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Works

Michele Tadini
Buleria
(2003)
for Flute, Piano and Electronics


Length: 03:57

The primary musical material of Buleria is a small sequence in flamenco style - it is not a reference but an original pre-composition material inspired by the flamenco tradition. 
Buleria is a dance in 12/8; there are hundreds of versions, ranging from that of the very first guitarists to the technical prodigies of today's players. The harmonic and rhythmic material of the Buleria is what is generally recognized as FLAMENCO: one could say, the archetype material of flamenco.
After listening to many Bulerias, some compositional rules can be defined. It is of no particular importance if these rules are used as the basis for improvisation or as tools for a genuine composition.
Rhythmically the material is often made to shift on different movements of the 12/8; in addition, in the polyphonic play created between the two guitars one can perceive a sort of
canon which once more proposes, phase-shifting them, the materials just heard.
Frequently in studio sessions the guitarist records the second guitar with a "sliding technique" in which he replays or underlines the musical material proposed by the first recorded guitar. The same thing occurs with regard to the percussion part.
The resulting rhythmic vitality is unbelievable.

While rendering homage to this musical tradition I have tried not only to utilize a certain kind of rhythmic and harmonic material, but also to reflect certain compositional techniques peculiar to this music.
The compositional process with which the material is reworked can be described specifically
as a common structuralist procedure.
Rhythmically, the material is simply repeated and phase-shifted by a sixteenth at a time, while harmonically the notes are transposed cyclically on eight different scales ­ scales that will be superposed and interpolated later in the development of the score.
The strength of the original material is in no way concealed, not even in the most disparate transformation.
The metre is the fundamental element in the whole of this process - the 12/8 is always present and enthralling. Only the metre enables the shifting of the various accents to be perceived. The electronic part is structured in the same way, with the same technique adopted for the second recorded guitar as described above.

The "Duende" of the piece originates in the compositive tension which derives from the writing techniques of the Buleria itself. 
The score has been continually revised and changed in a constant vital relationship with the musical material generated progressively during application of the processing procedures.