Nocturn per a un capvespre blau (Nocturne for a blue dusk)

Subtle, evocative, with a traditional Mallorcan feel, an Arabic touch, the first chords of the English horn of the Nocturn per a un capvespre blau by Antoni Parera Fons prepare the listener to enter a world of chiaroscuro, in which the violins and the woodwinds blur reality. Between impressionism and modernity, the composer from Manacor suggests the moment of transition between day and night, between light and darkness, between life and nothingness; a moment full of unknowns and hope, serene and of strong poetic charge.

The initial theme marks the theme and creates a particular climate of uncertainty and meditation which, as the composition progresses, leads into a second contrasting theme of mysterious character. These two melodic lines are like two twining vines that grow together and in parallel to provide strong moments of musical drama and tension along with others of doubt, sadness and excitement, which end up building this meditative and poetic space which the composer wants to convey. It was first performed in 2009 by the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya under the baton of Josep Pons. Nocturne for a blue dusk is closely linked to the composer’s two cycles of songs, El darrer viatge (The last journey), based on poems by Guillem d’Efak and Les trente-trois noms de Dieu, (The thirty-three names of God) based on a text by Marguerite Yourcenar. Death is very present in both these works, which were recorded respectively by the baritones Joan Pons and José van Dam.

Marta Porter

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