RECORDED REPERTOIRE
ASSAD, SÉRGIO (1952) - The Brazilian Sergio Assad is an important composer and one of the most famous guitarist in the world nowadays. His most important works are the orchestral piece Espantalho, the guitar duet Saga dos Migrantes, the suíte Natsu no Niwa, written specially for a Japanese movie, the Jobinianas, the Sonata for guitar solo and Aquarelle, also for guitar solo.
Uarekena (1994), originally written for guitar quartet, is based on Brazilian Indian themes. It is homage to the Brazilian Indian people. The piece is rhythmically strong and uses percussion effects and exotic scales. In Uarekena it is also easy to recognize the stylistics influences of São Paulo countryside music. Quaternaglia recorded Uarekena in 1998 (for Forrobodó album, launched in 2000).
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BACH, JOHAN SEBASTIAN (1685-1750) - Fabio Ramazzina's version for the only Concerto for Four Harpsichords and Orchestra written by the famous German composer - BWV 1065 - was written for a Quaternaglia recital with the Santo André Symphonic Orchestra in 1996, conducted by Flávio Florence. The version is, in fact, "a transcription of a transcription", once Bach based himself on the Concerto for Four Violins and Orchestra Op. 3 n.10 RV 580 by Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). Ramazzina maintains the key chosen by Bach for the harpsichords, A minor, though the original written by Vivaldi for the violins is B minor. Quaternaglia recorded the piece without the orchestra, and it can be found - in its three movements - in the anniversary album of Violão Intercâmbio Magazine (10 anos de Violão Intercâmbio, GTR, 2004).
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BELLINATI, PAULO (1950) - Brazilian guitar player and composer specialized in Brazilian popular rhythms. He has published a study about the works of Garoto, an important Brazilian guitarist in the fifties. As a composer, Bellinati has published many pieces for solo guitar and guitar ensemble. His work Jongo was recorded by the famous Australian guitarist John Williams.
The three works dedicated and recorded by Quaternaglia emphasize different aspects and possibilities of compositional utilities for Brazilian rhythms in the guitar quartet repertoire.
Baião de Gude (1997), first performed and recorded by Quaternaglia in 1998, reproduces the structure of Northeastern rhythm divulged by Luiz Gonzaga joined to a strong jazz undercurrent. At times, the instruments traditionally used in "baião" music, as the accordion, bass drum, triangle and the voice are clearly evoked by the guitars.
A Furiosa (1997, first performed in the same year and recorded in 1999) is an ironic virtuoso piece in the "maxixe" rhythm, typical of early twentieth century Brazilian music. It is also a tribute to the small-town bands of Brazil, popularly known "furiosas" (furious, in Portuguese). After the piece was recorded in the album Forrobodó, Quaternaglia also registered a live performance in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006), where the composer himself plays cavaquinho with the group.
Lun-Duos (1996, first performed in 1997 and recorded in 1998) is based on multiple percussive effects, relying also on the "lundu", an Afro-Brazilian rhythm. The quartet is treated here in the spirit of a desafio (musical contest) between various guitar duos, which gives its good-humored title.
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BOCCHERINI, LUIGI (1743-1805) - A violoncellist and an Italian composer born in Lucca, Luigi Boccherini, went to Vienna and Paris before settling in Madrid in 1768. Boccherini's quintets can be classified in two different types: quintets, more elaborate scores, and the so-called quintettini, less pretentious compositions which were often adapted from other quartets and quintets by the composer himself. Such is the case with pieces that include the guitar or more specifically the 5 course guitar.
When Grave Assai and Fandango first appeared in 1788 there are initial movements of a quintet with two violoncellos (op.40 n.2) as stated by the author: "quintettino imitando il fandango che suona sulla chitarra il Padre Basilio". Padre Basilio (Miguel Garcia) was an important Spanish guitar player, one of the first to use 6 simple strings in the guitar. The guitar is included in the piece in 1798, arranged by Boccherini himself and devoted to the violoncellist, Marquês Benavente: the two final movements of the no. 4 quintet for guitar and string quartet (Gérard 448). This is the version used in the guitar quartet transcription written by Jeremy Sparks (recorded in 1995 by Quaternaglia) which to a certain extent restores the piece to the instrument that first inspired its composition.
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BROUWER, LEO (1939) - Leo Brouwer's works have largely contributed to spread and stabilize the formation of guitar quartets as an interesting chamber proposal which is more and more present in the international musical scene. The three pieces correspond to the author's present esthetical concerns - the oldest one was created over 10 years ago - but they preserve important influences from previous phases of his composing path, that is that of a late romanticism with national Latin American qualities (the fifties-sixties) and that of radical vanguard experiences (the sixties-seventies). Minimalism and the use of exotic scales must be emphasized as some of the main influences present in his work for quartet.
Paisaje Cubano con Rumba (1985) was written at first for Franz Brügen's flute quintet and later it was adapted by the author for guitar quartet as well as for guitar solo and magnetic tape. In the piece the rumba idea is a mystic celebration, as if an African ritual could be transferred to the urban life. The piece uses widely the pentatonic material as well as the proportions based on the golden section. Quaternaglia won the ensemble prize at the International Guitar Contest of Havana (May 1998) performing this piece, which interpretation was very well commented by the composer.
Paisaje Cubano con Lluvia (1984) The piece figurativizes a rain plasticity which configures the Cuban culture. The ritualistic pentatonic matrix and the Afro-Latin rhythms are qualified as much by the diatonic modes as by the serial atonalism. The golden section is also shown since the beginning of the piece, where rain drop-notes are presented in the proportion of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 etc. Rumba and Lluvia are part of the series of Paisajes Cubanos (Cuban Landscapes) with Paisaje Cubano con Campanas (1986), Paisaje Cubano con Tristeza (1996), for guitar solo, and Paisage Cubano con Ritual, for percussion.
Together with Toccata (1988) - piece conceived also to have more than four instrumentalists performing it - Rumba and Lluvia were recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995.
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CAMPOS, LINA PIRES DE (1918-2003) - Camargo Guarnieri's pupil, the Brazilian composer also studied with Osvaldo Lacerda, Furio Franceschini and Caldeira Filho. As a piano teacher, she was Magdalena Tagliaferro's assistant and among her students we can name the pianist Caio Pagano. Among her most important works, we can highlight Ponteio and Toccatina for solo guitar, honor award on at the I Brazilian Contest of Classical Music Composed for Piano and Guitar (1978). Originally written for piano, the Variações sobre o tema de Mucama Bonita were adapted by the composer for Manoel São Marcos's Guitar Ensemble and based on this score, Quaternaglia prepared a guitar quartet version recorded in the album named Universo Sonoro de Lina Pires de Campos (Regia Musica) in 1998, the year in which the composer celebrated 80 years old.
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CARULLI, FERDINANDO (1770-1841) - The Neapolitan Ferdinando Carulli studied the violoncello before definitely choosing the guitar. He settled in Paris in 1808 where he worked actively as a composer, interpreter and teacher. He wrote nearly 400 pieces for and with the guitar. The Sonata op.21 no. 1, written for guitar solo, probably appeared before his famous Méthode Complète pour Guitare in 1810. Conceived according to classical patterns in three movements (Moderato - Adagio - Rondó/ Allegretto) and under the influence of the Italian opera, the piece seems to offer an "orchestral" view of the instrument, an aspect emphasized in the version for quartet by Heinrich Albert, recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995, when a version for piano and guitar was also taken into account.
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GISMONTI, EGBERTO (1947) - Brazilian guitarist, pianist and composer, is one of the most eclectic Brazilian musicians nowadays. He has written orchestral, ballet, chamber and vocal music. His most important musical influences are jazz, Brazilian popular rhythms and contemporary music, where can be noticed a strong influence of Igor Stravinsky.
Since 1996, Quaternaglia and Egberto Gismonti have been working together towards a concept of Brazilian music for guitar quartet. The work on the pieces dedicated to the quartet (Forró, Karatê, Quatetinho and Forrobodó) and the adaptation of the piece Um Anjo, realized with the composer, is one of the most important focus of Quaternaglia's activities on the last years.
On Forró (1996) the author says: "Forró was the first piece to be sent to Quaternaglia. It is a sort of endurance and musicality test. As a performer, one feels happy when "typical Brazilian character" is visible in the middle of the technical problems and one jumps to the conclusion: "the mixture is good". I would say that "Forró" has to do with explorers who don't know exactly what to find at the end of the path, but who cannot resist the smell of bush, of wet land, traces of tapir on the road, or even the distant bark of the dog." Forró was performed for the first time in Campinas (São Paulo, 1997) and recorded in 1998. The debut in the U.S.A. was in January, 1999.
Karatê (1997) is a swinging "frevo", the most popular rhythm in the street carnival of Pernambuco. As arranged for Quaternaglia, this theme plays hide-and-seek in an intricate game of disappearance and emergence. The piece was performed for the first time in 1998 and recorded in 1999.
Quartetinho (1997) is an exquisite miniature with a polyphonic nature, based on a theme with Northeastern characteristics, "to be played as a final encore piece", in the words of the composer's dedication. Egberto wrote an orchestral arrangement to the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra. The orchestral version was called Strawa no Sertão - Zabumba. Quartetinho was performed for the first time and recorded in 1998.
Forrobodó (1999) are doubtlessly among the most challenging pieces for four guitars. This is "survival music", music of those who cannot afford to bargain with time, music of simultaneity, which leaves no room for triviality. It is music like life necessity. Forrobodó was first performed in MASP Auditorium (São Paulo) in September, 1999. The piece was recorded in December in the same year.
Um Anjo, written especially for Ruy Guerra's movie version of Antônio Callado's novel Quarup, was arranged for four guitars by Paulo Porto Alegre. The version recorded by Quaternaglia in 1999 has the participation of Gismonti playing synthesizer.
Quaternaglia also registered a live performance of Forrobodó, Um Anjo and Quartetinho in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006).
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GNATTALI, RADAMÉS (1906-1988) - Nowadays it is easy to talk about Radamés Ganattali's works. Not because it has already been sufficiently studied, but because the musical world is becoming more and more "gnattalian". Frequently attacked during his life by the nationalists and the vanguard, as well as by the popular and classical musicians, the composer was born in Porto Alegre and lived most of his life in Rio de Janeiro. His urban and very ironic view of Brazil, his fluency and the emphasis put on pacific fusions of different musical languages announced, in more than 50 years, the postmodern esthetics environment we are experiencing today. Most of the publications about the guitar repertoire of the 20th century mention his two Toccata em Ritmo de Samba, Danza Brasileira, the 10 Estudos (for solo guitar), the four concertos for guitar and orchestra and the concert for two guitars and orchestra, besides his pieces for two guitars, guitar and piano and guitar and flute. The piece recorded by Quaternaglia in 2004 - it was the first world recording - was written by Radamés in 1980: it's an author version for guitar quartet based on his String Quartet n. 1 (1939) suggested by the Brazilian guitarist and composer Sérgio Assad. The first movement of the Quartet has also a live performance in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006).
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HUME, TOBIAS (c. 1569-1645) - The English composer did not write these pieces in a conventional staff but in a tablature similar to that used in France for the lute writing. They can be found in a piece published in London in 1607 for lyra viol (a small bass viola da gamba) entitled Captaine Humes Poeticall Musicke. Here is what Gilbert Biberian says about his arrangement: "The title Intavolatura is a metaphor. I had to go back to the principles of the Renaissance music to understand its deep polyphonic principles. It is a true transcription, since nothing from the original piece was changed". The cycle Intavolatura, recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995, includes Sweet Music, Maske, The Passion of Music and Mistress Tittle's Jig.
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JOBIM, TOM (1927-1994) - Jobim's songs are so powerful that they frequently dazzle his movie soundtracks. But cinema is present throughout all the poetic course of the composer born in Rio de Janeiro, from Orfeu Negro (1959), at the beginning of his career, to the trilogy Eu te amo (1981), Gabriela (1983) and Fonte da Saudade (1987). Crônica da Casa Assassinada (Chronicle of the Murdered House), based on a homonym novel written by Lúcio Cardoso (1912-1968) published in 1959, was composed by Jobim especially for the movie A Casa Assassinada (The Murdered House, 1971), by Paulo César Saraceni, awarded at the First Cinema Festival of Gramado. The adaptation made by João Luiz (Quaternaglia's member) highlights the main parts of the soundtrack registered by Tom in his LP Matita Perê (1973), including "Trem para Cordisburgo" (Train to Cordisburgo), a reference to the city were the famous Brazilian writer Guimarães Rosa was born, and "Chora Coração" (Cry Heart), with lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes. The version was recorded in 2004 (CD Presença) and 2006 (DVD Quaternaglia).
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LORA, DOUGLAS (1978) - Brazilian guitarist and composer graduated in Music Composition at University FIAM / FAAM in São Paulo, guided by Ricardo Rizek, and Bachelor in Classical Guitar, guided by Henrique Pinto. His work, mainly directed to guitar, includes solo guitar pieces, duos and trios. The idiomatic character of his writing is immediately revealed in Maracasalsa (2003-4), his first work for guitar quartet, written for Quaternaglia. The piece shows a virtuoso fusion between the Brazilian rhythm Maracatu and the Latin American Salsa, using the Baroque forms of the toccata and fuga. The piece was recorded in 2004 (CD Presença), and the "Fugue" (second movement) has also a live performance in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006).
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MARQUEZ CUNHA, ESTÉRCIO (1941) - Estércio Marquez Cunha, a Brazilian composer, is a Doctor of Arts by the University of Okhahoma (USA) and a teacher at Universidade Federal de Goiás. Besides Suiternaglia (1993) his repertoire for guitar includes two pieces for guitar solo, music for guitar and violin, three pieces for soprano, flute and guitar, and music for two guitars.
On Suiternaglia the author says: "Suiternaglia was written for four guitars (especially for Quaternaglia) in three continuous and inseparable movements. Basically moulded on the same elements, each movement preserves its own emphasis: the first one is melodious, the second one is full of timbre and the third one is rhythmical". Suiternaglia was recorded in 1995.
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MOLINA, SÉRGIO (1967) - Brazilian Guitarist and Bachelor in Composition of São Paulo University guided by Willy Corrêa de Oliveira, Sergio Molina is the author of a versatile production that includes mainly popular songs and chamber music. His Sweet Mineira (1998) was based on Milton Nascimento themes. The idea of using themes of the Brazilian composer and popular singer Milton Nascimento (1942) to create a new piece for guitar quartet was suggested by the composer Leo Brouwer. The talk that inspired Sweet Mineira occurred in Montevideo (Uruguay), just after Quaternaglia had recorded the complete work for four guitars written by the Cuban composer (CD-JHO, 1995). He worked based on four Milton's themes, three of them mentioned by Brouwer. The first movement is "Ponta de Areia" (Sand Point), a beautiful pentatonic song that tells the story of an abandoned railroad on the way between Minas Gerais and Bahia (two Brazilian States). This song dialogues and fuses with "San Vicente" (Saint Vincent), the report of a "strange dream" that fills with "glass" and "cut" the Latin American subjectivity. The lyrics of both songs were written by Fernando Brant. The second and third movements - with lyrics by Ronaldo Bastos - are "Cais" (Pier) and "Cravo e Canela" (Clove and Cinnamon): "Cais" shows the necessity of "inventing the limits to be able to be free", as well as of "creating the dreamer to be able to dream", and "Cravo e Canela" shows with humor and piquancy the various "spices" of the typical food of Minas Gerais. In the almost classic sonata form chosen for the last movement, Molina mentions, ironically, the beginning of the recapitulation of the first movement of Appassionata op.57 by Beethoven: a low C note - persistently repeated - interferes in the theme, bothers its appearance; but the theme returns and ends by imposing itself, as if nothing had happened. San Vicente, Cais and Cravo e Canela were released by Milton in the historical LP Clube da Esquina (1972), while Ponta de Areia was launched in his Minas album (1975).
The piece, dedicated to Quaternaglia, was premiered in 1998 (São Paulo) and 2003 (United States), and recorded in 2004 (CD Presença) and 2006 (DVD Quaternaglia).
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NAZARÉ, ERNESTO (1863-1934) - Born in Rio de Janeiro, this pianist and composer established the form of the Brazilian tango. His works were widely played by popular pianists, choro groups and brass bands, until he was discovered by classical pianists and composers.
Batuque is a "typical tango" published in 1906, which Gismonti arranged for Guitar, Piano and Orchestra. Escovado, a 1904 tango, was arranged by Gismonti for Piano and Orchestra. On the basis of these arrangements, Paulo Porto Alegre developed his version for guitar quartet. The both versions were recorded in 1999 and first performed in 2000 in Cuiabá (Mato Grosso).
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PRAETORIUS, MICHAEL (c. 1571-1621) - Today, the "instrumentation" or the "sound form" of a piece is seen as part of the composition. During the Renaissance, this idea was not completely established yet. This means in many cases that -even in the 17th and 18th centuries- it is possible to believe that the choice of the instrumental arrangement is part of the performance of the piece not of its composition.
The German theoretician and composer, Michael Praetorius (born in Creuzburg), used to leave his pieces open so that various instrumental combinations could be tried, either within the same family or with different instruments. Gilbert Biberian (England), author of the transcription, says: "Probably, Praetorius would not object to these dances being performed by an ensemble of guitars".
The 8 Dances that are recorded by Quaternaglia in 1995 (Ballet Des Coqs, Gaillarde, Bransle De La Torche, Ballet, Courante, Spagnoletta, Bransle De La Reyne and Volta) are part of the Terpsichore cycle, dating from 1612. The dances were specially chosen by Biberian, since Praetorius did not organize his work in suites which started to be currently used at that time.
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STRAVINSKY, IGOR (1882-1971) - Igor Stravinsky wrote Three Pieces for Piano at Four Hands in 1915 (March dedicated to Alfred Casella, Waltz to Eric Satie, and Polka to Serge Diaghilev) and Five Pieces for Piano at Four Hands in 1917 (Andante, Española, Balalaika, Napolitana and Galop), in a piano hiatus between the 4 Studies op7 (1908) and Piano Rag-Music (1919). Almost simultaneously he did the orchestration of these 8 pieces now divided into two suites: nº 2 (1921) containing March, Waltz, Polka and Galop and nº 1 (1925) with Andante, Napolitana, Española and Balalaika.
These 8 Pieces were successfully performed by the famous Aguillar Lute Quartet during tours all over Europe and in North and South America in the twenties and thirties. These Spanish musicians were praised by the famous Brazilian writer Mario de Andrade when they presented their concerts in São Paulo in 1933. The first recording for guitar quartet dates from 1976 and was performed by the Argentinian quartet Martinez-Zárate. The version of Quaternaglia (1995) was conceived from the original for piano at four hands by the Brazilian guitarist Paulo Porto Alegre, who also did the transcription and the recording of some of these pieces for guitar trio (Trio Opus 12, 1982).
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TELEMAN, GEORG PHILIPP (1681-1767) - Born in Magdeburg, Georg Philipp Telemann was the most significant composer from northern Germany school during the first half of the 18th century. In this piece, recorded in 1995, originally entitled Concerto a 4 violini Senza Basso, it is as if the composer had only used the concertino (a soloist group) from the baroque concert and removed both the solo and the tutti. To get this result, Telemann uses various combinations among the four instruments and this includes a sophisticated use of polyphony, with canonical entrances which were rather uncommon in his pieces. The transcription was written by Heinz Teuchert. Quaternaglia recorded the piece in 1996.
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TINÉ, PAULO (1970) - Brazilian composer and guitarist, graduated at São Paulo University, studied classical guitar with Edelton Gloeden and attended the Composition and Music Esthetics courses by Ricardo Rizek. His solo guitar pieces are very interesting and have been edited in Europe by Martin Müller Edition. Noite Escura (Dark Night, 1998), was inspired by a poem written by the mystic San Juan de la Cruz (1542-1591), reveals the composer's view of the Spanish music, while Presença (Presence, 2003) is a choro that began as a homage to the Brazilian composer and performer Egberto Gismonti (reminding the harmony of his piece Sete Anéis), but soon gained its own life, incorporating specific characteristics of Tiné's work, such as lightness and swing in the thematic material, detailed transitions between the sections, original modulations, and a dynamic form, constantly developing. Noite Escura was premiered in São Paulo (2002) and in the United States (2003), and Presença in Belém (2003). The pieces, dedicated to Quaternaglia, were recorded in 2004, and Noite Escura has also a live performance in the DVD Quaternaglia (2006).
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VILLA-LOBOS, HEITOR (1887-1959) - A Lenda do Caboclo was written by Heitor Villa-Lobos for piano solo in 1920. Choros nº1 for guitar solo was written in the same year and as far as the piano work is concerned we can find Lenda do Caboclo between Prole do Bebê nº1 (1918) and nº2 (1921), a period before Villa-Lobos' participation in Semana de Arte Moderna (1922), in São Paulo, and his first trip to Paris (1923). Eduardo Fleury did the transcription for guitar quartet.
The series of 9 Bachianas Brasileiras (1930-45) was conceived by Villa-Lobos as a dialogue between the universality of J.S. Bach's work (1685-1750) and the Brazilian popular music of the first half of the century. Bachianas Brasileiras nº1, recorded in 1995 by Quaternaglia, shows this intention in the double titles of the movements: Introdução connected with the rhythm of "emboladas", Prelúdio with the melodism of "modinhas" and Fuga with a "talk" between four "Chorões" from the city of Rio de Janeiro of the beginning of the century. Dedicated to Pablo Casals, it was originally composed for 8 cellos and it was performed for the first time in Rio de Janeiro and directed by Walter Burle Max. On the recording, Quaternaglia performs Sergio Abreu's transcription, a Brazilian guitarist and luthier. The first performance of the piece in the U.S.A. was in 1997 in Miami, Princeton and Washington D.C.
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VITTA, RODRIGO (1971) - Brazilian composer and conductor graduated in Music Composition at University FIAM / FAAM in São Paulo guided by Ricardo Rizek. Vitta is an admirer of the Second Viennese School, and takes the risk of always being on the "tonality boundaries": his work is not nationalist; his view of Brazil is influenced by Alban Berg's strict harmonic structures as well as by Schoenberg's pre-dodecaphonic period. Sonata, written for Quaternaglia in 1997, was orchestrated in 2000, becoming the first movement of the Sinfonia Brasileira, a piece awarded at the celebration contest of Brazil's 500 years. Paisagem Brasileira n.4 (Brazilian Landscape, 2004), entitled "Urbana", was inspired by the work of the Brazilian sculptor Nele Azevedo, who sculpts little ice men who are placed in chosen spots of big cities: in the middle of the urban chaos, the miniatures simply melt, causing an inexplicable feeling due to their fragility. The first three pieces of the series called "Paisagens Brasileiras", respectively entitled "Mangue", "Cerrado", and "Caatinga" - were written for string orchestra. Quaternaglia recorded the pieces in 2004.
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