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Jorge Antunes - In Defense of the Machine
Pogus
surprises with a release of electronic works by Jorge Antunes, spanning
almost 40 years. Antunes is a Brazilian composer and pioneer of
electro-acoustic music. He studied violin and composition, and
started building electronic instruments in the early 60s. Antunes is
still in business: he is professor of composition at the University of
Brasilia and president of the Brazilian Society for Electroacoustic
Music. Many of his compositions are about combinations of conventional
acoustic instruments, tape and electronics. This is also the case for
the works offered on this release. It contains three early works
from the 60s, plus 4 compositions of the 90s and 2003. ‘Insubstituivel
2a (1967) is written for cello and tape. An odd combination of
conventional and unconventional elements. The piece is very
melodic, showing that Antunes also combines known musical elements as
melody and rhtyhm with unheard organisations of electronic
sounds. ‘Mixolydia’ (1995) is a fine piece for theremin and tape.
Opening with a singing theremin, short, harsh sounds start to break in
and to interfere with the theremin. Fine contrasts are the result. I
enjoyed the playing of Lydia Kavina on theremin. ‘Miro escucho
miro’ is a battle between piano and tape, a piece that shows orchestral
proportions and inspired on the paintings by Miro. In other
compositions Antunes chooses of other acoustical instruments as the
marimba, tenor saxof piano. The title piece of the album is divided in
three parts, and shows very successfully the balanced interaction
between acoustic and electronic sounds. Balancing between the known and
the unknown I felt pleasantly lost in this garden full of exuberant
flowers (DM), Vital Weekly
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