Program notes:

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The composition process of Stuck lasted for two years and eight months (stretching from January 2021 to September 2023). During this period, the composer lived in quarantine due to the coronavirus pandemic, worked three jobs, completed a doctorate, and lived in three cities located in three different Brazilian states. Initially, the title of the piece was supposed to be Burro Empacado (Stuck Donkey); however, it was changed when the composer realized that, in this case, the stuck donkey was himself. Therefore, the piece came to be called Stuck. It is a reference to an interview given by Paul Simon on The Dick Cavett Show, where the singer said he was stuck on a melody because wherever he went with it, he ended up in a place he didn't want to be. Stuck, for clarinet and electronics, had such a lengthy composition process that it would be difficult to pinpoint exactly what poetic ideas inspired the initial measures of the work. Certainly, it can be said that if it had been composed in three months, the final result would have been quite different. However, as the composer was stuck, wandering in places he didn't want to be, the piece also took new directions. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is how all these uncertainties and changes are somehow reflected in the piece’s musical discourse.

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Performance history:

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• 06/01/2024: Projeto Clarone - Performer: Frederic Cardoso – Conservatório de Música de Paredes, Paredes, Portugal.

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