"Prometheus, in Greek religion, one of the Titans, the supreme trickster, and a god of fire. His intellectual side was emphasized by the apparent meaning of his name, Forethinker. In common belief he developed into a master craftsman, and in this connection he was associated with fire and the creation of mortals."

Enciclopedia Brittanica

Recorded at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien by the prestigious PHACE Ensemble and conducted by Daniel Rueda Blanco, during the Vienna Summer Music Festival 2022.

Prometheus | for Ensemble

PROMETHEUS | for Ensemble - Performed by Ensemble PHACE

“Just over the horizon a great machine of death is roaring and rearing.
We can hear it always. Earthquake, starvation, the ever-renewing sump of corpse-flesh.
But in this valley the snow falls silently all day, and out our window
We see the curtain of it shifting and folding, hiding us away in our little house,

(…)

Of cruelty, where heads fell like wilted flowers and snow fell for many months
Across the pass and drifted deep in the vale.

(…)

Covered with sores, unable to speak. But of course we see the child every day,
We hold out our hands, we touch him shyly, we make offerings to his implacability.
No, the index cannot close. And how shall we survive? We don’t and cannot and will never

(…)

“

The Curtain, Hayden Carruth

Recorded at the Salon Brahms by the famous Irvine Arditti, during the Vienna Summer Music Festival 2022.

THANATOS | for Solo Violin - Performed by Irvine Arditti

EPIMETHEUS | for Wind Orchestra - Excerpt from Rehearsal

Performed by Raquel Leite (ConcrèteLab Ensemble)

BODEN | for Solo Double Bass

ATROPOS | for String Trio - Commissioned by Arte no Tempo & Ars Ad Hoc Ensemble

ACOUSMA | for Electronics

KNURREN | for Oboe and Electronics

STAUB I | for Cello & Live Electronics - Performed by Éric-Maria Couturier

Performed by the Portuguese Youth Orchestra (JOP)

EPIMETHEUS | for Wind Orchestra

Akte II, for Violin, Cello, Piano, and Artistic Installation, is the second project in a cycle of pieces inspired by the artistic actions of the Austrian painter Hermann Nitsch, one of the most emblematic figures of Viennese Actionism. It is a collaboration between the composer João Moreira and the visual artist Maria Silveira, resulting in a sonic and visual installation where sound and image reflect each other.

The exploration of timbral and dynamic limits of different instruments, in dense layers of counterpoint, combining serialist techniques and typologies of saturated material, makes the sound an almost aggressive rupture that cannot be ignored. The intense sonic landscape is accompanied by a painting in motion and evolution, creating a complete, sensory narrative that extends in time and space. Sound and color spots increase and decrease in intensity, in improbable and challenging structures that build a territory of discomfort where nothing is predictable or secure.

In this way, Akte II becomes not only a musical approach but a total artistic experience, inviting the audience to explore the interconnections between artistic languages and to embark on a unique and provocative sensory journey.

João & Maria

AKTE II | for Violin, Cello, Piano & Artistic Installation

PROLEGOMENA | for Tuba and Electronics

Performed by Marina Bosseli at Fabrica del Vapore

meditationum quarandum de igne succinta delineatio | for Euphonium and Electronics

João Moreira is a young composer from Lisbon, Portugal

João Moreira

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