Music by Wood explores the relationship between the marimba and instrumental gesture. The work is conceived as a sequence of mobile structures in which the musical materials result from gestural directions selected by the player. The piece is written in graphic notation initially developed for the work Music for Prosthetic Congas (2004) written for Pedro Carneiro.

In Music by Wood, the structure of the marimba itself serves as a plan for the gesture choreography indicated in the score through movement vectors. This type of notation allows for a musical language that oscillates between determinism and improvisation, suggesting active listening and points of contact between gesture, sonic result and electronic exploration of musical materials derived from the marimba.

In this context, the electronic materials are based on micro spectral variations which are themselves the core of the characteristic marimba timbre. The work comes in the sequence of Music by Strings (2019) and develops the latent musicality in various types of organic materials, in this case wood.

The work was commissioned by Festival da Primavera, Viseu, 2020

Premiere, 15th December 2020
Teatro Viriato, Viseu Portugal
Percussion: Aldovino Munguambe

<p><a href=”https://vimeo.com/513030187″>Music by Wood Premiere</a> from <a href=”https://vimeo.com/user958720″>Pedro Rebelo</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>