Pregàries del desert

In 2018, I finished my work Desert, for shakuhachi and symphony orchestra, commissioned by the Spanish National Orchestra. During the rehearsals and the premiere, I rediscovered the main theme, which closes the work and dissolves it in silence: a simple melody played by the harp, with a mechanical feel, without human expression, as if it worked through a celestial mechanism. A need arose within me to write music for solo guitar that would elaborate on different perspectives of this theme, with an intimate and humble mood, like the voice of an anchorite praying in the desert.

Each prayer uses a peculiar microtonal scordatura, and the resonances of the open strings are placed at the forefront, tuned in intervals of just intonation according to the harmonic series. The resulting harmony, with a crystalline, transparent color, recalls the purity of the harp’s timbre in the original version of the theme, supported through different procedures: bending, slider, and various positions for the right hand.

The first movement, with the A fundamental, introduces the theme in its most diaphanous state, like a music box with variable playback speed. The D fundamental articulates the second movement, where there is an alternation between a descending figuration with bending and static, calm chords that go after the main motif. The third movement introduces the overlap of three fundamentals and their respective harmonic series: D, G, and C. The last movement, based on the C fundamental, uses a glass slider that modifies the previous descending motif but without tonal stability, as if it were suspended in the air.

The prayers are linked to interludes that have a double goal: to prepare the new scordatura of the instrument for the next movement and to dissolve the end of the previous prayer. This dissolution has a perceptive function: to blur the limits of movement in order to favor a timeless experience, a contemplative hearing that is projected towards infinity. At the same time, the pragmatism of the string tuning process roots the listener in an earthly, corporeal, and physical dimension. The interludes represent a union point between the earthly functionality and the celestial intangibility

This work has been written during the spring and summer of 2020, with the enthusiastic support of the guitarist Anders Clemens, who has been testing various segments and scordatura that I have been proposing during the composition process. I have also been able to enjoy the valuable comments of the guitarist Maria Camahort, to whom I’m very grateful for her generosity and the meticulous review of the score.

Prayers from the Desert is dedicated to Anders Clemens, with joy and friendship.

Ramon Humet