Bergamote et Pamplemousse, for piano four hands

When I composed the piece in 2009, Marina was finishing her Philology degree and we were very involved in French culture. Marina had created a musical and poetic project, never released, that fit with this. Watteau’s painting, his Fêtes galantes, the Harlequin and the characters of the Commedia dell’Arte, his relationship with French symbolism with Verlaine and Debussy, the return to neoclassical forms, such as Pour le piano, all of this inspired my music with the aim to get closer to these models. Bergamote et Pamplemousse are two colored and aromatic citrus fruits that fit well with these initially cheerful ideas. However, they also contain the bitterness that is part of the human spirit.

It is, in short, a virtuous joke, a representation, a parody, a play that shows reality on both sides. Bergamote and Pamplemousse can also be two complementary characters represented by both pianists.

Technically I wanted to do a work that had rhythmic force and sound. The first movement (Prélude) is very accentuated, insistent, and somewhat wild. It must be performed with great vehemence and good rhythm.

The second movement is a Sarabanda alla Bach (Sarabande) performed by the Secondo, while an annoying Primo is dedicated to breaking the seriousness of the music with dissonant chords.

The Final is a dance in 5/8, with many irregularities and character changes, with a use of motivic development, which finally recovers the character of the first movement.

Joan Josep Gutiérrez Yzquierdo