SOUND PORTRAITS IV & IVb, Enric Riu

Repertoire

Detail from the album MADE IN BCN (La Mà de Guido, LMG-2154)

Both versions of this work belong to the series of Sound Portraits (solo instrumental pieces) that ENRIC RIU developed in his investigations mid the 2010’s. The main concern in each one of these works is to find paths to break the existing barriers between the composer, the performer and the audience. The ultimate goal is to deliver the content (or message) in an intellectually accessible way without sacrificing its quality. The latter is, in the opinion of the composer, the greatest challenge for the performer.

The Composer

As a composer, ENRIC RIU (Barcelona, 1968) is a fervent supporter of multidisciplinary projects. He actually focuses in the possibilities of improving the communication between the composer and his audiences by means of co-creation with the performers. In order to investigate in this field, he usually works with renowned ensembles like Morphosis Ensemble, Fonema Consort, Proyecto Hélade, Ensemble CONCEPT/21, and outstanding interpreters like double-bassist Kathryn Schulmeister, saxophonist Joan Martí-Frasquier, marimbist Adilia Yip, flutist Marc Horne, clarinetist Emily Beisel and pianist Tomeu Moll.

Enric Riu has combined his composition activities with teaching, working as Musical Analysis instructor in centers as the Conservatori del Liceu, the Conservatori Professional de Música in Vilaseca and the Institut Andorrà de Música i Dansa in Andorra la Vella, among others.

Click here to read more about the composer.

Details of the work

Version IVb must be played with live electronics
Publisher: Contact the composer (enricriu@yahoo.es)
Duration: between 5:02 and 5:24 long.
Range (written): the lowest, the highest (not precised)
TECHNIQUES: Tempo in seconds. Tonguing accuracy, slaps, different kind of air sounds, micro-intervals, growl, voice, tongue ram, key sounds, multiphonics, extreme dynamics.
PERFORMANCE: To improvise following the parameters indicated in the score. To empathize (and interact) with the audience.

Listen to the solo version, SOUND PORTRAIT IVa:

Meaning and structure of Sound Portraits IV & IVb

SOUND PORTRAITS IV and IVb (version with improvised electronics) seek, in the same way that most of my works written from 2014 on, to strengthen the empathy of performers and listeners with the composer without forcing him to decrease the quality of his work content. What each one perceives of each work remains something extraordinarily subjective; not even the ad hoc descriptive music managed to unify sensations at the time. However, rejecting the description does not mean that communicativity can not be improved: it is much more than possible, but we need to change some points of view, and take into account a polyhedral role for interpreters, as well as develop research on other aspects that allow much more for other approaches between the parties. (Enric Riu, 2018)

The work has no any conventional music notation (no notes, no staves, etc.), but 3 groups of lines with a few indications. The first block (textures) has three parallel lines (1, 2 and 3) containing different indications of elements that modify the morphology of sound. The second block (registers and speed) has two lines (I and II). Here, duration of notes and rests (A the slowest, B, and C the fastest) are suggested on the registers of the instrument (1º -low-, 2º -medium-, 3º -treble-). The third block (dynamics) has three different parallel lines (a, b, c).

If you want to play SOUND PORTRAIT IV, you should randomly choose a line of each of these three blocks and play them simultaneously without repeating the same combination, up to six times. Every line longs 50 seconds and can be separated by pauses no longer than six seconds each, except from the 5^th and 6^th times that have to played without interruption.

Now listen to the duo version with electronics, SOUND PORTRAIT IVb:

Have you found any differences between both versions? Which version do you like the most? The more I worked on this work, the more creative resources I found. If you like to improvise you will love this work.

I premiered the solo version, IVa, at the 17^th World Saxophone Congress “SaxOpen”, in Strasbourg (France) in July 2015. Later, I suggested Enric Riu a new version with electronics for Morphosis Duo, with Joan Bagés, an excellent sound artist and composer. Enric welcomed my proposal and suggested Joan to improvise freely with the electronics. The addition of the electronics part gave a different perception. Joan and I premiered this new version at “Música d’Ara” concerts series in Barcelona in October 2016. In 2018, I decided to include both versions in my album MADE IN BARCELONA (La Mà de Guido, LMG-2154).

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Would you like to know more about SOUND PORTRAITS IV & IVb by Enric Riu? Would you like to work on it with me? Don’t hesitate to contact me for more questions.