Title of piece: Synchronisms No. 10 for Guitar and Electronic Sounds
Date of composition: 1992
Date of performance/recording: 2000 (Flashbacks: Music by Mario Davidovsky, Bridge Records, Bridge 9097)
Composer: Mario Davidovsky
Performer/Instruments: guitarist David Starobin with prerecorded electronic sounds
Form: free form, with basically two sections, the first featuring guitar alone, followed by a longer section introducing tape-recorded sounds
Rhythm: freely expressive and complex, without any beat sense

What to Listen for:

  • Use of extended techniques on the guitar, i.e., striking the instrument and lifting up a string to allow it to slap against the fingerboard, creating a percussive effect; rapid brushing of strings with the flesh of the right-hand fingers
  • Atonal harmony and use of silence to frame musical idea
  • Use of hemiola rhythms typical of Latin American folk music
  • Wide variety of electronically generated sounds featured on the tape recording
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