GLAES

Commissioned by the Saarbrucken Music Network, Alexandre Lunsqui’s “GLAES” was written for American percussionist Gregory Beyer and Brazilian pianist Rei Nakamura. “GLAES” means glass. Consistent with much of Lunsqui’s musical language, this piece concerns itself with the microscopic complexities of timbral mixtures. Both pianist and percussionist are asked to play frenetic, rhythmically charged gestures inside the piano. The percussionist is additionally equipped with a modified berimbau and a small table full of glass bottles, metal mixing bowls and ceramic pots. Lunsqui is at his most Brazilian in his use of infectious rhythmic patterns that propel the music constantly forward. His use of the Afro-Brazilian berimbau provides further Brazilian flavor, yet it is played in a manner that is anything but traditional. The presence of the berimbau and the manner in which Lunsqui asks the percussionist to play it are seemingly at odds, and it is this unique mixture of tradition and research in the name of a quest for new sounds and gestures that is quintessentially Lunsqui. The rhythms and timbral blends of this piece, when in the right hands, are captivating from start to finish. – Gregory Beyer