CARLOS SANDOVAL

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PETENERA

Acoustic guitar, toy guitar, and Tape

Berlin / Germany, 2005

Commission by Christelle Sery

2005, French premiere , Festival Musiques de notre temps,

Théâtre des deux rives, Paris, 2005, Christelle Sery

Pages Acoustiques (Apple music classical), Christelle Sery, 2011

This is the first in a series of works where instruments become living organisms, or performers themselves transform into instruments, exploring about sound, action, embodiment and symbolic metamorphosis.

In Petenera I confront politics, history, and injustice while weaving intimacy, motherhood, and resistance into the musical narrative. The piece is divided into three sections: it begins with an allegorical reflection on flamenco and the Spanish Civil War, with tape capturing the voice of flamenco singer maestro "El Agujeta" describing the killing of Republican soldiers, while the toy guitar responds with delicate, tender gestures. Electronics further extend the textures, creating a dialogue between aggression and fragility. The second section, performed solely on acoustic classical guitar, draws on modern Latin American classical guitar idioms. Its melodic and linear discourse builds toward the third section through glissandi and rasgueos, and gentle tuning fork gestures that provide a continuous thread linking the sections seamlessly. In the final section, the toy guitar returns, weaving simple arpeggios with tuning fork glissandi. It transforms later into a “snoring baby,” theatrically nurtured by the performer, bringing the piece to a quiet, intimate close.

Through this work, I explore how sound, objects, and human presence can interact as living entities, inviting listeners to witness fragile, unexpected relationships between instruments, performers, and the histories and emotions embedded in the music.