I have started to compose songs in 1979, even before I had my piano. Together with three friends an envirnment of exchange was set up where experiences, ideas and collaboration have brought quite a lot to our individual developments. This materialised with our regular activities as a vocal group called Volte-Face, with whom from 1982 to1984 I have sung in night clubs, had lots of quarrel but also learned a lot about the craft and the professionalism in Music. Two of the Volte-Face line-up are today full-time musicians: Vasco Pearce de Azevedo, who teaches in the Lisbon Music Institute (Escola Superior de Música) and conducts orchestras, is endowed with a great work capacity and a spirit for struggle and excellence that are admirable; and Jorge Carvalho Alves, who sings in the Gulbenkian Choir and directs choirs, who had a divine touch in his (albeit few) compositions I heard from him and sadly has not exploited that with enough perseverence. The other element, Pedro Marçal de Almeida, was a supreme classic guitar player and with his brazilian heart sang wonderfully the MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) repertoire.
Concerning the art of composing, I recommend reading the text by Charlie Mingus for the liner notes to "Let My Children Hear Music". See also the text written by David Rosenbum, and of course the Center for the Promotion of Contemporary Composers. When I am at work on a new piece I pay a lot of attention to the melody (for me everything starts from there), but I have an inclination for working hard on the tonalities as well. I always try to avoid repeating myself from one piece to another. My personal language evolved mainly through two major leaps, one by the winter of 1982-3 and the other by the winter of 1986-7, thus partitioning my creations in three periods, A, B andC.
«Shake», «Drink to Bobby Sands», a fado with no title, «Vou te deixando p'ra trás» (Brazilian type), an instrumental refused by the Volte-Face, «Selon Piaf», «X-Rays»...
«Friendship» (lyric by Nuno Bettencourt), «Blues in E minor», most of a suite called «Canto-me deste lugar em ti» (lyric by Márcio Candoso, still unfinished), «Time»...
Two songs I prepared for a popular singer, Madi (though he never heard them), «Troubles» (song by Roland Senft, a Swiss jazz pianist, to which I added the melody and the lyrics), «Lágrima» (lyric by Pedro Cunha)...
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