Schlagzeug (Trinoctium)

Trinoctium (Lat. three nights) is a concerto for Percussion and String orchestra structured in three independent parts: Ante Lucem, Soledat ran del mar and Bacchanalia, and includes two cadenzas for percussion solo: the first one is named Cadenza, for Vibraphone solo, to be played after Part II: Soledat ran del mar; the second one is written for set-up and included in Part III: Bacchanalia.

Trinoctium was commissioned by the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin in 2006 and premiered on May 10th 2007 at the Berlin Philharmonie with the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin under the baton of Markus Poschner and Claudio Estay on percussion solo.

Part I: Ante Lucem (lat. before the light) invites the listener to embark on the search for light, for the origin, for the sounds of unknown worlds. A search that becomes at times distressing, desperate and even obsessive.

Part II: Soledat ran del mar (catalan, solitude by the sea) is a contemplative night journey of a markedly introspective nature. Conceptually, it was created from sound and rhythmic models extracted from nature itself, to later systematize them in a rhythmic and structural way during the compositional process. On the other hand, the first Cadenza for vibraphone solo is written from a melodic-jazz prism on a rhythmic basis that evokes the flow of baroque passacaglia, composed from elements extracted from Soledat ran del mar, as well as from Part III: Bacchanalia.

Part III: Bacchanalia (lat. bacanal) is the feast of the wine god Bacchus, also known as Dionysus. Bacchanalia evoques a night music celebration and was composed inspired by rhythms of Balkan origin, enriched through an elaborate structure of amalgams and instensifying rhythmic elements. Along Bacchanalia two manifestly different musical athmospheres are presented; a duality that does not resolve until the drums cadenza is reached, unleashing a final culminating debauchery.