Mirages String Duet - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1582154

Mirages is a set of five short pieces written for two violas blending Spanish folklore from
Andalucía with classical contemporary music.

I. "Temple" (Adagio flessibile) starts off with a slow meditative archaic motive shared
between the two violas which tenderly unfolds into a “cante jondo” melody (the deepest
flamenco singing tradition).

II. "Allure" (Andante con sprezzatura) reflects on the power of attraction of mirages. To that
effect, it is conceived as a two part invention richly animated by imitations and the use of
bitonality to evoke the phenomenon of refraction: light rays capacity to bend when passing
from cold air into hot air and vice versa, thus creating the optical effect known as a mirage.

III. "Fata Morgana" (Allegro stravagante) is the italian translation of “Morgan the Fairy” or
Morgan Le Fay, the powerful and ambiguous enchantress from the legend of King Arthur.
This term is used to designate a very complex kind of mirage which distorts the object on
which it is based so much that it becomes completely unrecognizable. The piece is based on a
ephemeral wavelike accompaniment pattern played by the second viola which gradually
morphs through accentuation and disappears one note at a time. As the music progresses a
sequence of accentuated motifs emerges between the two violas suggesting a deeper
transformation from the initial state.

IV. "Dunes" (Lento e pesante) takes us into the hot desert, a metaphor for spiritual search,
where we can picture caravans of nomads slowly pacing the arid landscape. A warm and
evocative melody played by the second viola on the fourth string repeats itself as if it were a
lost adventurer longing for water whilst hot light wind effects lead into a luminous
asymmetrical section combining major and minor modes.

V. "Legend/Légende" (Allegro con fuoco) references documented chronicles from the past in
which cavalries were seen up in the skies charging fiercely towards its enemies (probably a
Fata Morgana mirage). This piece blends the flamenco dance “bulerías” in 6/8+3/4 time with
a frenetic toccata in which the two violas display a musical duel by alternating themes and
clashing dissonances.