Dualism
A philosophy
which holds that reality consists of two irreducible elements: body
and soul, good and evil, the material and the spiritual.
- Baião
for the Left Wing: The Baião, a form of music and
dance from the Northeast region of Brasil, provides the rhythmic
backdrop for various traditional festivities. This piece was originally
conceived as a left hand exercise which I later expanded into
a composition.
- For
the New Year: Like much of the music in the album, this
piece makes use of improvisation in the context of extended composition
.The improvised sections become part of the development of the
piece, rather than its main focus.
- Olga
Benario: This composition was inspired by "Olga", Fernando
Morais' biography of Olga Benario. She was a Jewish communist,
born in Germany, who married Brasilian communist leader Luis Carlos
Prestes in the 1930s. After a failed communist revolt, she was
arrested by the Brasilian government and delivered to the German
Gestapo. She was executed in a concentration camp.
- Abrigo:
Abrigo is the Portuguese word for shelter. Appropriately,
it is also the name of a place in the Brasilian countryside where
I spent much of my childhood. This piece reflects the pastoral
feeling and wide open landscape I recall from that region.
- Lullaby:
Once again, childhood images provided inspiration for the music,
this time with a rather dark lullaby theme followed by a freely
improvised section.
- Opening:
Unlike most of the music in the album, the material in Opening
is less structured and more spontaneous, with improvisation playing
a larger role.
- Dualism:
Again, the focus of the piece is improvisation in a longer
form. The music is through-composed (no sections are repeated)
and deals with the constant alternating and combining of two opposing
music principles. The rhythm of the Baião can be heard
in a more stylized manner throughout this composition.
- The
Other Half: Some cultures believe that all people are
separated at conception from their soul-mates. Consequently, each
person must go through life searching for their other half.
- Blues
for Roit: This piece is a 15-bar Blues written and dedicated
to pianist and friend David Roitstein. It is a thank you for the
years I spent under his guidance.
review by Fred
Bouchard
To
order Dualism, or other Zarvos recordings,
click here.
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