Gelio

Gelio was inspired by the life cycle of the Sun: birth (Creation), maturity (Zenith) and death (Red Giant). In this process we can find a reflection of most of the cycles around us, such as morning, afternoon, evening; spring, summer, fall; youth, maturity, old age; birth, life, death...

The first part (Gelio I Creation) heralds the appearance of the Sun. The opening aleatory passage in the diatonic scale in the irrational five-eighth time symbolizes a burst of primordial chaotic energy and determines the initial impulse. This is followed by a variety of figures of growth and contraction in the form of successive progressions of durations, times, dynamics and intervals. Starting from the fourth figure onward the D major tonality is highlighted, while in the fifth figure a keynote support appears in the form of a great major major seventh chord from the D. The chord is chanted against the background of diatonic glissandos, which embodies the image of the born Sun in the rays of primeval energy. The moment of creation is also embodied in the syntax: stable thematic material emerges for the first time in the trumpet part starting from the sixth figure, in contrast to the pointillist texture of the initial sections.

The second part (Gelio II Zenith) is based on alternating images of the Sun (Gelio sections) and cold irrational space (Cosmic Drift sections). The sections of the"Gelio" are based on strict sequential permutations of pitch and rhythmical series. The first seven sounds of the series are diatonically arranged in D-major while the remaining five are the missing sounds of the chromatic series. All sections of the "Gelio" are personified in the ordinary sound of the instruments in contrast with the freely composed "Space Drift" section. The space sections are dominated by extended playing techniques and coloristic effects. The form of the whole part can contingently be considered as double variations.

The third part (Gelio III Red Giant) starts with a burst of the trombone accent on the B tone with subsequent sound splitting through multiphonics. Brattle, segmental grace notes and beats give the sound an archaic flavor. The part and the entire piece is concluded with the Gelio theme against the background of piano polytonal passages. These passages contain two tonalities (D major and A-flat major) separated from each other with a tritone, which represents the maximum unrelated correlation according to the classical system.