A commission from the project “Nortear“, promoted by the Regional Direction for Northern Culture, Xunta de Galicia and European Group of Cross-Border Cooperation Northern Portugal/Galicia, based on the homonymous winner story “Ver” of the 4th Nortear Literary Prize edition by Sara Brandão.
The sound creation, with strong inspiration on the story “Ver” by Sara Brandão, was based on certain key events of Alfredo’s life, the main character of this story. Alfredo was born blind and his path took an unexpected turn when he decided to photograph the city with a camera belonging to his father. Sara’s character, in a simple but true narrative, confronts us with essential aspects of life, and how Alfredo’s blindness serves as a metaphor for exposing certain forms of life.
This metaphor undoubtedly inspired the creative team of this music project establishing an installation-concert format from the beginning. The aim was to explore the unpredictability of musical events through the interactivity of the musicians with the electronic medium, where the music is built step by step or touch by touch.
For this, the work was concentrated on a basic instrumentation consisting of a violin, clarinet, trombone and electronics. This instrumentation offered a wide register of sounds, thus each representing a different fase of Alfredo’s life. The musicians, dispersed on the stage, follow not only the precise indications in the score, but also interact with what electronics suggests as musical discourse.
Ângela da Ponte: composition / electronics
Edmundo Pires: violin
Luís Santos: clarinet
Rafael Badajós: trombone
Pedro Pires Cabral: light design
Paulo Araújo: graphic design
Promotor: Direcção Regional da Cultura do Norte
Production: Teatro de Vila Real
Angela da Ponte 