Dedicated to the Eterna Duo
Program Notes
One of Assad’s earliest works, Brasileirinhas is a three movement suite for two guitars, that salutes other Brazilian classical guitar composers in approach and style.
I. Na Corda Bamba II. À Moda Antiga III. Conversa de Botequim
(2004-05) Duration: Approximately 10 minutes
I started writing Brasileirinhas in the beginning of 2004 when I first met guitarist Paolo De Stefano. He was interested in obtaining the score for one of my earlier pieces “Mercador De Sonhos,” written in 1993. Unfortunately, this original manuscript was lost forever; it was a single, hand written score. To my surprise, Paolo decided to do an entire transcription of the recording… I was so thrilled, and so grateful, I had to express this wonderful feeling. So, I decided to write a piece for Paolo’s duo. The piece has three movements and is very Brazilian in style and form (thus the title)…
The first movement starts out in a “serious” mood and becomes more fun as it goes; I wanted the harmony and melody to have minds of their own; so in the piece they have a question-answer dialogue in which none of them seems to come up with any conclusion. They just keep going their separate ways (but always following each other) until they are together again.
The second movement is a waltz, in the old Brazilian school/style; but it is mixed in with modern harmonic progressions that are not quite that predictable. This movement is also a bit free in form. The third movement has two main themes, but it is totally guided and oriented by a single motif which is played throughout the composition in different forms. It is also more pattern oriented, which almost gives the listener a feeling of never having left where you started. But if you really look and listen deeply, there is a lot more going on than it seems. It was a lot of fun writing this piece. and also challenging because I gave myself guidelines before I even began to write.
