Catalogue of Premiered Compositions (chronological list according to the date and place of the world premiere)
[44] BTHVN (Beethoven and his inner sonic cosmos), multitrack acousmatic music for 8.1, 16.2 and/or 24.2 loudspeakers (2020/22)
The word cosmos can be defined as "a complex, ordered, self-contained system". This, then, defines the aim of this piece by offering an interpretation of Beethoven's inner world and how he may have perceived the world around him, especially in light of his hearing loss. By proposing a journey into Beethoven's mind, the composition confronts the audience not only with his music, ideals and obsessions, but also with his particular and challenging situation as a deaf composer, helping to understand the full spectrum of feelings, thoughts and music in Beethoven's psyche.
The composition works with 2x recurring leitmotifs: on the one hand 4x evenly repeated rhythms, which can be found rather obsessively in several of Beethoven's compositions, especially in his 5th Symphony (Op. 67), but also in the Sonata 'Appassionata' Op. 57 (I), the Piano Concerto Op. 58 (I), the Cello Sonata Op. 69 (I), the Violin Concerto Op.61 (I) , the String Quartet Op. 74 (III), etc.; on the other hand, the melody and accompanying words that appear before the 'Grave' movement of his String Quartet Op. 135: "Must it be? It must be, it must be!". These words can be interpreted in different ways: While they could refer directly to the 'Grave' movement of the quartet, they could also be seen as a comprehensive expression about its fate. The first leitmotif (4x evenly repeated rhythms) is not only quoted from these works by Beethoven in the composition, but also by 4 door knockers, suggesting a possible inspiration for this repeated rhythmic motif. In addition to musical quotations from Beethoven's compositions, excerpts from Haydn and Mozart appear at the beginning, since both composers were Beethoven's pathfinders who influenced his musical formation and thus his 'inner sound cosmos'. Most of the quotations are mainly (though not throughout) spread over Beethoven's lifetime, from the aforementioned musical influences (Haydn/Mozart) to his own compositions, with various DSP effects conveying the idea of the gradual loss of hearing, thus showing an intimate approach to Beethoven's mind.
Many of the quotations are either melodically or harmonically related: one example is the sense of an interrupted cadence that arises at the very beginning of the piece from the combination of the beginning of the re-exposition of the first movement of the Violin Concerto (4x D major full orchestral chords) and the first orchestral chord of the first movement of the 3rd Symphony (E flat major). Not only because of the spatial audio characteristics of the piece, but also and especially because of the heavily processed sound design representing Beethoven's gradual process towards deafness, the piece shares its qualities and characteristics with those usually found in works of sound art and therefore requires special attention when listening to its entirety.
World Premiere: 25.6.2022 @ NYCEMF (New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival) 2022 (NYC, USA) - https://nycemf.org/
Audio (Stereo Version, Mp3 320 bps): BTHVN_inner_Cosmos
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[43] BEFREMDLICHE LANDSCHAFTEN, acousmatic stereo (2021)
The title refers to the mixing of various forest noises (recorded in south-east London in June 2021) and their combination with autopoetic synthetic and automatically generated sounds. Thus the listener is confronted with different realities – some virtual, others of course – which have a rich variety in the perspectives in which these sounds originated and how they are placed in the short electroacoustic piece.
World Premiere: September/October 2021 @ BLAUES RAUSCHEN FESTIVAL 2021 - https://blauesrauschen.de/blaues-rauschen-2021/en/forest-sound/
Audio: BEFREMDLICHE_LANDSCHAFTEN
https://blauesrauschen.de/blaues-rauschen-2021/en/forest-sound-javier-garavaglia-en/
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[42] BTHVN/KTZR und das Jahr 2020, acousmatic stereo (2020)
Fears, worries, panic, helplessness, existentially palpable dangers are situations that both 2020 and Beethoven's life have in common.
Consistently, 2020 was both the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth and would have been Georg Katzer's 85th birthday. Katzer (1935–2019), was a pioneer of electroacoustic music in the former German Democratic Republic.
BTHVN/KTZR und das Jahr 2020 exposes therefore the communality emerging from both situations proposing a journey into Beethoven’s mind, confronting listeners with his challenging situation as a deaf composer, for which numerous audio effects are appropriately used along in the composition, gradually depicting Beethoven's unstoppable deafness and is meant as an homage to both composers.
World Premiere: JUNE 2021 @ the NYCEMF online 2021 (New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival) - https://nycemf.org/
Audio: BTHVNKTZR2020
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[41] BEETHOVENS GEIST, quadrophonic (4.1) acousmatic composition by Javier A. Garavaglia & Claudia Robles-Angel
BEETHOVENS GEIST (Beethoven’s mind) is an quadrofonic acousmatic piece specially composed for the Sound & Light installation of the same name and by the same authors.
The installation BEETHOVENS GEIST invites visitors to immerse themselves in a space made up of coloured shadows (inspired by Goethe’s Colour Theory) and a special way of listening to music, via bone transmission headphones. Also known as bone sound, bone conduction refers to the transmission of vibrations through the skull bone that surrounds the hearing organ (near the middle ear), with perception masked by signals transmitted as airborne sound due to the skull bone's high acoustic impedance. Bone conduction is said to have been used by Beethoven in his later years. The acousmatic piece is about 45 minutes long and consists of 19 sections composed in succession:
(1) Introduction; (2) Promenade I; (3) Mozart, Haydn; (4) Promenade II: Bells, Water - Hearing Disorders I; (5) Goethe: Mephisto's Flea (Goethe’s Poem, Lied by Beethoven); (6) Promenade III: Horse Cart - Hearing Disorders II; (7) Cello Sonata in A; (8) Promenade IV: Birds; (9) PASTORAL Symphony: II Movement - Scene by the Brook; (10) Must It Be? (11) Musical Creation I; (12) Promenade V: Birds (Filter); (13) An Die ferne Geliebte; (14) Promenade VI: Birds (Filter) II; (15) Musical Creation II: Filter; (16) Promenade VII: Hall/Filter/Horses/Delays; (17) Musical Creation III: Filter; (18) DEAFNESS: Low Frequencies; (19) Finale.
World Premiere: 04.10.2020 - Kurfürstlichen Gärtnerhaus, during the Festival TANGENTIALE and the opening of the installation Beethovens Geist / Bonn, GERMANY
Programme Notes: notes_Beethovens_Geist
Audio: Beethovens_Geist_MP3_(45')
Images from the installation Kurfürstlichen Gärtnerhaus, Bonn - Germany, 2020)
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[40] MOMENTE for viola and live-electronics in surround sound (8.1)
MOMENTE was specially commissioned by the 15. Internationales Klangkunstfest Berlin M O M E N T (6. - 9. September 2018)
The composition features different "moments" where a single main musical theme appears in different versions and variations (and in complete form only towards the middle of the piece). Each "moment" features the musical thema (or parts of it) in the viola with live-electronics in unique musical characteristics, which are not repeated in the same manner anywhere else in the composition. The piece makes strong usage of spectral DSP processes, continuing the trend of my last pieces for live-electronics, starting with DUO SPECTRALIS for Viola and Tárogató (2015)World Premiere: 08.09.2018 - 15. Internationales Klangkunstfest Berlin / M O M E N T - Bibliothek am Luisenbad, Travemünder Strasse 2, 13357 / Berlin-Wedding, GERMANY
Programme Notes: programme_notes_MOMENTE
Score in PDF Format: MOMENTE_Score
Audio: MOMENTE_mp3 (Javier Garavaglia, viola / Performance Haus im Rhenania, Köln, Germany 05.09.21)
Video: MOMENTE_MP4 (Javier Garavaglia, viola - World Premiere in Berlin - 08.09.2018)
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[39] SPACES: SUSPENDED - SCATTERED [Version I], acousmatic music (octophonic/stereo)
First version of a longer project, which envisages multiple versions of the piece suitable for different venues provided with High-Density Loudspeaker Array (HDLA) settings, in order to project sound creating Multiple Spatial Settings within the HDLA system. Version I is shorter than its equivalent for an HDLA setting and exists therefore only in octophonic and stereo versions. The sounds of SPACES: SUSPENDED - SCATTERED are explicitly synthetic and use algorithmic sound design. Broadcasted by the BBC Radio 3 in March 2020.
World Premiere of the Stereo Version: 28 January 2018 / Cafe OTO, London, UK
World Premiere of the 8.1 Version: 16 July 2018 / New York Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), Abrons Art Center, NYC, USA, Concert No 3 (8 PM)
Broadcast by BBC Radio 3 "NEW MUSIC SHOW": 21 March 2020. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000gmvc
Programme Notes: PN_SSS
Audio: SSS_StereoVersion_mp3
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[38] MULTISENSORIAL - eine Konzertperformance für die Sinne, by Javier A. Garavaglia, Thomas Gerwin and Claudia Robles-Angel
Created especially for the opening of the Exhibition Windrosen - Kunst über Sinne at the Künstlerforum Bonn, Germany (November 6, 2016), the piece is a multimedia performance, combining live viola and live percussion, multiple multimedia elements, added to challenging the perception of the audience through the insertion of elements directed to the other senses, for example the smelling of exotic fragrances, the savouring of small delicacies, etc.
World Premiere: November 2016 / Künstlerforum Bonn, Germany
Programme Notes: programe notes MULTISENSORIAL
Video: MULTISENSORIAL_video with excerpts of the world premiere
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[37] Spatial Grains - Soundscape No 1, acousmatic music for 134 speakers and 4 subwoofers
Piece composed and produced during a residency at Virginia Tech (USA) for Statial Audio in High-Density Loudspeaker Arrays (HDLA) in August 2015, which creates Multiple Spatial Settings through a combination of a new sound diffusion system programmed by the composer, called Granular Spatialisation and Ambisonics.
After its World Premiere in 2015 in Virginia (CUBE Hall provided with 143 Speakers, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech), the piece has been performed in NYC (NYCEMF 2016), in Utrecht (ICMC 2016) both with a reduced version for 16.4 speakers, in the KUBUS, ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany, adapted to the Kubus's HDLA of 43.4 speakers (2017) and during the MUSA 2018 conference (June), in the Wolfgang Rihm Forum (WRF) Hall (Institut für Musikwissenschaft und Musikinformatik [IMWI], Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe), with a set-up of 70 speakers.
World Premiere: August 10, 2015, CUBE, Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Virginia, USA
Programme Notes: Spatial_Grains_Soundscape_No1
Audio Link (MP3): BINAURAL stereo recording in the CUBE at Virginia Tech
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[36] DUO SPECTRALIS, for Viola, Tárogató & 5.1 surround live-electronics
First composition worldwide for this particular combination of instruments and electronics, featuring several innovative spectral DSP processes, including spectral accumulation and evaporation
World Premiere: June 2015, New York Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), NYC, USA // Tárogató: Esther Lamneck / Viola: Javier A. Garavaglia
Duration: ca. 15'
Programme Notes: Duo_Spectralis_PN
Score in PDF Format: Duo_Spectralis_Score
Video: Complete performance during the NYCEMF, June 2015, NYC
YOUTUBE: Performance by Nikola Lutz (Tárogató) und Agata Zieba (Viola) in Stuttgart 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSYpRsyIBRA
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[35] MEDITATIONS (tiny gongs), acousmatic music (8.1)
World Premiere: June 2014, New York Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), NYC, USA
Duration: 11:30
Programme Notes: Meditations PN
Audio Link (MP3): Meditations_StereoVersion_MP3
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[34] CONFLUENCES (Rainbows II) / Quintet for flute, clarinet in B, violin, cello, piano and live-electronics (5.1)
World Premiere: September 2012, International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), Ljubljana, Slovenia
Duration: ca. 13'
Programme Notes: Confluences_PN
Score in PDF Format: Confluences_Score
Video: Confluences_video_world premiere at the ICMC 2012, Slovenia
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[33] Wooden Worlds, collaborative project with Colombian media artist Claudia Robles including sound, video, photography, viola and live-electronics for sound and video
World Premiere: Kölner Musik Nacht 2010, September 2010, Germany
Programme Notes: WoodenWorlds_PN
Score in PDF Format: WoodenWorlds_Score
Videolinks:
Excerpts from Copenhagen performance, May 2011
Excerpts from World Premiere, Koelner Musiknacht, September 2010]
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[32] Miniaturstück I, acousmatic music (octophonic - 8.1)
World Premiere: _tiefKLANG 2010 "Gefühlter Augenblick" - Internationales Klangkunstfest Berlin, Germany - 2010
Duration: ca. 4:02
Programme Notes: Miniaturstueck_I_PN
Audio Link (MP3): Miniaturstueck_I_MP3
Composition available on CD (stereo version): DEGEM CD No 20, "im hier und jetzt oder nie" (EDITION DEGEM 2021), curated by Anne Wellmer (Medienhaus, UDK, Berlin).
https://www.degem.de/cds-dvds/zukunftsmusik-im-hier-und-jetzt-oder-nie-wendepunkte/
https://emdoku.de/de/media/5926****
[31] farb-laut E - VIOLET for viola and live-electronics (5.1)
World Premiere: _farb-laut Festival, Berlin, Germany - 2008
Duration: ca. 15'
Programme Notes: FARBLAUT_PN
Score in PDF Format: FARBLAUT_Score
Audio Link (MP3): FARBLAUT_MP3
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[30] "+" improvisation for viola, sampler, diverse instruments and MAX by Javier A. Garavaglia, Thomas Gerwin and Ralf Haarmann
World Premiere: Köln, Germany - 2008
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[29] Intersections (memories) for clarinet in B and live-electronics (5.1)
World Premiere: 17th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 2008 // Clarinet: Jorge Variego
Duration: ca. 15'
Programme Notes: INTERSECTIONS_PN
Score in PDF Format: INTERSECTIONS_Score
Video: INTERSECTIONS_Live Video during the NYCEMF 2017_Jorge Variego
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[28] Pathétique, acousmatic music
World Premiere: Lisbon, Portugal - 2007
Duration: 15:31
Programme Notes: Pathetique_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): Pathetique_MP3
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[27] Interzones (A/E-B) for piano, double bass and electronics
World Premiere: 16th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 2007 // Piano: Seung Hye Kim - Double Bass : Kevin Casseday
Duration: ca. 20'
Programme Notes: Interzones_PN
Score in PDF Format: Interzones_Score
Audio Link (MP3): Interzones_MP3
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[26] Hoquetus for Tárogató (or soprano saxophone)and live-electronics
World Premiere: 15th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 2005 // Tárogató: Esther Lamneck
Duration: ca. 15'
Programme Notes: HOQUETUS_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: HOQUETUS_Score in PDF format
Audio Link (MP3): HOQUETUS_SopranoSax_MP3
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[25] Ableitungen des Konzepts der Wiederholung (for Ala) for viola and live-electronics
World Premiere: 14th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 2004 // Viola: Javier A. Garavaglia
Duration: ca. 16'
Programme Notes: ABLEITUNGEN_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: ABLEITUNGEN_Score in PDF format
Audio Link (MP3): ABLEITUNGEN_MP3
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[24] L.S. (waiting for changes) for small orchestra (20 instruments)
World Premiere: Cercle Municipal Luxembourg, Luxembourg - 30.11.2003 // Luxembourg Sinfonietta conducted by Marcel Wengler
Duration: ca. 11'
Programme Notes: LS_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: LS_Score in PDF format
Audio Link (MP3): LS_MP3
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[23] DJ (1): about Riffs and Noises - Laptop performance
World Premiere: 13th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 2003 // Laptop: Javier A. Garavaglia
Duration: ca. 22'
Programme Notes: DJ_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): DJ_MP3
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[22] NINTH (music for viola and computer) for viola and live-electronics
World Premiere: 12th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 2002 // Viola: Javier A. Garavaglia
Duration: ca. 12'
Programme Notes: NINTH_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: NINTH_Score in PDF format
Audio Link (MP3): NINTH_MP3
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[21] Granular Gong for octophonic tape (8.0 - acousmatic)
World Premiere: 11th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 2001
Duration: ca. 14'
Programme Notes: GG_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: GG_Score in PDF format
AUDIO of the stereo version (320 bps): GranularGong_320bps
Composition available on CD (stereo version): SONOIMAGENES - Festival Internacional Sonoimágines 2005/Vol. 1 (Colección Sonidos y Visiones del sur), edited by UNLA (Argentina) 2005
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[20] Spectral Colours for ensemble (14 instruments) & tape
World Premiere: 8th Biennial Symposium on Arts and Technology - New London, Connecticut, USA - 2001 - Ensemble conducted by Michael Adelson
Duration: ca. 12'
Programme Notes: SC_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: SC_Score in PDF format
Audio Link (MP3): SC- live at the ICMC 2007 - Black Diamond Concert Hall - Copenhagen, Denmark
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[19] Poppekstive for octophonic tape (acousmatic)
World Premiere: 8th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 1999
Duration: ca. 12'
Programme Notes: POPPEKSTIVE_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): POPPEKSTIVE_MP3
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[18] T.A.T. (a man's life) for viola, bass-clarinet, 4-track tape and live-electronics
World Premiere: 8th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 1999 // Viola: Javier A. Garavaglia - Bass Clarinet: Matthew Davies
Duration: ca. 25'
Programme Notes: TAT_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: TAT_Score
Audio Link (MP3): TAT_MP3
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[17] COLOR CODE, music for the concert-installation "Color Code" for 4-track tape, viola, live-electronics (MAX) and computer generated graphics on two screens by GRUPPE ANIMATO (Music by Javier A. Garavaglia)
World Premiere: during the 7th Vilem Flusser Symposium, Fachhochschule Bielefeld, Germany, 1998 // Viola: Javier A. Garavaglia
Duration: ca. 31'
Programme Notes: CC_programme notes
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[16] Arte Poética (stanzas III to VII) for quadrophonic tape (acousmatic), based on the poem "Arte poética" by Jorge Luis Borges.
World Premiere: 7th Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Gainesville, USA - 1998
Duration: ca. 13'
Programme Notes: APIII_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): AP_03
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[15] Overture (im memoriam T.A.T.) for quadrophonic tape (acousmatic)
World Premiere: DEGEM KONZERT, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany - 1997
Duration: ca. 11'
Programme Notes: OVERTURE programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): OVERTURE_MP3
Piece commercially available in 2 different CDs at https://www.cybele.de/
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[14] Am Steg (Spaces) for stereo tape (acousmatic)
World Premiere: IV Brazilian Symposium on Computer Music, Brazil - 1997
Duration: ca. 9'
Programme Notes: AmSTEG_programme notes
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[13] Contraries (resonances) for alto flute (G), quadrophonic tape and live-electronics
World Premiere: Bochum, Germany - 1997 // Lesley Olson: alto flute
Duration: ca. 33'
Programme Notes: CONTRARIES_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: CONTRARIES_Score
Audio Link (MP3): CONTRARIES_MP3
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[12] Arte Poética (II. Stanza) for quadrophonic tape (acousmatic), based on the poem "Arte poética" by Jorge Luis Borgess
World Premiere: Germany - 1996
Duration: ca. 11'
Programme Notes: APII_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): AP_02
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[11] Arte Poética (I) for quadrophonic tape (acousmatic), based on the poem "Arte poética" by Jorge Luis Borges
World Premiere: Germany - 1995
Duration: ca. 8'
Programme Notes: API_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): AP_01
Piece commercially available on CD at https://www.cybele.de/
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[10] "Poème du temps qui ne passe pas" (.."del otro lado del muro"..) chamber opera for soprano, bass-baritone, piano, flute, cello and percussion, based on poems by Jorge Luis Borges, Alejandra Pizarnik and Louis Aragón.
World Premiere: Germany - 1994
Duration: ca. 27'
Programme Notes: POEME_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): Poeme_Du_Temps (Neue Aula, Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, 1994)
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[9] Gegensätze (gegenseitig) for alto flute (G), quadrophonic tape and live-electronics
World Premiere: 18.6.1994 / Rathaus Dortmund, SPEKTAKEL '94, Germany - 1994 // Alto flute: Christiane Schulz
Duration: ca. 33'
Programme Notes: GEGENSAETZE_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: GEGENSAETZE_Score
Audio Link (MP3): GEGENSAETZE_MP3
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[8] pizz. for quadrophonic tape (acousmatic)
World Premiere: Neue Aula, Folkwang Hochschule Essen, Germany - 1993
Duration: ca. 20'
Programme Notes: PIZZ_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): PIZZ_MP3
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[7] Spiel 3 b (über ein Jazz Thema) for string quintet (2x Vl,Vla,Vcl & double bass) in 5 movements
World Premiere: Torhaus Rombergpark, Dortmund, Germany - November 1993 // Minguet Quartet + A. Dohmen, Doublebass
Duration: [i] 2:33, [ii] 3:54, [iii] 6:40, [iv] 6:13, [v] 8:28) (overall ca. 27')
Audio Link (MP3): Spiel_IIIb_MP3
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[6] Spiel 3 (über ein Jazz Thema) for wind quintet
World Premiere: Kammermusiksaal, Folkwang Hochschule Essen, Germany - 1993
Duration: ca. 25'
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[5] "M.H.0.C" (Spiel 2 über ein Jazz Thema und 5 Töne) for bass wind quintet
World Premiere: Kammermusiksaal, Folkwang Hochschule Essen, Germany - 1992
Duration: ca. 8'
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[4] "T.T" (Spiel für Tommy und seine Bratsche) for viola solo
World Premiere: Kammermusiksaal, Folkwang Hochschule Essen, Germany - 1991 // Viola: Javier A. Garavaglia
Duration: ca. 8'
Programme Notes: TT_programme notes
Score in PDF Format: TT_Score
Audio Link (MP3): TT.MP3
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[3] LABERINTO "... palabras, poemas..." for 4 singers and chamber ensemble, based on poems by Jorge Luis Borges, Marcelo Gasparini and Alejandra Pizarnik
World Premiere: Germany - 1991
Duration: ca. 25'
Programme Notes: LABERINTO_programme notes
Audio Link (MP3): LABERINTO_audio (live version, Folkwang Hochschule Ensemble, Summer 1991, Bochum)
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[2] Timbres (después de 4 Piezas) for oboe, viola and piano
World Premiere: Buenos Aires, Fundación San Telmo, Argentina - 1989
Duration: ca. 12'
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[1] 4 Piezas for oboe, viola and piano
World Premiere: Bariloche, Argentina - 1989
Duration: ca. 8'
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