ATACAMA , violin concerto (2005),
in memoriam Iannis Xenakis.

Silvia Marcovici violin.
Enrique Mazzola , direction.
Orchestre national de Montpellier

Atacama is a harsh, arid, somewhat rough work, although constantly nurished from a strong expressive tension. The piece features dry sounds, with no resonance, sharp and cutting as desert stones. From the very beginning the violin sets the image, breaking abruptly the silence, it relentlessly keeps attacking, tearing and shouting silences, supported by a sharp and dry orchestral writing, barely coloured by only a few percussion interventions.
This work goes straight-forward, masses moving ahead relentlessly. There are turnings and windings to get lost in, but the music always avoids tics of composers, proceeding straight forward and letting its voice out.
A voice simply confessing my strong admiration for Iannis Xenakis music. My life was put upside down by his work.
Atacama is the name of the most arid desert in the world, located in my home land, Chile.
Marco Antonio Perez-Ramirez