MANA QUARTET | Portrait of My Dead Brother by Kevin Villalta (LIVE) | Keene State College

The MANA Quartet performs Kevin Villalta’s Portrait of My Dead Brother in concert at Keene State College on November 6, 2019.

The MANA Quartet (2015-2020)
Michael Hernandez - soprano
Michael Mortarotti - alto
Diane Hunger - tenor
Thomas Giles - baritone

https://themanaquartet.com/

Portrait of My Dead Brother was composed for MANA in 2014 as part of their Sight & Sound Project.
“When Michael asked me to be involved in the Sight & Sound project, Salvador Dali (1904-1989) instantly popped into my head as an artist on which I wanted to base my piece. While combing through his catalog of paintings, Portrait of My Dead Brother (1963) grabbed my attention. Although lesser known, this painting surprised me with the directness in the meaning and symbolism that is occasionally a bit more amorphous in the bulk of his work. My aim in composing the music was to capture my first experience in viewing the painting and to express where my eyes were first drawn to and which colors and textures struck me. First, the dot matrix of Dali’s brother and crow above his head, then the family mourning over the grave of their lost child and finally the troops marching and dissolving into the dot matrix. In the end, I hope the music can inform the listener of the visual elements that inspired the music.” Kevin Villalta, 2016



#classicalsaxophone #saxophone #saxophonequartet