In ‘Microtonalismos’, the pianos are tuned a quarter tone apart, producing a novel tonal landscape.
The Auditorio de Tenerife is showing next Tuesday (4 November) the recital Microtonalismos, featuring pianists Esther Ropón and Ernst Surberg, joined by the Tak-Nara Percussion Group. This concert, titled Microtonalismos, centres on two grand pianos tuned a quarter tone apart—a rarity in the repertoire for this instrument, and includes two works being performed in Spain for the first time.
The pieces featured in Microtonalismos were composed for two pianos with distinct tunings, created to experiment with the microtones that emerge from their combination. No tone will be identical to another during the concert. The exploration of new tonalities emerged in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century, but it is deeply rooted in older traditions from cultures such as Persia, the Arab world, India, and Greece, all of which have long made use of intervals smaller than the semitone.
Tempered tuning historically represented such a consensus that without it, none of the essential compositional trends in the Western European tradition would have come about. Restriction of tonality and, in turn, of chromaticism, along with the reduction of intonation possibilities to relatively few tones, allowed the systematic ‘discovery’ of magnificent harmonic modulations.
The programme opens with Three Quarter‑Tone Pieces for two pianos by Charles Ives (1874–1954), followed by Fantasy for Two Pianos on the Theme SHEA by Sofiya Gubaidulina (1931–2025). After the break, the recital continues with two works receiving their Spanish première: Quarteteango by Leandro Martín (1974) and Orchestra of Black Butterflies for two pianos and two percussionists by Lisa Streich (1985).
The tickets can be purchased at a single price of €15 and €5 for audiences under 30 on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium’s box office, or by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check the special discounts for students, unemployed people and large families, among others.