Piano Works
For prepared piano (2012) commissioned by SESC, Cage + project
texte by Pascale Criton
Mobile is a piece that resonates with me because it engages listening with an imagination that I would describe as visionary, as it allows one to hear unheard-of sonic qualities—those that we are not accustomed to hearing. This work, written in 2012, references John Cage's Sonatas and Interludes (particularly XIV-XV) from 1948, which introduce the idea of preparation and play inside the piano. The preparation envisioned by Michelle Agnès Magalhaes is unique and promotes the unstable energy of sound. A set of carefully chosen objects—including 11 tubular magnets in balance—meticulously scattered among the strings, allow for playing with the complex nature of the string, varying tones, pitches, harmonics, beyond the identity of the note.
What particularly interests me in Mobile is the idea of mutation that underlies both the generation of sounds and the form of the piece. The initial sounds, immediately very rich and suspenseful, somehow diffract into punctual, rhythmic elements. These articulated figures then give way to echoed, repeated bursts that proliferate and tend towards a continuous, boundless stretching of sound.
This mutation is quite astonishing. The listener experiences an internal transformation, a "molting" that starts from distinct, identifiable elements and projects them towards a multiplying expansion: an exit towards the cosmos.
It's a music grounded in the physicality of sound that gives significant importance to the performer.
Le Carrefour de la création, France Musique, 12/01/22
text by Ricardo Descalzo
Few compositions have impressed me as much in my life as this genius work by the Brazilian composer, pianist and improviser. I remember that when I found it a few years ago I did not give credit to what I was listening and I could not imagine how those sounds were produced without any electronic manipulation. The idea of using cylindrical neodymium magnets inside the piano, shows that there are no limits in the imagination of the composers and that the resources to be used in our instrument are unlimited, even if there is an increasingly frequent number of people in our professional environment who hate these practices.
The idea of combining precise writing with improvised fragments seems to me to fit perfectly with the spirit of the work, which was born from the improvisational world of the composer herself.
Mobile is a tribute to John Cage (hence the classic screws and washers) and is inspired by the sculpture of Ricard Lippold "Gemini" that, at the same time, served as inspiration for the Sonatas XIV and XV of the American composer. Mobile evokes an imaginary metal sculpture, a sound automaton and its cyclic movements. The result is a gorgeous universe of bells, ghostly echoes and distant ritual drums.
Mobile is an essential part of my concert programs since it entered my life and one of the pieces that every year I work with my students in Musikene. I’m sure that it will become a classic of new piano music. I can only say: thanks, Michelle for creating something so beautiful, so original and so pleasant to play.
video performances by
Ricardo Descalzo Anna D'Errico Claudia Chan Rafael Liebich Neus Estarellas Eugene Schon Michelle Agnes
Performed by Anna d'Errico, Festival Musica i prossimità, December 2023
For piano (2012) performed by Sanae Yoshida Commisionned by Arts Council Norway
Soul of Snow, much like my previous pieces, originates within the realm of the piano, delicately exposing its harp to fingers that meticulously manipulate the continuity and contrasts between harmonic and inharmonic sounds. The pianist's hands, their direct friction on the strings, and the sonic traces they leave in a blend of resonance construct a unique and distinct acoustic space. This space will be redefined, expanded, and deepened by the timbral harmonies of alternating thirds (a subtle allusion to Debussy's studies). These cuts, contrasts, articulate the form, introducing perspectives or free navigation through the layers. Microtonality is integrated here as color and depth.
"Soul of Snow," one of my pieces paying tribute to Emily Dickinson (much like "Herbarium," a cycle for piano, percussion, and double bass), seeks a connection (and its paradoxes) between the intimacy and explosiveness of life and death. For me, personally, "Soul of Snow" carries the marks and memories of the year I spent in New England between 2017 and 2018, not far from Dickinson's residence. It encapsulates all of my amazement, my discovery, and my musical translation of this wintry landscape.
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the Air –
When it comes, the Landscape listens –
Shadows – hold their breath –
When it goes, 'tis like the Distance
On the look of Death
(There’s a certain Slant of light, Emily Dickinson)
Before you thought of spring" is the first piece of Herbarium (2018), a cycle of works for piano, double bass, percussion, and electronics.
The piece produce sounds through excitors and a mini-speaker orchestra inside the piano, allowing it to resonate, vibrate, and reproduce recorded sounds of historical instruments.
The work creates a complex temporal and spatial relationship with the pianist, highlighting the contrast between live performance and pre-recorded elements. The electronic support isn't necessarily aimed at creating seamless continuity between acoustic and technological means. Rather, it offers an alternative perspective on the musical material, inviting renewed listening within the work's context.
Composed in 2018 during my fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies (Harvard University), the piece was initially inspired by Harvard's vast collection of over 200 pianos scattered across campus in study rooms, auditoriums, and university residences.
A pivotal moment occurred when I discovered Emily Dickinson's piano at the Houghton Library, housed in a room dedicated to her work, surrounded by paintings, objects, and manuscripts. This discovery transformed my initial project's direction.
The cycle was dedicated to the Talea Ensemble, who premiered it in March 2018 at the American Society in New York, followed by a second performance the next month at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
The Creative Process:
My research into Dickinson's manuscripts revealed her visual experimentation, which became a significant source of inspiration. Having published little during her lifetime, her creativity manifested through letters, notes, and poems written on letter fragments and envelopes. Like a musical score, the visual construction, rhythm, and spaces proved crucial to her work.
The title "Herbarium" references Dickinson's remarkable collection of dried flowers arranged in a 66-page notebook. In this work, the piano serves as the central element, with other instruments functioning as extensions or branches. Each piece employs a distinct notation system, echoing Dickinson's experimental approach. The herbarium concept provides an apt metaphor for the relationship between score and music: as composers, we attempt to capture something alive and ephemeral (sounds) on paper, creating a score. This relationship between notation and its absence becomes a central theme in the work.