Carretero Alberto

Carretero Alberto (1985)

Ha studiato composizione e pianoforte al Conservatorio Superiore di Siviglia venendo successivamente in contatto con importanti figure della musica contemporanea spagnola: Mauricio Sotelo (che lo ha influenzato per quanto riguarda la relazione tra la musica di tradizione orale, la musica contemporanea e il flamenco, quest’ultimo considerato non in modo folclorico, ma come una vera e propria architettura della memoria), José Maria Sanchez-Verdù (importante riferimento per quanto riguarda la riflessione sul suono e sulle sue implicazioni formali) ed infine José Manul Lopez Lopez (che ha indirizzato il suo interesse nei confronti della ricerca armonica e dell’indagine sul livello microscopico del timbro). Nelle parole dello stesso Alberto Carretero gli elementi centrali del suo orizzonte compositivo sono rappresentati “dall’elemento intertestuale e dal rinnovo delle tecniche compositive della storia e dei concetti tradizionali di retorica musicale e di forma, utilizzati per poter creare nuova musica”. In questa direzione va interpretato il suo interesse nei confronti delle micro-citazioni o delle rielaborazioni strumentali, come avviene in un lavoro come “Lamento” per ensemble, in cui l’elemento archetipico (derivato dalla musica di Monteverdi), rappresentato dalla figurazione scalare discendente, diviene il nucleo di partenza da cui si diramano le diverse sezioni della composizione. Un altro importante elemento di interesse nella musica di Alberto Carretero è rappresentato dalla ricerca sulle forme naturali, sulla “vocalità” degli strumenti, sulla memoria e sulla percezione. Tra i prossimi impegni vi è un nuovo lavoro commissionato dal Governo di Andalusia per l’Ensemble Recherche.

PRESENTAZIONE OPERA
First, I would like to thank the "Fondazione Culturale San Fedele" for the opportunity to present my music in this place, surrounded by other young composers, colleagues on the international scene. I also appreciate the work of Antonio Pileggi and Federico Gardella in coordinating these meetings and last but not least, the guest composer Stefano Gervasoni, whose music I admire.
To begin my discussion, I will speak from my own experience of the process of composition. Normally, when I write a work, I spend several weeks before writing a single note of the new piece trying to figure roughly some of the musical events and processes which will happen, what sounds and textures I will use at all times, how they will interact to create a dramatic structure, etc. In these early stages, my musical ideas are often quite ambiguous and sometimes are inspired by extra-musical elements, while at other times they can be derived from purely musical concepts. In short, each piece comes from a personal interpretation of an aspect of human life, whether life experiences, art (literary, visual, musical ...), science (physics, mathematics, technology ...), etc. For example, in my work “Entre la Realidad y el Deseo” ("Between reality and desire") I use some very beautiful and profound aesthetic concepts of the Spanish poet Luis Cernuda, a good friend of Federico García Lorca, one of the poets who most inspires me in my compositions. These concepts are transferred to music as sound images, totally subjective, which I have created in my mind while reading the texts.
EXAMPLE 1: “ENTRE LA REALIDAD Y EL DESEO”
This stage of the process, in which we almost "dream music" in abstract, is one that most interests me because it is to "mentally write" the score, which will progressively increase in detail. For me it is a valuable exercise of internal listening where I work out a map in which I can move easily, using musical memory as a tool.
The next step in the process has to do with the practical application of the mindset of the work, looking for a transcript of the score to communicate the content effectively, adapting to the manual of tools and looking for a simple and expressive notation at the same time. During this time I try to keep close contact with the musicians to ask them for technical advice. In some cases there may be a further motivation to generate musical material if I find some interesting procedure while working with the performer. In my work "Jeux" I took a sound idea as a starting point, as accurate as I could imagine. Then I placed multiple sonic points in space to create a surround effect. Then I looked for the optimal solution to set on the score the sound grid that I had devised.
EXAMPLE 2: "JEUX"
Finally, once the score is written (often after having been "rewritten" several times before its final version) the musicians face each part individually, trying to convey to the listener my musical ideas in an artistic way and touch them. When the work is performed in public, I like to measure how I achieved the goals I set at the beginning and what aspects have improved or worsened compared to my initial concept, seeking justification. Usually, this listening prompts me to change some elements in order to achieve an updated version of the work, and it even opens new creative doors to further develop some ideas for future projects. An example is my work "Lamento", rewritten several times through successive transformations of material from the "Lament of the Nymph" by Claudio Monteverdi and there emerged a line of work that had not worked before. I started to upgrade such procedures as the Baroque continuo, the descending chromatic called "Passus duriusculus" in musical rhetoric, the continued development of material and its timbral implications, etc.:
EXAMPLE 3: "LAMENTO"
From this piece, which won the First Prize of the Youth Institute of Spain, I drew a lot of musical intertextuality. It seemed an ideal way to write music linked with an umbilical cord to the Western musical tradition, but with forms and sounds completely renovated and creative. I believe that this way of thinking has helped me find elements of a personal language to develop in other works, not necessarily intertextual but not so tied to historical repertoire. Another recent example is my work "Nocturno de Luna", which deconstructs a “Nocturne” by Frédéric Chopin.
EXAMPLE 4: "NOCTURNO DE LUNA"
To conclude, I would like to talk briefly about my work "Ritus," which we will hear last. This piece is inspired by the music of oral tradition and folk culture of southern Spain (Andalusia). The base is a constant driving force that makes the music beat like a heart in a ritual that includes dance and movement. This energy is profound, combined with magic and mysticism, which was highly motivating for me and allowed me to write music of great dramatic intensity. Some of the materials were based on the idea of flamenco, with a harmonic tissue constructed by transposition of tetrachords and symmetrical chords. However, I have avoided expressing this relationship explicitly, preferring to highlight the "vocal-like writing" of the instruments, microtonal counterpoint lines and sounds "dragged" by great expressive intensity.
The score gradually expands the range of pitches which are explored by the instruments, while becoming a far more complex timbral polyphony. Rhythmic complexity is achieved by “hoquetus” between the voices, which share a common grid of micropulsations. This grid will dilate along the whole work, accelerating the process of expansion in a non-linear way, with reference to the golden proportions. The timbre also evolves from a very granular texture of points, to other textures of greater plasticity and flexibility, in an almost mystical process, associated with trance. Obviously, the reaction that this will create in each listener will be different, so it's best to listen and everyone will perceive it in their own way. Thank you for your attention.