Masques (2010)

MOVEMENTS

I – City snapshots

II - Sensing

III – Intermezzo: Conflict

IV – Dreaming in a magical world

Program Notes

Masques portrays four different faces of the man of our time in a kind of deconstruction of four different elements in our reality. It is not a descriptive or programmatic work. Rather, the four different movements are centered to evocate different states.

In the first movement, City Snapshots, diverse and quick fragments of music are presented. A city is a condensed place of diversity, which we can experience in a just few hours. It starts quietly, like the dawn, and progresses to a more stressful section followed by more rhythm and animation. The movement ends in a mood similar to the beginning but with more motion.

The second movement, Sensing, is more intimate. It begins with only the string section which links to a solo flute and then a solo clarinet. The movement goes in crescendo until the climax at the end.

The third movement is a short Intermezzo, titled Conflict. It is intended to be a violent and tense piece resembling a Scherzo form, with a very violent beginning and ending and a more mysterious and tense section in the middle.

The last movement, Dreaming in a magical world, wants to evoke dreams, hopes, and ideals. It starts very quietly, with very subtle and different sounds, and leads us into a Vivo theme until the end of the piece.