In the beginning was the Light.

No início, era a Luz.

- Composição para orquestra, percussão étnica e eletrónica.
- Composed for symphonic orchestra, ethnic percussion and electronics.
2020 ©

The Beginning

Frost Bite

According to Carl Jung, archetypes are primordial ideas and conceptions that universally exist in the minds of all humans without regard to culture or education.

For example, Jung noted that all ancient cultures had a creation story. The stories themselves were vastly different but the existence of each of these stories hints at the fact that the idea of a creator was and is universal in every culture. In the case of this example the creator is the archetypal idea, and the creation story itself is a resulting manifestation of the archetype.

I found the notion of archetypes fascinating, and began to wonder whether music itself holds any archetypal ideas. The role of music is paramount in most, if not all, cultures and manifests in everything from the solemnity of worship to the most visceral celebration. As we know, the breadth of what music is can be vast, and this begs the question: which elements of music are archetypal and which are cultural? Can we find any primordial elements of music that are ubiquitous to all humans regardless of their musical or cultural background? 

I started writing this piece by writing its “archetype,” a musical idea from which all the materials of the piece will derive; in other words, I wrote a theme. Traditionally a piece starts by presenting a theme that later goes through various kinds of alterations and manipulations, but in the case of this piece, the theme (or archetype) is not presented in the beginning. The piece uses the archetype as the generator of the musical materials but at the same time the archetype (theme) is not introduced.

The piece is made up of six parts, five parts being different manifestations of the archetype, and the last part being the archetype itself. In each one of the five manifestations, only a certain aspect of the archetype seeps through to the notes and we only get a glimpse of the archetype; we only see its shadow. In the final and sixth part of the piece we finally get to listen to the archetype as it is. Would it sound familiar? Would it sound as if it was there throughout the entire piece?​
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Seltenreich - ARCHETYPE - Tokyo Philharmonic

World Premiere of Matthew Holmes' tuba concerto 'Eclipse' performed by Stuart Beard and the Oxfordshire Festival Orchestra, under the baton of Edward Leibrecht.

Eclipse - Matthew Holmes

Piece for string quintet, horn, piano and percussion.

Grund

Orquestra de sopros da Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Ana Telles (piano) e Alberto Roque (maestro).

Pianissimo (2017)

Ubi Caritas et amor, Deus ibi est (Where there is love and charity, God will be there). My search for a sacred text to write music for was finished as soon as I read this sentence, so strong was it’s meaning to me.
	The text for Ubi Caritas may be one of the most beautiful of the catholic tradition, as such, it’s one of the most used when composers write choral music. The endeavour didn’t appear easy, but, sitting on the shoulders of giants, I listened. Immediately, a couple of defining characteristics struck me - clarity (the text should really be the main focal point), lightness, and hope,... The feeling that we’re stronger together than apart. Is there a better motto to start writing a piece of music, I dare say?
	From my own point of view, I always knew the music should speak absolutely clear, and lightly. The notes should feel like a feather dropping on you, as you listen. And the music should feel like hope from beginning to end.
	Congregavit nos in unum, to sing, to make music. In that way, the result can only be love, and God will certainly be there.

Ubi Caritas

Yliathim - acousmatic

MA.RIM.BA (2018)
for Marimba and Electronics

Composition: Pedro F. Finisterra
Marimba: Cristiano Rios

This is a home recording, recorded by Cristiano Rios & mixed Pedro F. Finisterra.

This piece was premiered at Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal, on the 28th of January 2020. The recording of the premiere is available here: https://soundcloud.com/cristiano-rios-642846313/marimba-pedro-finisterra-live-casa-da-musica

Website: https://www.pedroffinisterra.com

Where to find my scores:
Portfolios: https://portfolios.esml.ipl.pt/compositor/pedro-f-finisterra/
Scherzo Editions: http://www.scherzoeditions.com/?page_id=6957#ffs-tabbed-11

Follow me on social media:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/pedroffinisterra
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/pedroffinisterra
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pedroffinisterra/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PedroFinisterra
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pedroffinisterra/

Contact me:
pedroffinisterra@gmail.com

Follow them on Soundcloud:
Cristiano Rios: https://soundcloud.com/cristiano-rios-642846313

MA.RIM.BA

Saudade

This track belongs to "En Tu Piel" 's Original Soundtrack:

Bratislava Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by: David Hernando Rico
Orchestra Recording Engineer: Martin Roller
Recorded at: Slovak Radio, Studio One - Bratislava, Slovakia

Acoustic Guitar by: João Venda
Piano by: Carolina Leote Godinho
Guitar and Piano recorded by: João Ganho
Recorded in: Lisbon (the region), Portugal
Music Production, Mixing, Mastering, ... : João Ganho for O Ganho do Som

Many thanks to:
my BSO Master tutors Arnau Bataller, Bernat Vivancos, Lluís Vergés;
to João Ganho (O Ganho do Som) for all the amazing work and for believing in this project;
to João Venda, for the wonderful guitar interpretation. You rock;
my family - thank you from the bottom of my heart.

CLG © 2018

Ubi Caritas

João Viegas

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