(2009)
Variations on Folk Themes – From a young age I was exposed to the magical world of oral traditions. My father frequently took me on his field trips around Portugal, and so it became only natural for me to be part of this “adventure” that was the discovery of my roots. During these past years I have been lucky to collaborate with my father in his research center at the University of Lisbon as a cataloguer of the incredible field work collected by Fernando Lopes-Graça and Michel Giacommetti, and of my father’s own writings regarding folktales and traditions. As a result of this atmosphere that surrounded me for so many years, I gathered from my subconscious some gestures, colors, and musical textures that define in a certain way “our” traditions. This collection of four small movements, a set of variations on folk-like themes, reflects my exploration of particular motives and cells. Some movements have a more obvious folk tone while some are much more discrete, using folk-like motives in simultaneous layers and textures. Thus, I treat them as a kind of introverted commentary on what are “our” main gestures, if I can call them that – an approach to connect my past (a result of my upbringing) with my own future growth as a composer.