OXIGENO

Can be played separately or together with other movements from VIDA.

Instrumentation: Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello.

▶ MP3 Demo

I. OXIGENO

The first four bars present the listener with the main theme "A", which is repeated in the following 25 bars at different pitches, intervals and dynamics. This to represent the variety of breaths; from agitated, stressful breaths to deeper, relaxing ones. Transition before theme "B" is given by a syncopated version of "A", harmonised in a continuous descending and ascending chromatic scale. "B" represents the calmer moments in life, where only in this time we can appreciate the ability of being able to continuously inhale and exhale air that provides oxygen to our blood.

After the second "A" section, we find twelve extra measures as a "Coda", based on the thematic material from the "A" section. This leads the listener to the "Fugue", which is based on the main theme "A". In this first movement, the composer is challenging the conventional ternary (ABA) form by:

i. continuously exploring different tonalities, to ensure that all repetitions of thematic material is kept interesting to the audience;

ii. adding a fugue at the end of the ternary form, to represent the process of how our lungs work i.e. - when we inhale (breathe in), air enters our lungs, and oxygen from that air moves to the blood. At the same time, carbon dioxide, a waste gas, moves from our blood to the lungs and is exhaled (breathed out). In the meantime, our blood fuelled by oxygen flows through our body which in turn operates our organs. This process of synergy between oxygen, blood and all the parts of our body can be compared to the different entries of the fugue which is built thanks to the synergy between the four instruments.