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MUR#03 was created in relation to the overture of R. Wagner's opera Das Rheingold, which is performed without interruption immediately afterwards. This aspect reflects the need to conceive the concert not as an arbitrary collection of pieces, but as a global listening process that goes beyond the sum of its parts. MUR#03 is not a rewriting, reinterpretation, or reuse of any motifs or materials from Das Rheingold. The relationship lies simply in the fact that it is intended to be performed before the piece, in the same way a programmer plans the sequence of pieces in a concert. This is by no means a minor relationship.ç
As I have already commented elsewhere, this is not only a superb work, it’s also an innovation, a first it seems to me (in any case, I know of no equivalent of such strong association between the universe of the classical orchestra and the world of modular; even less at the concert).
This association is fabulous. As these extraordinary encounters between the classical orchestra and other instrumental universes such as that of the great organs (for example we can listen again to the 3rd symphony by Camille Saint-Saëns).
Listen to this fusion between the timbre of the orchestra’s instruments and the modular synthesizer. Just one example:
After an introduction that develops till a nearly apocalyptic level and ends with two powerful orchestral punctuations (we can listen to them from 5:10), then emerges a very simple and modest note held by the oscillator of a Dixie II+ (note born from the second tutti and revealed around 5:30). This note is joined by the clarinet (at 7:45) then gradually, step by step, developed by other instruments and sections of the orchestra (*).
The modular is an orchestra, the orchestra is a modular!
(*) This passage evokes the famous note held (a B), played by the bassoon and emerging from the final chord of the first movement of Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in E minor, then introducing the second movement by evolving towards a C.
I allow myself to place here the whole video of this performance.
In addition, I encourage everyone to read this very relevant reflection of Luis about the modular synthesizer.
‘We don’t need more synthesizers: we need discipline’ https://coderapuzo.com/synthsanddiscipline/
This will echo many debates here...
Thank you very much for your very detailed listening, Sweelinck. A funny story about the note that you mentioned is that I had problems with the power of the case, and when I arrived at the rehearsal the pitch was extremely unstable. Thanks God I solved it for the concert, but it was really tragic as you can imagine!
Again, thanks for listening, reading and paying so much attention; I feel honored.
