for flute/piccolo/alto flute, viola and harp. 14′

About the work:

The present work is an homage to the architecture and the Islamic
ornamentation in which an interdisciplinary dialogue between the beauty of the Islamic world and my own music is established. From the fruit of observation, study and admiration of this remote art, which were part of our culture, “Qubba” emerges: a sound space built under the aesthetic principles of Islamic art interpreted from my point of view of contemporary music.

The “Salón de embajadores” of the “Alcázar de Sevilla” has been the
fundamental reference when elaborating the formal design, hence the name of the piece (the word “Qubba in Islamic art responds to this type of architectural space). Thus, the macroform is structured in blocks of different durations in which the content is formed by elaborate symmetrical patterns, sinuous arabesques, geometric textures, and different designs of harmonic and tonal color that always reflect the exuberant world of Islamic ornamentation.

Another capital reference has been the stimulating view created in certain architectural spaces by reflecting a monument on water, such as the “Patio de los Arrayanes” of the “Alhambra”. In this context, the symmetry is not perfect, it is irregular, it is in permanent change due to the living movement of the water; the elements are veiled and blurred with each other and the proportions are disfigured. Qubba also picks up this idea of irregular symmetry and it is from measure 165 where we will be witnesses to the musical reflection of all the above.

Qubba is dedicated to the memory of Claude Debussy, for the deep admiration and love that I have to him.