Beam compass for drawing circles with large diameters (photo by Ángel M. Felicísimo,
professor at the Mérida University Center, University of Extremadura)
Compás de varas / Beam compass
For tenor Trombone and bass TromboneCommentary
Download score
Commentary
This piece was created at the request of the O.N.E. Duo, composed of Juan Carlos Matamoros and Francisco Guillén, tenor and bass trombones, respectively, of the Spanish National Orchestra. At that time (2022), they were generating repertoire for trombone duo to prepare for a concert and the subsequent recording of the works written for them by various composers.
Francisco Guillén and Juan Carlos Matamoros
Seeking a touch of humor in a piece for an already curious ensemble, I played with the double meaning of the Spanish word "compás", both the musical term (measure, or metre) and the instrument for measuring distances and drawing circles (compass). Within this category, I referred to the "beam compass" designed for drawing much larger figures than the regular compass allows. Needless to say, the specification of "beam" (literal translation of vara, the slide of the trombone) provided the ideal ambivalence to apply it to a musical instrument where the vara is its most characteristic component.
With this humorous background as a starting point, Beam Compass is proposed as a piece where the instrument for drawing large circles inspires part of its "staging." On a first page of instructions, a suggested arrangement for the musicians in each section of the piece is provided, which in a way configures, through different turns, a circle that is reached after playing facing forward, backward, and parallel.
Instruction page of Compás de varas
The work consists of five sections, alternating contrasting elements in rhythm, melody, dynamics, attacks, and tempi.
0Beam Compass was composed in Madrid between September and October 2022, and is logically dedicated to Juan Carlos Matamoros and Francisco Guillén.
First page of Compás de varas