Excerpt
04/07/1997 - Santo Tirso (Portugal), Santa Casa da Misericórdia
This work was commissioned by the Santo Tirso festival in Portugal, and while it does not drag us inexorably along the shorelines of the dark "fado" (from the Latin "fatum", destiny), it does transport us into the galaxy of the "saudade", studded with a thousand nostalgic stars. From the initial G minor it modulates to G major in a pretence of happiness, but the people of this country are far too drawn to darkness for Santo Tirso to remain there for long, and it soon returns to the minor mode of the opening.
Roland Dyens
