FIREFLY -after Tokyo Blues-
Year of composition: 2019
This work obtained the 'Francisco Guerrero Marín' award in the 'XXX Young Composers Award SGAE-CNDM Foundation'.
Is dedicated to Thomas Adès.
Length: 11 minutes
Scored for: chamber ensemble of eight players
Opus 20a - AA202019
Premiere:
First performance was given by KOAN 2 Ensemble, conducted by José Ramón Encinar, at 400 Auditorium in the Queen Sofia National Museum Art Centre, Madrid, on November 18, 2019.
Please note:
Full set and study scores are purchased, fulfilled in hard copy, and yours to keep. Full sets are licensed per two years of performance, and it can be renewed with an additional cost of 50€. Additional parts are delivered in PDF, and the fixed electronics (when necessary) is free downloaded through a QR code printed on the full score.
For more information or request additional parts, please, contact us through: sales@aalcaldemusic.com.
Study score (8.3 x 11.7)
Price:
45.00€
Full set (8.3 x 11.7)
Price:
90.00€
Brief notes:
Firefly - after Tokyo Blues - obtained the 'Francisco Guerrero Marín' award in the 'XXX Young Composers Award SGAE-CNDM Foundation 2019. First performance was given by KOEN 2 Ensemble, conducted by José Ramón Encinar, at 400 Auditorium in the Queen Sofia National Museum Art Centre, Madrid, on November 18, 2019. Is dedicated to Thomas Adès.
This piece takes its title from a homonymous short story by Murakami Haruki, published inside the collection ‘Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman’ (1980 to 2005). Murakami describes – from a first-person perspective – a nostalgic story of loss and burgeoning sexuality. Music try to get inside the psychology of characters, richly described by Murakami, alternating between an intimal mood of despair and sex, continuously guided by the ruinous memory of a song that links and give shape the whole piece... ‘Norwegian wood (This bird has flown)’ by Beatles (1965). Murakami took this short story as cornerstone of his successful bestseller, ‘Norwegian wood’ (1987).
Firefly is cast in a binary system, with the whole thematic material encapsulated in the first nine measures. The first idea is introduced immediately by the bass clarinet, which is rather seductive, even somewhat cynical, and is developed starting from a polytonal system. The second idea is an atomization of the popular song "Norwegian wood (This bird has flown)" by The Beatles, from their 1965 album "Rubber Soul". These materials are kept in a constant volatile state during the consequent development, with a particular emphasis on the technique "Klangfarbenmelodie" (sound-color melody), which is a musical technique that involves breaking a melodic line between several instruments. Furthermore, Firefly is a revisit (and/or reinterpretation) of that piece of mine, Tokyo Blues, scored for soprano and piano with digital extensions in 2017.
download it in PDF: Español - English.
