Bau Duo no. 5

Conceived in the Spring of 2013 but not truly composed until later that summer, “Berimbau Duo no. 5” is dedicated to my student, Alexis C. Lamb. It was inspired by a duo improvisation that Alexis and I played together in the Spring of 2013 during the course of our first semester of work together for Projeto Arcomusical. The gentle introduction of unpitched sounds under a simple hocketed melody in part A eventually becomes the only remaining texture in the second section. The third section of the work re-examines the original melody, adding additional pitches to build up the texture. The final section re-introduces the unpitched materials against a four-chord progression that speeds up excitedly to the end of the piece. – Gregory Beyer