Self-Service

For Mestres Quadreny Miró's combination of chance and intervention formed the basis of a meticulous creative system where randomness and structure produce an art that is innovative, polyhedral and cutting edge, nourished by both humanistic and scientific sources. In this video, Mestres Quadreny talks about his theoretical and artistic references and guides us through his personal cosmic vision along the processes of composition and musical reception.

Suite Bufa

Premiered at the Sigma Festival in Bordeaux in November 1966, this unusual and transgressive piece is halfway between theatre and musical concert. Conceived by the composer Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny and the poet Joan Brossa, the 'Suite Bufa' (1966) was written for Carlos Santos (piano), singer Anna Ricci and ballerina Terri Mestres. Its authors liked to define it as a 'musical action'.

El Club 49

Club 49 was founded in April 1949 by a group of Catalan artists and intellectuals who were determined to encourage the most radical and experimental cultural manifestations of the moment. For over two decades this association organised numerous performances of contemporary music, jazz, cinema, theatre, poetry and dance, as well as lectures and exhibitions. Club 49 drew the young creators of the new Catalan art scene, such as Joan Brossa, Xavier Miserachs, Pere Portabella, Leopoldo Pomés, Antoni Tàpies and, naturally, Mestres Quadreny himself.

Self Service

'Self-Service' (1973) consists of four large urban maps with traffic directions that act as the musical score for a varied repertoire of wind instruments and percussion. Its duration is indefinite, having no beginning or end. It does not require professional musicians, as it is designed to be performed by the public. With this piece Quadreny Mestres took another step on the way to the reinvention of musical languages and processes.

Quartet de Catroc

The 'Quartet de catroc' is a piece for two violins, viola and cello that Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny composed in 1962 and which already displays many of the methodological and aesthetic investigations that the composer continued to develop throughout his career. The graphic score contains three 'movements' that musicians should play at different tempos, chosen at random, giving rise to a rich and infinite combination of sound textures. The title of the piece was suggested by Joan Brossa and the graphic score was included by John Cage in the book 'Notations' (1969).