Op. 2: Neldë Cormar, for solo guitar
Neldë Cormar is a piece inspired by the three Elven Rings of Power, objects of great importance in the mythology created by J. R. R. Tolkien. Each ring is musically represented by a miniature that seeks to evoke a sensation reminiscent of the rings themselves, their properties, their respective bearers, and their deeds within Tolkien’s works, especially in the events narrated in The Lord of the Rings. Neldë Cormar means “three rings” in Quenya, a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien. In his mythology, this language is used ceremonially by the Elves, being uncommon outside of this context —the language most commonly used in everyday life is Sindarin, a derivative of Quenya. Tolkien not only created both languages with complete grammar, but also an alphabet of his own, so the subtitle of the piece is exactly “Neldë Cormar” written in that alphabet. The piece was brilliantly premiered by the guitarist Bernardo Januzzi at the XXXI Panorama da Música Brasileira Atual, one of the most important events of contemporary concert music in Brazil.
Op. 1: Arnediad Dim, for solo piano
This is my first composition, a piece for solo piano that is a “musical metaphor” to the Cantor function, also known as a devil’s staircase, for its “infinite” number of steps. Apart from using several ideas from the iterative process of the construction of the Cantor set, the main goal of the piece is to evoke the feeling of anguish when climbing an infinite staircase.
Regarding the name of the piece, Arnediad Dim means “endless staircase” in Sindarin, a fictional language created by J. R. R. Tolkien, and in his works, it is the most spoken language by the elves of the Third Age in Middle-earth, the time and place in which the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place. The analogy is due to two crucial moments in The Lord of the Rings where the characters went through long and dangerous staircases: the battle of the wizard Gandalf with a Balrog, whose final part took place on the long circular staircase that goes from the depths of the Mines of Moria to the top of the mountain of Zirakzigil; and the arrival of Frodo, Sam, and Sméagol at the pass of Cirith Ungol, which occurs through a long and dark staircase that starts from the vicinity of the dangerous city of Minas Morgul.
Arnediad Dim was premiered at the VII International MusMat Conference, by pianist Tamara Ujakova:
The piece was also performed live, also by Tamara, on the XXX Panorama da Música Brasileira Atual, one of the most important events of contemporary concert music in Brazil: