Score (tab and notation) for Bigger Steps, by Choan Gálvez, written for baritone ukulele. Premiered by Giovanni Albini in May, 2021.
Choan writes: “I have toyed with the mathematical ideas behind Bigger Steps—melodies moving in increasing intervals and synthetic chords produced in a similar fashion—for a long time. The combination of those ideas and an intimate self-introspection developed into this three-part piece that should each be played slowly and ‘with your inner self’, ‘with an open mind’, ‘with love’. I’ve left the score intentionally open in timing and structure so every performer can make this music their own.”
From the back cover: “As Leopold Brauneiss once pointed out about the style of Arvo Pärt—the prominent Estonian composer that would seem to be an inspiration for this score for baritone ukulele by Choan Gálvez—constraints and in general regulatory principles ‘define the creative area into which the composer as subject has retreated’. However, even if based on strict rules organizing intervals, Bigger Steps shows the opposite: a struggle for beauty, open spirit and love that fosters the subjectivity of the performer. The same harmonic material is rearranged continuously throughout the three slow movements that constitute the score, creating the need to interpret and render it from different perspectives. The challenge is engaging and satisfying, and let's explore the nuances of the instrument and a performer's relation with them.
“Once again Gálvez has composed a milestone in the ukulele repertoire, offering a wonderful, deep score that owes much to the marvellous fascination of European minimalism.”—Giovanni Albini
Printable PDF file, 8 pages, A4 size.
ISMN: 979-0-805446-16-5
