Mawün, Lluvia Patagónica
Year:
2020
Instrumentation:
Prepared piano
Commissioned by Hagai Yodan as part of his '60 seconds' music project
Note:
Mawün, rain in Patagonia
Patagonia is a large, frozen desert area in the south of Argentina. Although it is a cold area, it only seldom rains there. Every time it used to rain in this area, there was a great celebration. ‘Mawün’ is the name the natives use for first rain.
When Hagai Yodan, an Israeli Pianist, offered me to compose for his ’60 seconds project’, I thought to myself that if I only have a minute, I need to be very precise and concise in my writing for the miniature to succeed.
I decided to focus on exploring the realm of flageolets (harmonic notes) on the piano. It is a realm of notes with a percussive nature on the one hand, but of an angelic quality on the other.
I found that the flageolet notes the piano produces, resemble to me the musical image of a first rain on a dry, desert land. Hence the name of the piece.
I chose six notes, which I divided into two groups:
1. B, C# and E, which a re produced from the bass notes G, A and C.
2. Lowered D, lowered E, and lowered G, which are produces from the bass notes Ab, Bb, and Db.
The first group of notes plays the melody of the piece, whilst the second group acts more as accompaniment to the notes od the first group.
Micro-tonal clashes occur between the groups, which add a deep and special sound to the listener, a sound that enlarges the piano’s acoustical breadth.
Photos by Maxim Reider
Concerts: