Gustavo Matamoros
Water, Garbage Everywhere (1995)
For Disklavier, discarded objects and real-time piano preparation
11′08″
LISTEN
Complete recording of the world premiere, performed by Gustavo Matamoros during Subtropics 7 at Miami-Dade College’s Wolfson Campus on April 1, 1995.
THE WORK
Water, Garbage Everywhere is one of several piano works motivated by memories, experiences and sensations associated with contact with water.
For the performance, I brought a collection of discarded, medium-sized objects inside a bag. As a computer-controlled Disklavier played a sequence of 88-note glissandi suggesting the movement of ocean waves, I removed the objects one at a time and placed them directly on the exposed piano strings, preparing the instrument in real time.
The glissandi progressively accelerated and decelerated over the course of the composition. Each newly introduced object altered the behavior of the strings, transforming the automated piano sequence through changing combinations of resonance, vibration, obstruction and impact.
The work developed from the idea that whatever we throw into the ocean has a tendency to return. Objects discarded after losing their usefulness reappeared here as active elements capable of continually changing the piano’s sound.
PREMIERE
April 1, 1995 — World premiere
Subtropics 7: The New Player Piano
Composers in Performance with guest pianist Anthony de Mare
Red Room, Miami-Dade College Wolfson Campus
Miami, Florida
Gustavo Matamoros — real-time piano preparation
Computer-controlled Disklavier sequence composed by Gustavo Matamoros
The concert also included J. B. Floyd performing Solos and Sequences; Morton Subotnick performing Angel Concerto, then in progress; and Anthony de Mare performing Frederic Rzewski’s De Profundis.
This remains the work’s only performance.
REVIEW
Tim Smith, review of Subtropics 7: The New Player Piano, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, April 3, 1995.
SCORE AND DOCUMENTATION
A surviving one-page document presents the title in Spanish and English as Agua [y Basura] por Todas Partes / Water, [Garbage] Everywhere. Its Spanish prose description summarizes the relationship among discarded objects, returning waves, real-time piano preparation and the computer-activated glissandi.
Download the score and program note | PDF
PUBLICATION
The premiere recording was subsequently included in La Música en el Caribe II: Edición Sonora, a two-CD anthology of music by Caribbean composers published in 1996 by the Organización Foro de Compositores del Caribe and the Universidad de Puerto Rico.
Read about La Música en el Caribe II: Edición Sonora in Publications.
CREDITS
Composition and Disklavier sequence — Gustavo Matamoros
Real-time piano preparation — Gustavo Matamoros
Duration — 11′08″
World-premiere recording — April 1, 1995
Published by Subtropics Editions