Concert program

Isabel Pires – ombres (2006)

for piano
Duration: approx. 14 minutes

There are moments when the lights fade.
What was once presence becomes absence, and in place of clarity, a dense fog sets in — made of silence and shadow.

Ombres emerged from within that space, an inner landscape shaped by abrupt gestures and broken fragments, as if the sound itself were trying to embody a nameless restlessness.
There are impulses on the verge of violence, brief but intense movements, as if the piano had become an extension of a body struggling against the weight of overwhelming feelings.

And yet, there is still a flicker of light between these breaks: light:
Delicate melodic lines, ephemeral harmonic sequences that suggest a kind of comfort – as if the memory of brightness has stubbornly remained in the darkness.

This is not a story.
It is a state of mind. A transition.
A reflection in sound of a time that is held in suspension.

John Zorn – Merlin (2015)

for trumpet
Duration: approx. 7 minutes

Composer, saxophonist, and a central figure in the New York avant-garde, John Zorn (b. 1953) presents Merlin (2015), a work of striking intensity and technical complexity. The piece is part of the album There is No More Firmament, which reflects Zorn’s deep fascination with mysticism, the occult, and transcendence.

In Merlin, the interplay between musical notation and free improvisation creates a deliberate ambiguity between what is written and what is improvised — a signature element of Zorn’s aesthetic. This is further enriched by the integration of free jazz elements and rigorously notated passages.

The performer is challenged to use a wide range of extended techniques: circular breathing, glissandi, slaps, pedal tones, multiphonics, noise textures, and split tones.

Maka Virsaladze – Prayer (2016)

for piano
Duration: approx. 5 minutes

This piece was composed for a concert dedicated to Visions de l’Amen by Olivier Messiaen, reflected in its rich color palette, contrasting timbres, singular harmonic language, and free allusions to Messiaen’s modes of limited transposition.

Beyond traditional piano technique, the performer must execute glissandi on the piano strings, use their voice, and incorporate a recording (of a choral work with the same name by the composer) in the final bars.

Rhythmic patterns, overlapping sonic layers with different speeds, and dissonances evoke the Russian bell tradition, while repeated notes and flexible chant-like rhythms reflect Orthodox liturgical prayer. The pianist recites the prayer in Georgian:
“Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.”
The work ends with a coda the composer describes as “the movement of the human soul before death.”

Vuk Kulenović – Hilandarska zvona (1992)

for piano
Duration: approx. 7 minutes

The title of this work means The Bells of Hilandar. Hilandar is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located on Mount Athos, a monastic community in Greece exclusively inhabited by male Orthodox monasteries from various national traditions. It is a significant spiritual center for the Orthodox Christian world.

Composed a year after the beginning of the wars that led to the breakup of Yugoslavia, this piece — structured in three distinct movements — is not dark, but rather luminous, full of energy and elevation. It functions primarily as an onomatopoeic evocation of bells — specifically, those of this particular monastery — perhaps reflecting a form of escape from the horrors of war, anchored in hope and Orthodox faith.

Luciano Berio – Sequenza X (1984)

for trumpet and piano resonances
Duration: approx. 15 minutes

Sequenza X, composed by Luciano Berio in 1984, is one of the most iconic and demanding works in the contemporary repertoire for solo trumpet. It belongs to the celebrated Sequenze series, begun in 1958, in which Berio explores the expressive and technical limits of different instruments.

In this tenth Sequenza, Berio explores the timbral possibilities of the trumpet, whose sound is enhanced by the resonances of a grand piano. This is achieved through held keys and the sustain pedal — without an actual piano part. The effect is intensified by the trumpeter physically turning toward the piano strings to activate specific resonances.

Jazz influences are clearly present through the use of doodle tonguing, flutter-tonguing, and expressive phrasing.

In the composer’s own words: “(…) the trumpet here is used directly, without ‘makeup,’ revealing its purest sonic essence.”