ritmische étude is a composer's exploration of the concept of groove.
Groove is a vital component to a significant amount of musics, almost
all of which have a unique conceptualization of it. These subtleties
result from the different ways groove is perceived and explained. In
some musics, groove can be expressed as the "feel" of how a basic
subdivision should be parsed (e.g. swing), while in other musics the
groove can have a much more variable ebb and flow, be it dependant
on fixed patterns (claves) or not. It becomes clear, then, that groove is
strongly linked to subtle yet complex adjustments to subdivision,
ones that are not easily codified in new musical praxis.

It is within this context that ritmische étude is born. The piece
approaches groove in ways familiar to West-African and Afro-Latin
musics, linking rhythms to verbal phrases, which serve as mnemonic
devices. These phrases, however, serve the double purpose that they
allow for a conception of rhythms not specifically tied to any
particular subdivision: something like the woodblock's "Andriessen
bakt pannenkoeken met de bakbanaanen" can be subdivided in 4 or
in 3 with ease. The piece uses this flexibility to at times gradually shift
from different subdivisions in an effort to push the technical
boundaries of new music.

Ritmische Étude op "Gebakken Cultuur"

Premiered 8 April 2022 in the Spring Festival The Hague

Performed by the New European Ensemble:
James Meldrum as "Cachicamo" (clarinet)
Ryan Linham as "Morrocoy" (trumpet)
Daan Treur as "San Benito" (piano)
Rada Ovcharova as "El Fuego" (violin)
Willem Stem as "Tigre" (cello)

VI. Departure of the Saint and Final Supplications

V. Cachicamo’s soliloquy in a hole in the rain

II. First Interlude of the Chimbangleros
III. Tigre and Fuego's contest of strength
IV. Second Interlude - Tigre’s departure from the Chimbangleros

Premiered 8 April 2022 in the Spring Festival The Hague

Performed by the New European Ensemble:
James Meldrum as "Cachicamo" (clarinet)
Ryan Linham as "Morrocoy" (trumpet)
Daan Treur as "San Benito" (piano)
Rada Ovcharova as "El Fuego" (violin)
Willem Stem as "Tigre" (cello)

Dialogues II,III,IV

Premiered 8 April 2022 in the Spring Festival The Hague

Performed by the New European Ensemble:

James Meldrum as "Cachicamo" (clarinet)
Ryan Linham as "Morrocoy" (trumpet)
Daan Treur as "San Benito" (piano)
Rada Ovcharova as "El Fuego" (violin)
Willem Stem as "Tigre" (cello)

I. Dialogue between Cachicamo and Morrocoy

A musical setting of the first verses of Neruda's poem "Walking Around," or "Sucede que me canso de ser hombre."
Performed by the odd7 septet.

Walking Around

Great orators often blur the lines between speech and music. Some are so skilled that for a brief moment, they make us forget ourselves, our bodies, our prejudices. 
We become one, with one message, one thought. His voice is our voice, one and the same, ringing. 

We must let it ring.

Let Ring... (2018)

Written for the Orkest de Ereprijs 2020 Young Composers' Meeting with Soloist Georgi Ognjanov Sztojanov

This piece is dedicated to the orkest de ereprijs and the people of Barlovento, para que juntos en tiempos mejores podamos celebrar

Pregones al Bautista (2019) - Orkest de Ereprijs

Den Haag-based Venezuelan-American composer, performer, and storyteller.

Martín Francisco Mayo

Popular tracks