actress Maria Gádor Soriano. Her work was also fundamental in the rehearsals: through a series of short games and exercises intended to promote relaxation and interaction betweeen the musicians, she was able to put them more at ease with this scenical component to which most musicians are not accostumed.
In the beginning of the rehearsals, the musicians expressed a natural resistance to this foreign idea of going on stage also as an actor. But after a couple of rehearsals, and specially after the concert, their opinion was unanimous: it was extremely gratifying to feel that the music benefited a lot with this theatrical component; and it was also surprising to witness how the musicians' commitment to the performance benefited so much from these (very light) acting exercises and games that were experimented in the rehearsals.
Composed in: 2008 (revised in 2012)
Dedicated to: Maria Gádor Soriano
Premiered in: Festival do Estoril | August 2008
There is a dramaturgy associated to this piece.
The underlying script does not contain any verbal sounds by the performers; it only suggests musical and bodily expressive gestures. The dramatic nature of the piece is easily understandable. However, the fruition of the piece, not only by the audience, but also by the performers, can be strongly enriched if its cenic/theatrical component is explored. It can be staged with much or little detail, according to the venue and the expected audience.
For the premier of the piece, and also for the writing of the script, I relied on the precious collaboration of the spanish musician/actress Maria Gádor Soriano. Her work was also fundamental in the rehearsals: through a series of short games and exercises intended to promote relaxation and interaction betweeen the musicians, she was able to put them more at ease with this scenical component to which most musicians are not accostumed.
In the beginning of the rehearsals, the musicians expressed a natural resistance to this foreign idea of going on stage also as an actor. But after a couple of rehearsals, and specially after the concert, their opinion was unanimous: it was extremely gratifying to feel that the music benefited a lot with this theatrical component; and it was also surprising to witness how the musicians' commitment to the performance benefited so much from these (very light) acting exercises and games that were experimented in the rehearsals.
program notes
This piece explores possible ressemblances in musical gesture and timbre between an alto saxophone and a string quartet. For that, I gave the instruments different roles: the saxophone incarnates a puppeteer and the string quartet behaves like a quartet of puppets/marionettes. With that hierarchy in mind, I tried to musically develop the characters and the relations that are typically established between a manipulative being and manipulated beings.
The first part of the piece works as a sort of exposition section, in which the puppeteer explores how the puppets respond to his gestures. Once he has become acquainted with the expressive capabilities of the four marionettes, a development section follows in which the puppeteer tries to improvise a dramaturgy.
In the beginning of the piece, all marionettes behave in a mechanical and obedient way, but soon their distinctive personalities will emerge and gradually they'll become more and more desobedient. This phenomena culminates in a mutiny, in which the unruly puppets definitely stop obbeying the puppeteer and gain a life of their own.
© João Godinho
The first part of the piece works as a sort of exposition section, in which the puppeteer explores how the puppets respond to his gestures. Once he has become acquainted with the expressive capabilities of the four marionettes, a development section follows in which the puppeteer tries to improvise a dramaturgy.
In the beginning of the piece, all marionettes behave in a mechanical and obedient way, but soon their distinctive personalities will emerge and gradually they'll become more and more desobedient. This phenomena culminates in a mutiny, in which the unruly puppets definitely stop obbeying the puppeteer and gain a life of their own.
© João Godinho
score
This score is presently being revised.
recording
Excerpt:
Full recording:
Performers:
Richard Ducros, alto saxophone
Orchestrutopica:
Vítor Vieira, violin
Juan Carlos Maggiorani, violin
Jorge Alves, viola
Teresa Valente Pereira, cello
Gravação: Centro Cultural de Cascais | August 2008 | Festival do Estoril
Captação: RDP/Antena 2
Richard Ducros, alto saxophone
Orchestrutopica:
Vítor Vieira, violin
Juan Carlos Maggiorani, violin
Jorge Alves, viola
Teresa Valente Pereira, cello
Gravação: Centro Cultural de Cascais | August 2008 | Festival do Estoril
Captação: RDP/Antena 2
