A CIDADE DE VALDRADA

Piccolo

Flute 1, 2

Oboe

English Horn

Bassoon 1, 2

Bb Clarinet 1, 2, 3

Bass Clarinet

Alto Sax.

Tenor Sax.

Baritone Sax.

•

Piano

•

Bb Trumpet 1, 2, 3, 4

French Horn 1, 2, 3, 4

Trombone 1, 2

Bass Trombone

Euphonium

Tuba

•

Violoncello

Contrabass

•

Timpani

Percussion 1

(Glockenspiel (shared with Perc. 2), Xylophone, Vibraphone (shared with

Perc. 2), Marimba (shared with Perc. 2), Triangle, Claves, 2 Woodblocks

(high and low))

Percussion 2

(Glockenspiel (shared with Perc. 1), Vibraphone (shared with Perc. 1),

Marimba (shared with Perc. 1), Suspended Cymbal, Cymbals (shared

with Perc. 3), Güiro, Cabasa, Bass Drum)

Percusión 3

(Windchimes, triangle, 2 Woodblocks (high and low), Maracas,

Sandblock, Slapstick (shared with Perc. 4), Suspended Cymbal, Cymbals

(shared with Perc. 2), Claves, Tam tam (shared with Perc. 4), Bass Drum

(shared with Perc. 4))

Percusión 4

(Slapstick (shared with Perc. 4), Claves, Snare Drum, Cabasa, Tam tam

(shared with Perc. 3), Bass Drum (shared with Perc. 3)

The ancients built Valdrada on the shores of a lake, with houses all verandas one above the other, and high streets whose railed parapets look out over the water. Thus, the traveler, arriving, sees two cities: one erect above the lake, and the other reflected, upside down.

Nothing exists or happens in the one Valdrada that the other Valdrada does not repeat, because the city was so constructed that its every point would be reflected in its mirror, and the Valdrada down in the water contains not only all the flutings and juttings of the facades that rise above the lake, but also the rooms’ interiors with ceilings and floors, the perspective of the halls, the mirrors of the wardrobes.

Valdrada’s inhabitants know that each of their actions is, at once, that action and its mirror-image, which possesses the special dignity of images, and this awareness prevents them from succumbing for a single moment to chance and forgetfulness.

Italo Calvino, in Invisible Cities