PEDRO FARIA GOMES (b.1979): Violin Sonata, Memória for Clarinet and Piano, Thanatos for Clarinet and String Trio, Returning for Clarinet, Violin and Piano, Nachtmusik for Clarinet and Piano, Elegia for Solo Cello, Espera for Viola and Piano, Escape for Piano.
Catalogue Number: 02V075
Label: Naxos
Reference: 8.579029
Format: CD
Price: $12.98
Description: Introspective, nostalgic chamber works, not lacking in drama or contrast but with a pervasive sense of melancholy throughout (as suggested by many of his titles). The four-movement Violin Sonata uses a gentle folk tune as its slow movement, and Memoría also incorporates one, though more obliquely. The composer’s idiom is accessible and largely tonal, with a fine sense of the subtleties of instrumental colour, as in the central section of the highly atmospheric Thanatos, where melody is accompanied by whispering oscillating accompaniments like the ticking of clocks or the swinging of a pendulum. Returning is similarly effective, hinting at longing while recognizing the impossibility of a true return because of the impermanence and change wrought by time. Sarah Thurlow (clarinet), Carla Santos (violin), Nancy Johnson (viola), Miguel Fernandes (cello), Saul Picado (piano).