PIERROT I ARLEQUÍ, Miquel Pardo-Llungarriu

Repertoire

Pierrot, Joan Angelico Illustration

The two movements of PIERROT I ARLEQUÍ describe very well the character of these two clowns from “Commedia dell’Arte”. First, Pierrot, the sad, melancholic and fallen in love with the Moon. Next, Harlequin, the cunning, grumpy and troublemaker one.

The Composer

MIQUEL PARDO-LLUNGARRIU (Barcelona, 1959) is a musician (composer and pianist), musicologist and philosopher, Superior degree in Composition, Musicology and Doctor Cum Laude in Philosophy at the University of Barcelona, with a PhD about phenomenological music aesthetics.

Member of the Catalan Composers Association since 1996, he has composed around 100 works for piano solo, organ, guitar, voice, chamber music, cobla, symphonic band and orchestra. He has awarded some national and international prices and some of his works are published in Clivis, Dínsic, Periferia and Tritò editions.

Pardo-Llungarriu was a Harmony and Music Theory teacher at the Conservatori Professional Municipal de Música de Sabadell (near Barcelona).

Click here to read more about the composer.

Details of the work

Publisher: Contact the composer (mpardollungarriu@hotmail.com)
Duration: Around 10:00
Range (written): A2 – C#6
TECHNIQUES: Breathing (long phrases). Diversity of articulations. Slaps. Lots of fast excerpts. Altissimo register. Multiphonics (full and separate sounds) accuracy. Flatterzungue. Bisbigliandi. Vibratos and sound oscillations. Key sounds. Smorzando and air sounds.
PERFORMANCE: Expressive phrasing in the slow sections. To perform with easy and agility in the fast sections. To control the rhythm and tempo changes by keeping the continuity of the phrasing. Integration of the multiphonics as a harmonic-tonal element of the work.

Meaning and Structure of Pierrot i Arlequí

All my compositions spring from a inner interest, from a desire of adventure and exploration of the soundscape that offer me the different instruments. I think that this work is a clear example of this intention, with the challenge to write for a solo instrument. I tried to communicate musical feelings and thoughts as humour and irony through these well-loved characters from the commedia dell’arte: Pierrot and Harlequin. (Miquel Pardo-Llungarriu, 2016).

PIERROT I ARLEQUÍ was the first Pardo-Llungarriu’s piece for baritone saxophone solo, although he already the saxophone in some other works. He was appealed by the sound richness and potential expressivity of the instrument.

PIERROT I ARLEQUÍ is a very demanding work. The indications are very precise, the notation is conventional and the reading is clear. Among the copious amount of extended techniques used, the use of multiphonics is remarkable. They act as a true polyphony and are very well integrated in the melodic discourse of the piece.

The general atmosphere of the first movement is melancholic. The main theme is languid and becomes dramatic in the climax with the addition of fast excerpts.

The second movement is predominantly rhythmical and playful, almost naughty, with diversity of articulations. It contains a challenging cadence just before the final section. The movement ends in a brilliant way.

Commissioned by the Catalan Association of Composers, I premiered PIERROT I ARLEQUÍ in their concert season “Música d’Ara” in Barcelona on October 20^th, 2016.

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Would you like to know more about PIERROT I ARLEQUÍ by Miquel Pardo-Llungarriu? Would you like to work on it with me? Don’t hesitate to contact me for more questions.