Mudança de Onda

“Mudança de onda” (Portuguese, “Wave Shift”) is the fourth piece I have written for Projeto Arcomusical. Similar to my other berimbau compositions, this work focuses and expands on a singular motive throughout. Prior to writing this piece, I spent two weeks in the Mediterranean with my family, during which I stayed four days in the heart of Rome. There, I was struck by the omnipresence of ambulance sirens flying through city streets, a soundscape that reignited my fascination with the Doppler “effect” or “shift.” In Mudança de Onda, the rhythmic cloud of the opening gesture and the frequent glissandi are rooted in the memory of this exotic urban experience. The Northern Illinois University Bau-House’s recent performances of Alexandre Lunsqui’s berimbau sextet, “Repercussio,” were also “shifting” through my mind during the composition of this quintet. – Alexis C. Lamb