on the deconstruction of a cluster
Formation: solo piano
Creation: march-may 2005
Premiere: 19th january 2009. Reina Sofía Museum (Madrid). HORACIO LAVANDERA
Duration: 10 min.
Just as in the other pieces of the deconstruction series (of a whole, of a roll, of a cycle, of an end, of a trill), the deconstruction of a musical object or structure becomes the discursive element of the piece. The present piece is the first one of the series. It proposes the deconstruction of a piano sound mass (cluster) that covers the individuality of the single notes, taken from the Nocturne Op.15/2 by Chopin, which is gradually appearing in the work.
The piece constitutes a musical materialization of the contraposition between a musical layer and another one that nullifies it. The construction of the piece is based in a dramaturgical conducting of the forces of every layer, which are treated by means of quasi architectural resources: work with densities, velocities and spectral amplitudes of the cluster layer, lineal or repetitive character (loops) of concrete fragments of the cluster, “semantic crescendi” of the layer of the nocturne, dynamic distributions…
The deconstructive procedure takes also place in a temporal level: it starts from a situation, full of clusters, in which the nocturne is seldom recognizable and through a progressive deconstruction of the clusters layer, the other layer, Chopin, is gradually brought to the foreground, until it is suddenly interrupted by a second part of the piece, radically contrasting, that works as a kind of negative of the previous musical material: the element that now forms the discourse is the mere intentionality, the friction of fingers over the lowest string of the piano.