Three Memos: For Percussion Duo

(Percussion). Three Memos is a 7-minute-long piece for percussion duo, commissioned by Drumming GP, and premiered at the Evora Percussion Festival on October 5, 2021. Conceived as a compositional study for percussion, it functions as a musical notebook, with each of its three movements (or 'memos') focusing on a particular technical issue of performance and adopting it as a compositional premise: Movement I ('On Counting and Quiet') invites the performers to share a constantly changing rhythmical pattern, which is meant to be perceived in the texture through the precise use of dynamics; Movement II ('On Silent and Irrational Rhythm') opposes resonating and muffled attacks - highlighting the rhythmic consequences of the absence of sound - in multi-pulsing measures; Movement III ('On Quickness and Precision') presents both subtle speed changes in similar musical gestures and a central section in which the two parts share the same musical cells, constantly alternating between unison and imitation. The deliberate timbral and material restriction in the piece serves the purpose of clarifying each particular musical issue addressed in every movement - its rarefaction underlining the delicate character of the piece. This economy of means is mirrored in the instrumental setting, which requires the performers to share the instrumental setup. Both decisions were made to create an atmosphere of concentration in both the musical and the physical gestures - allowing the performative element to complement the nature of the musical proposal.