Percussion Study IV ('Exoskeleton") for viola alla chitarra

"Exoskeleton," for viola 'alla chitarra' is also my "Percussion Study IV." My series of "Percussion Studies" attempt to create a set of pieces for the acoustic guitar that have in common an unusual playing technique called the "Tapping Technique." This technique enables me to intersperse a set of unique percussive sounds and noises performed over the guitar's body and executed mostly with bare hands. For this purpose, it is necessary to ensure that percussive sounds and noises could be performed with the same flexibility as ordinary notes. In "Exoskeleton" (which means the outer shell of insects) my idea was to "export" the "Tapping Technique" to the viola's morphological context. The idea behind such exchange is to provoke a motoric break with the expected technique of the instrument, allowing for a new way to play and hear the instrument's sounds. It is not a substitution that weakens the technical potential of the instrument but a way to re potentialize its acoustic possibilities. You can hear pizzicato sounds played at speeds never heard before in traditional viola music. My intention when creating this piece was to deal with the mobility of musicianship, more than with the pre-determined, assigned role of the musician. Thus, this piece can only be played by a guitarist. The 'Percussion Studies Project' is something larger, in my view, than a series of studies. It is a complete insight into compositional procedures that uses the guitar (and the guitarist) as it's starting point. The intention here is to incorporate the very musician as a "compositional material." The pieces have been literally evolving to envelop the voice, the gestures, the body of the player, and other instruments (i.e. viola, cello, violin etc.), but avoiding, as much as possible, all gimmicks, or what is not relevant to the compositional discourse. It is a true platform of compositional thinking, a "twisted diary," a place of "privileged exposure," where I attempt to extend and amplify the idea of "study," being, and performance. © Arthur Kampela 2008. performed live (Premiere) @ the Greenwich House of Music New York City 2003 by the composer.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Arthur
• Kampela
• /Percussion
• Study
• IV
• /New
• Music
• /Experimental
• music
• /Exoskeleton
• for
• viola
• alla
• chitarra
• /classical

[klo1777]

Here it is a great composer, great musician! Congrats!

[John11inch]

Just the right amount of abuse a viola should receive.

Viola joke aside, very good work and performance. I like it quite a bit. The compositional ideology reminds me quite a bit of Barrett's, yet the music could not possibly be more different (in the spectrum of this type of music, of course). The absence of your name among the higher echelons of composers (being familiar with a fairly large amount of your work) is conspicuous.

[jimmies31]

@AECSRQ Haha.  I see...a lot of creeping around...maybe punctuated by bits of scampering? And a few epiphanies.

OH wow ok...there was certainly a climactic fight scene near the end there. Probably between Charlie Daniels and the devil.

[BedHeadWildSexHair]

It's very different. It sounds very layered and complex.

I could never do it in a million years and I'm not sure how successful a technique this will be but it's interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[NotWinter]

honestly its errr Random, but i sort of like it. Its not very happy, is it?

[AECSRQ]

imagine the movie if this were its soundtrack!!

[iRock166]

im sorry but my opinion on this is not the way i would have liked to play my viola but it was cool

[poupoule22]

it's very... non-standard... I mean I found it very difficult to hear, it is the kind of music where we have to be very receptive

[jamesvla]

I would like to play the peace.. but I don't have this kind of pizz tech and i don't want to brake strings

[fercury]

Genial. Insite puro. Ainda vou comprar uma viola pra tocar essa obra.