The works for mechanical piano by Nancarrow have been a great inspiration for me, since they explore new rhythm possibilities never seen before. My idea is to use the new technologies, virtual instruments and DAW enviroments, to explore the microtonal tunings and also the new expressive possibilities (thanks to the dynamic control that allow these new instruments and the artificial intelligence present in modern notation programs). "Alarms" is a collection of microludes for three virtual pianos and a harp in quarter tone tuning; using the quarter tones in a structural and constructive way, not simply as "coloratura" or mere ornaments. Inspired by Nancarrow, numbers 4 and 5 employ different and independent tempo for each instrument. For this, I wrote a small PureData patch to help me with the maths; to know when the instruments begin, end or reach a point together.
! 24 - tET.scl ! 24 tone equal temperament 24 ! 50.00 100.00 150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00 350.00 400.00 450.00 500.00 550.00 600.00 650.00 700.00 750.00 800.00 850.00 900.00 950.00 1000.00 1050.00 1100.00 1150.00 2/1
Saúl Chapela is a spanish composer and pianist, born 27 May 1988 in the seaside village of Moaña. He holds two Bachelor of Music degrees from the "Conservatorio Superior de Música de Vigo”, where he studied with Nicasio Gradaille, Pablo Galdo and Carlos Cambeiro. Also, nowadays he's doing a Master of Music in Composition at the “Hochschule für Musik und Theater München”, where he studies with Jan Müller-Wieland and Hans-Jürgen von Bose. As a composer, he won the first international prize “Boston GuitarFest Composition Competition, 2012” (“Catarsis” for guitar) and the first prize “I Composition Competition Manuel Quiroga, 2013” (“Old Leaves” for violin and string orchestra). His works have been presented at "Junge Solisten. Siemens Stiftung", "Winners and Masters. Kulturkreis Gasteig" and "Virtuosos de la Guitarra. Instituto Cervantes" in Munich, "Erfolgreiche Stipendiaten. Ritter-Stiftung" in Hamburg, "Hochschule der Künste" in Bern, "Sibelius Academy" in Helsinki...