Premiere of Duplum in Spain!

On May 9^th 2012 Duplum was premiered in Spain and the composition of this work is very interesting indeed.The premiere was at the Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto (Gijón, Spain), by the Tuba Ensemble of the Higher Conservatory of Music of Oviedo (Spain). It was a great performance including 2 tubas, 1 euphonium, 1 piano and electroacoustics that I performed live.

I first created the electroacustics for the work Justo antes de los bosques (Just in front the forest), a performance that blends ballet and theater, premiered on February 2012. The music I composed for the 5^th section of Justo antes de los bosques is one of the most original creations I have ever done. Eight families of sounds create a music with an inexplicable coherence!

The effect struck me so much that I decided to go deeper into this music to found more.

Tuba Ensemble of CONSMUPA at the Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto

I did it composing a new instrumental line to sound with the electroacoustic sounds: a second layer that sounds over a previous one. I mean, the electroacoustic sounds are exactly the same sounds I used for the 5^th scene of Justo antes de los bosques. However, now you listen to instruments that call your attention to some aspects of the electroacoustic sounds, aspects that are not easy to grasp at first. The instruments create relations between sounds changing their meaning and the way they are connected in our listening. Sound objects that have no strong connections are now tightly connected. Sound objects perceived as noisy have their pitch revealed due to the presence of an instrument, and some features that were in the background are now evident.

This work is called Duplum as it reproduces a medieval practice of composing a melodic line to sound with an already composed plainchant. Besides, some of the textures I use are inspired in this practice. However, my personal focus is on the change of meaning to produce an impressive experience. How incredible it is for the presence of a single sound can deeply change our understanding! Changing the meaning is the key, and this music does that!

The Tuba Ensemble of the Oviedo Highest Music School has already recorded Duplum, and it will be available for download soon. A free download! I am concluding it just now to post here the link for you to download it.