Andersen Viana
Bergmann Edition : 28 pages
Viana is a Brazilian composer with over 400 pieces for all manner of different instrumental and vocal combinations to his name, but one I had never actually come across before.
So to say that this set of fourteen pieces takes less than 5 minutes to perform , you will realise just how ‘ micro’ they actually are. Micropieces won the 1st Prize at the Aalborg International Guitar
Composer Competition of 2023, so to say that I was really disappointed with this work might surprise you, but literally each piece is very short indeed, and almost doesn’t deserve to be called a piece at all. For example No1 is literally one line of stave, with a quick run up, an equally quick rundown in pairs of quite dissonant harmonies, and a rasgueado chord leading to a secco final chord.
No2 is a set of ten pairs of natural harmonics marked Prestissimo , and again all on one line of stave. No3 takes up 2 lines of stave, and consists of a rising set of muted notes, leading to a fall down in the same manner.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea. There is a recording on YouTube of the entire set, should anyone be intrigued enough to see if I am exaggerating or not, but the fact is, I am not, and I am sorry but I found this set of ‘pieces’ completely and utterly pointless.
Chris Dumigan
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