A Cidade de Valdrada

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

Instrumentación:

• Flautín
• Flauta 1, 2
• Oboe
• Corno Inglés
• Fagot 1, 2
• Clarinete en Sib 1, 2, 3
• Clarinete Bajo
• Saxofón Alto Mib
• Saxofón Tenor Sib
• Saxofón Barítono
• Piano
• Trompeta en Sib 1, 2, 3, 4
• Trompa en F 1, 2, 3, 4
• Trombón Tenor 1, 2
• Trombón Bajo
• Bombardino
• Tuba
• Violoncello
• Contrabajo
• Timbales
• Percusión 1
• (Lira (compartida con Perc. 2), Xilófono, Vibráfono (compartido con
• Perc. 2), Marimba (compartido con Perc. 2), Triángulo, Claves, 2
• Woodblocks (agudo y grave))
• Percusión 2
• (Lira (compartida con Perc. 1), Vibráfono (compartido con Perc. 1),
• Marimba (compartido con Perc. 1), Plato Suspendido, Platos
• (compartidos con Perc. 3), Güiro, Cabasa, Bombo)
• Percusión 3
• (Cortina, Triángulo, 2 Woodblocks (agudo y grave), Maracas,
• Sandblock, Látigo (compartido con Perc. 4), Plato Suspendido, Platos
• (compartidos con Perc. 2), Claves, Tam tam (compartido con Perc. 4),
• Bombo (compartido con Perc. 4))
• Percusión 4
• (Látigo (compartido con Perc. 4), Claves, Caja, Cabasa, Tam tam
• (compartido con Perc. 3), Bombo (compartido con Perc. 3)