Music
An overview of my musical activity
My appreciation of baroque counterpoint and my admiration for the music of J.S. Bach have led me to specialize in harpsichord playing and basso continuo accompaniment. I regularly play with other musicians in my baroque ensemble Harmonia Tangens and I have performed at St Cecilia's Hall in several occasions. I have given guided tours on the history of the string keybaord instrument family with live music demonstrations taking advantage of the fantastic Russell collection of keyboard instruments at St Cecilia's Hall.
Harpsichord and Basso Continuo
Improvisation and Composition
My main interest in music is in developing an articulate musical language at the keyboard. For this reason, since my late training in music started during my PhD years in Edinburgh (I didn't learn any instrument or singing as a child), improvisation has been a constant in my practice. I like to think of improvisation and composition as two extremes of a spectrum that I like to explore naturally. Incidentally, this practice is probably quite similar to how music was made in the classical European tradition; famously most renouned composers were also great performers and improvisers.
To bring back some of the flair and prestige of the tradition of extemporization, which, sadly, has been largely forgotten in the classical music world nowadays, I am organising an Improvisation Competition to be held during the 'Harpsichord en fete' event organized by the French Institute in Edinburgh.
Foundations of Tonal Systems and Music Theory
I am interested in the phenomena of sound generation and sound perception and how musical traditions have explored and systematized aspects of these for aesthetic effect. As part of my contribution to SEMF, I have produced, together with my good friend Pau Enrique, a series of videos where we introduce the basics of acoustics and sound perception.
An interest in the sonic phenomenon in itself and familiarity with diverse historical temperaments from my harpsichord playing have led me to consider the foundations of tonal systems and music theory. I am developing some ideas to formalize a new music theory that is precise enough to capture the richness of physical harmony but flexible to incorporate many of the very successful music systems already used in practice. This could lead to a unified approach towards diverse tonal systems, including microtonality, and open up the compositional possibilities of continuous counterpoint, reference pitch change, dynamic temperament, synthetic harmonies, etc.
