Onde means both “Where” in Portuguese and “Waves” in Italian. This String Quartet composition, completed in 2023, draws inspiration from the inherent uncertainty in measurement. Even with high-precision measurement tools, objects cannot be measured without any degree of imprecision. Indeed, Werner Heisenberg proposed that measuring the speed and position of subatomic particles is impractical due to their wave-like behavior. This composition explores this trade-off. The first section features a glissando texture, where individual notes can hardly be grasped. The harmonic arrival point that ensues also does not provide the audience with a single pitch entity, due to the employment of a blurry cluster-like sparse harmony. Throughout the composition, these antagonistic characters are explored, while the range of frequencies strikes for a unison conversion. Nevertheless, this aim is never accomplished, which creates an analogy to the uncertainty inherent in measurement. Onde for String Quartet was premiered by the JACK Quartet on February 8th, 2024, at Griswold Hall, Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
Anicca, 2019
“Anicca” is one of the essential doctrines in Buddhism, which describes the universe, together with “dukkha” and “anatta,” constituting the three marks of existence. This doctrine refers to the constant mutation (impermanence) of all the things that compose the universe. Based on this conception, Pascale composed this piece, which emphasizes the transitoriness of the stable sounds.
Guitarrist
Jorge do Fusa by Garoto Performed at WMU’s SEMINAR Performance Class IV in 2021
Blues by Five, solo by Miles Davis Recording made in 2018
rodrigopascale.com 