The synthetic cut , the rhythm materiality and the hierarchic inversion : these are three lessons that I have learned with The Rite of Spring , this magnificent work of Igor Stravinsky. It would be possible to include some other lessons here. However, these are some of the most influential in the development of 20 th and 21 st century music and in my own work. The rhythmic materiality is a concentration on beats, losing part of (or completely) the abstraction required to listen to measures. Thi

“El Gran Zumbidor” (The Great Zumbidor), my last electroacoustic work is released  in the CD Autoctofonías  by CMMAS (Mexico). Great! Autoctofonías is a series of 3 CDs including works by 20 Latin-American composers. The works use Latin-American instruments, and they are transformed by electroacoustic devices, or they are played as such. El Gran Zumbidor is the 1st track of Volume 1.  In this work I explore the gestural power of some Brazilian instruments: Zumbidor, Berimbau, Pau de chuva, In

As a composer and performer,  I consider this issue a crucial one. In fact, I am discovering new paths for music exploration and communication with the audience since I have been able to understand this issue better.  Last year I wrote down my thoughts about this issue, and I published a paper called Musica e Inteligibilidad. It is published in Revista Brocar , v.37, Universidad de la Rioja, Spain, and you can  download it free .  CLICK HERE to access this paper "Music is something that we ar

The CD S'io Esca Vivo is one of the three FINALISTS in the category “THE BEST CD 2013” at the CONCERTO Award 2013! The CD S'io Esca Vivo is fully dedicated to the work of Edson Zampronha. The brilliant pianist Karin Fernandes performs it with great invited performers: Adriana Holtz (cello); Ana de Oliveira (violin); Luiz Afonso Montanha (clarinet) and Ricardo Bologna (percussion). The CONCERTO AWARD is a promotion of the Revista CONCERTO, the most important review for the classic music in Braz

S'io Esca Vivo is the newest CD dedicated to the work of Edson Zampronha, and it is wonderfully performed by Karin Fernandes  and great invited per formers. Karen Montija took very beautiful and sensitive pictures of the release concert at Sala São Paulo - Choir's Room - in September. She could precisely grasp the emotion and feeling of this very special moment. Here are some pictures: Karin Fernandes, the pianist. Edson Zampronha, the composer. Karin Fernandes and Edson Zampronha played tog

Esta conversa foi realizada em dois momentos durante o mês de abril de 2013, antes da gravação do CD S’io Esca Vivo pela pianista Karin Fernandes e convidados. Resolvemos manter o frescor do fluxo das ideias, que nos pareceu bastante representativo das inquietudes de Maurício Ayer em seu contato com as obras de Edson Zampronha, e das respostas que Zampronha apresentava, levantando por sua vez novas perguntas, cada vez mais instigantes. Este ir e vir das ideias nos pareceu muito enriquecedor, e d

A piece of music may be deeply transformed by transferences , and by this reason transference is a powerful tool for music composition and performance! Transference is a phenomenon in which qualities, values and/or concepts related to something become associated with (or are redirected to) a music composition, altering the way we listen to it. For instance, when a Japanese Shakuhachi flute, a toy piano or a heavy metal guitar play a melody of Vivaldi, we get more than a timbre change only. Sev

Karin Fernandes recorded works of Edson Zampronha in her new CD   S’io Esca Vivo, and it includes  a superb performance of the work Fantasia! Fantasia was composed for clarinet, violin, cello and piano. It comprises a set of short musical segments (20-30 seconds long) that are connected for the production of a surprising and appealing diversity of expressions.   Listen to Fantasia and experience a rich diversity of expressions! Karin Fernandes recorded Fantasia playing with a great team of pe

The International Winter Festival in Campos do Jordão (Brazil) is the most important classical music festival in Latin America. In this edition, the Festival includes Recycling Collaging Sampling in its concerts! Edson Zampronha composed this very exploratory work for a variable number of percussion players and electroacoustics.  Recycling Collaging Sampling, by Edson Zampronha, as I see it! In Campos do Jordão, six percussionists from the Festival play more than 90 instruments on stage. The

On September Karin Fernandes releases a new CD fully dedicated to the music of Edson Zampronha . This CD includes works for solo piano and chamber music with piano. It also includes a piece for three pianos, and she herself played all three! S’io Esca Vivo (“If I come out alive”) is the title of this CD. It has received a super professional production. Excellent performers play with Karin Fernandes in a wonderful studio. The CD includes an amazing booklet, nice photos, and creative notes about

Improvisations are a fruitful context for finding or creating something new. In the work Melodia (Melody), composed by Edson Zampronha, some known compositional strategies are blend in a different way for achieving both a free state of mind (to me, an improvisation in its deepest sense) and a compelling musical thought. How this blend is achieved in this work? Listen to Melody performed by Carlos Orobón and Edson Zampronha. After the concert, a significant part of the audience were quite curiou

I love interviews! They allow me to establish an immediate contact with the audience and performers, and to face complexes subjects directly, offering to the reader some “direct to the point” answers. In January the great clarinetist Camilo Irizo interviewed me for the new issue of Espacio Sonoro review  (Revista Espacio Sonoro). He posed me some questions of this kind, and I loved that. Here is a short selection of his questions, going from some more generalist to some more specific ones: Wha

Is there unconscious in music? This is the question Professor Maria de Lourdes Sekeff poses herself in her magnificent essay Filosofia, Psicanálise, Música: Tema e Variações (Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Music: Theme and Variations) included in the recently published book Quatro Ensaios sobre Música e Filosofia (Four Essays on Music and Philosophy), organized by Rubens Russomano Ricciardi and Edson Zampronha (Music Department of USP and Coruja Press, 2013). This book is dedicated to the memory

Curva ao Infinito (Curve toward the infinite), composed by Edson Zampronha, is a stimulating experience that explores new creative trends by means of unique sound images! Composed for  piano and electroacoustics, Curva ao Infinito  is being premiered by the pianist Luciane Cardassi as part of the Going North 2 project at St. Michael’s Anglican Church, Canmore, CANADA, on January 12 at 4pm.   This work is a highly sensitive one, revealing very specific qualities of feeling from an almost improv

Put a bit of Feroce in your ears and feel the freshness of this new music! Listen to a thrilling performance of Feroce  by Danieli Longo (piano) and Ji Yon Shim (violoncello).  Feroce is a work for piano and cello composed by Edson Zampronha that opens our ears to a new experience. Be part of it! This video was recorded live at the SESI-FIESP Theater in São Paulo, Brazil, on October 14, 2012. Do you want to know more about the secrets of Feroce? Click here ! Danieli Longo (piano) and Ji Yon

Is it really possible to find out a new music inside sound objects? Pierre Schaeffer, the creator of Musique Concrète, suggests this possibility in the book Traité des objets musicaux. What he calls solfège in fact is a set of steps that could be used to release or to synthesize pieces of music from a set of sound objects. However, at the end of his book Schaeffer claims that  it is not possible to release or to synthesize pieces of music from a set of sound objects.  He states that there is n

Modelagem IV is a work that manipulates sounds as a plastic material. Sounds are shaped like moist clay to express different, original and impressive forms and textures. In other words, sounds are not like bricks that are put together to construct a wall.   Have a look at the score of Modelagem IV here. It has been recently published by the Espacio Sonoro Review (the score is the Edson Zampronha’s very clear manuscript). You are allowed to free download it.   Link to Modelagem IV (free!)   Zampr

Creativity is not a gift found in a few humans only. Everybody can think creatively. In order to do that you must direct your brainpower to concrete points, in a specific way, avoiding thoughts and believes that block creativity. This is the main argument I develop in a new paper I wrote for Re-Sonancias Review. You can access the full review here. The paper starts on page 6. As it is written in Spanish, I will summarize some of its main arguments. ZAMPRONHA, Edson. “¿Donde empieza la creativida

"Between the Thunder and the Echo" is 20 second long. A so short and so intense music! It is inspired on the same philosophy present in japanese haikais. It is being broadcasted at 11 pm, Germany Time, on March 2, by Radio ORF. This recording was done during the Biennial for comtemporary music in Curitiba, Brazil 2011, by the excellent Ensemble Cross.Art. http://oe1.orf.at/programm/296869

A sequence of short segments, about twenty seconds each one. This allows Feroce , my recent work for cello and piano, to melt the speed of our time and the classical music expression. The result is outstanding! Feroce is the name of one of these short segments, and its meaning changes during the work. It is an example of what I name re-interpretation : one musical segment receives a second meaning during the work, and when it happens it creates a strong and appealing musical tension and drama. F