For Quena and fixed sounds

The source of inspiration for Soplando Almas (Blowing Souls) is the cosmogony of the Machiguenga from the peruvian Amazonas described by Mario Vargas Llosa in “El hablador” [“The Storyteller”] one of his novels from the eighties.

“Tasurinchi”, the creator spirit, gives life to the whole of existence with his breath. Charmed by this idea, I set myself to recreate this encounter and birth in an imaginary space in which cultures, technology and magic cohabit.

The fixed sounds have been composed and organized on the basis of Andean flute sounds transformed with the help of the computer -Syter System from INA-GRM in Radio France. The origin of these sounds take date back, in some cases, to my first works in electroacoustics in 1981 and 1982. These sounds have been elaborated and composed by using traditional techniques for the electroacoustic studio.

This work, in its first version, was made up of two parts and was written for soprano saxophone. In this version for Quena, which I consider to be the only one that should be played, I have kept only the second part.

The first performance, as well as the recording, were done with the help of my friend Luis Rigou.

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