flute, clarinet, bassoon 12’
Movements:
I. Campos molhados pela chuva da manhã - [Fields wet from the morning rain]
II. Por montes e vales - [Through the hills and valleys]
III. Um riacho corre por entre a folhagem - [A Brook runs through the foliage]
IV. Passam músicos de aldeia - [A village band is passing by]
V. Entardecer - [Nightfall] (versions A & B)
VI. Regresso a casa - [Returning home] (versions A & B)
Pelos Campos Fora [Out in the Fields] - was composed in a few days during January 2004, intended as a final exam for a chamber group of Lisbon’s Superior School of Music (ESML). The group consisted of flute, clarinet and bassoon, a combination less common than the more popular trio of oboe, clarinet and bassoon. The piece which I wrote, a small suite of 13’ duration, took as its point of departure, memories of walks I had taken many years ago through the fields of Poland, in Masuria, a beautiful region covered with lakes and forests. The music therefore has some Slavic influences, to which composers such as Martinu, Janacék ou Stravinsky are not foreign. I give a knowing wink to the last of these composers, as I briefly quote The Soldier’s Tale and the Rite of Spring. Pelos Campos Fora is not, however, or only, a description of rustic environments (and this extra-musical aspect is more sentimental than truly picturesque), since it is structured in an alternation of slow and fast movements that may recall Baroque, Classical and Romantic suites (like Mozart’s Gran Partita, or the Wind Serenade by Dvorak). And, like these works, also written for winds, (without making comparisons, of course) this “Peasants Suite” finds its proper place if played outdoors, with the musicians and the public breathing the warm, spring air…