Live recording from a concert at La Pedrera, Barcelona, Sept 2018

KENT OLOFSSON: Il Sogno di Tartini, for violin and electronics
Violin: Sara Cubarsi
Sound projection/electronics: Violeta Cubarsi

Il Sogno di Tartini (for violin & electronics)by KENT OLOFSSON

Little snapshot from the concert at La Pedrera last September. I adapted (sometimes very minimally) three of the Rosary sonatas so that I could play them without continuo, and one after the other without having to make too many radical scordatura changes. In between each sonata I changed the tuning of one string and improvised a  very simple cadenza over an electronic tambura-style drone to let the string settle into the new tension. The scordatura changes were: Sonata n. 6 in C minor 'The Agony in the Gethsemane Garden' with the 4 strings tuned to G-D-F#-C# (i.e. at A440Hz this sonata would be heard in B minor, but at A415Hz it would be heard in C minor); Sonata n. 2 in A major 'The Visitation' with the strings F#-C#-F#-C# (i.e. at A440Hz this would be heard in F# major, but at very low French pitch ca. A370Hz it would indeed be heard in A major); and finally Sonata n. 10 in G minor 'The Crucifixion' with the strings F#-C#-G#-C# (i.e. at A440Hz this would sound in F# minor, but at A415Hz it would sound in G minor). No temperament needed. Even though the scordatura changes were challenging and were all performed on the same violin without a break, the strings stayed relatively in tune and the tambura-drone moments optimally minimized the string's tendency to want to go back to the previous tuning. 
Working on more arrangements, and wondering if I will find a way to play most of them in a row on the same violin, with Biber's permission to transpose, re-order, and adapt...

Excerpts - Biber's Rosary #2 for violin alone arranged by Sara Cubarsi (live performance)

Little snapshot from the concert at La Pedrera last September. I adapted (sometimes very minimally) three of the Rosary sonatas so that I could play them without continuo, and one after the other without having to make too many radical scordatura changes. In between each sonata I changed the tuning of one string and improvised a very simple cadenza over an electronic tambura-style drone to let the string settle into the new tension. The scordatura changes were: Sonata n. 6 in C minor 'The Agony in the Gethsemane Garden' with the 4 strings tuned to G-D-F#-C# (i.e. at A440Hz this sonata would be heard in B minor, but at A415Hz it would be heard in C minor); Sonata n. 2 in A major 'The Visitation' with the strings F#-C#-F#-C# (i.e. at A440Hz this would be heard in F# major, but at very low French pitch ca. A370Hz it would indeed be heard in A major); and finally Sonata n. 10 in G minor 'The Crucifixion' with the strings F#-C#-G#-C# (i.e. at A440Hz this would sound in F# minor, but at A415Hz it would sound in G minor). No temperament needed. Even though the scordatura changes were challenging and were all performed on the same violin without a break, the strings stayed relatively in tune and the tambura-drone moments optimally minimized the string's tendency to want to go back to the previous tuning. 
Working on more arrangements, and wondering if I will find a way to play most of them in a row on the same violin, with Biber's permission to transpose, re-order, and adapt...

Excerpts - Biber's Rosary #6 arranged for solo violin - S. Cubarsi (live performance 2018)

Exvot III by Sara Cubarsi
Performed by Sara Cubarsi

Concert at La Pedrera, 2017

Exvot III (live recording)

Violin: Sara Cubarsi
Concert at La Pedrera Sept 2017

Sara Cubarsi

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