Vitor Rua (b. July 23, 1961, Mesão Frio, Portugal) is a Portuguese multi-instrumentalist, his main instrument being the guitar. He was one of the founders of pop-rock group GNR, which he later left to pursue a more experimental aproach to music. With Jorge Lima Barreto he founded the group Telectu, an avangarde free jazz duo.
Improviser, composer and video artist. A self-taught musician, he studied guitar with José Pina at the Duarte Costa Music School from 1974 to 1976, in Oporto. In 1971 he began his professional activity, joining bands performing "cover versions" of pop and rock music and founding rock bands to perform original music. In 1976 and 1977, he was a member of King Fisher's Band and, two years later, founded GNR with Alexandre Soares.
Telectu 1994. with Jorge Lima Barreto and Rui Azul
He gave various concerts with this band, notably in the last Festival of Vilar de Mouros in 1982. In the same year, he met Jorge Lima Barreto, whose influence was a deciding factor in his change of musical direction. Together they formed a group, Telectu, one of the first in Portugal to concentrate on improvised electronic music. Recently he has composed for theatre, dance and cinema. Assuming various functions in different artistic undertakings, his work has been distinguished by his approach to, and crossing of, different areas of music. His career is also paradigmatic of a musician who, beginning his career in pop music, has moved ever close to the world of "classical" music.
"In a certain sense, I feel that there exists, and it is quite strong, a connection, or at least an interaction, between improvisation and composition, a kind of ping-pong between the two things. (...) In composition, one has always to know when it is finished, or when it's still possible to correct it (...), even if one composes in real time. (...) In improvisation, I think that the best that comes from composition is the rationality of somebody improvising as though he were composing. And, on the other hand, in composition, all those intuitive, spontaneous liberties, and things which arise from contact with instruments and improvisation, have been very useful to me in my work as a composer."
Vítor Rua, June 2003
TWINTAR com Albrecht Loops e Vítor Rua
He has played and recorded with several artists, including Louis Sclavis, Marco Franco, Chris Cutler, Elliott Sharp, Jac Berrocal, Carlos Zíngaro, Jean Sarbib, Evan Parker, Paul Lytton, Eddie Prévost, Sunny Murray, Ikue Mori, Paul Rutherford, Daniel Kientzy, among others.
What do you remember about your first guitar?
It was a classical guitar from a Portuguese builder and I played it for a year. I barely played it, I realized it was not what I wanted. I wanted to play the kind of guitar heard on discs and that there was not. And there was not because it was not electric. Later, I exchanged it by an electric.
Era uma guitarra clássica de um construtor português e toquei nela durante um ano. Mal toquei nela, vi que não era aquilo que eu queria. Eu queria era tocar o tipo de guitarra que ouvia nos discos e aquela não dava. E não dava porque não era eléctrica. Depois troquei logo por uma eléctrica.
Which was the first record you bought with your own money?
Wish you where here, from PINK FLOYD... I didn't really need to buy albums because my older brother had good records... I bought this because for years I was hearing to Pink Floyd's A Nice Pair and ADORED them...
Wish you where here, dos PINK FLOYD ... Não precisava muito de comprar discos pois o meu irmão mais velho tinha bons discos... Comprei esse porque ouvia já há anos o A Nice Pair dos FLOYD e ADORAVA...
What do you expect now from music?
To focus more on the " sound" and less on "form". The musicians know that music is sound, but then it seems to ignore that and work in the "grammar" instead of the sound.
Que se concentre mais no "som" e menos na "forma". Os músicos sabem que música é som, mas depois parece que ignoram isso e trabalham "gramática" em vez de trabalharem o som.
Which work of your own are you most proud of, and why?
I'm proud of a lot of my works. But one that stands out is Whistle Piano I, I wrote for Piano & Whistle... It's very original and has been praised by
many composers, including Salvatore Sciarrino.
Eu tenho orgulho de muitas obras minhas. Mas há uma que se destaca e que é a Whistle Piano I, que escrevi para Piano & Assobio... É muito original e já foi elogiada por muitos compositores entre eles Salvatore Sciarrino.
Live performance by Keith Rowe, Heitor Alves, Vitor Rua and Sei Miguel, at the Culturgest exebition center in Porto, Portugal. Recorded live in 2010. The performance is a reading of 4 pages from Treatise, a graphical composition done by Cornelius Cardew.
Telectu
What do you change or add to your guitar? I've prepared the guitar often over more than 30 years.
At age 14 I introduced balloons inside the guitar body to recreate the sound of a banjo. At present time I prefer not prepare the guitar and use non-traditional
techniques to recreate new sounds on the guitar...
Eu preparei a guitarra muitas vezes ao longo de mais de 30 anos.
Com 14 anos metia balões dentro da caixa da guitarra para recriar o som de um banjo. Na actualidade prefiro não preparar a guitarra e usar técnicas não tradicionais de recriar novos sons na guitarra...
Composer: Vítor Rua. Sax: Daniel Kientzy. Orchestre National de Roumanie. Dir. Cristian Brancusi
What quality do you admire most in an sound?
I admire all sounds. I believe that the sound, unlike what is taught from Greek's time (in the Occident) does not propagate itself... Sound does not move... What moves are the properties of sound (pitch, timbre, intensity). The sound is located into the sound source or around it. But from all the sound's qualities, timbre is the most intriguing and fascinating.
Eu admiro todos os sons. Acredito que o som, ao contrário do que se ensina desde os tempos dos gregos (no Ocidente) não se propaga... Não se desloca... O que se desloca são as propriedades do som (altura, timbre, intensidade). O som situa-se na fonte sonora ou ao seu redor. Mas de todas as qualidades do som, a do timbre é das mais intrigantes e fascinantes.
beatriz serrão- percussão, paula pestana - violino, lúcio studer - viola, fernando guiomar - guitarra clássica & eléctrica, antónio josé - flauta, manuel guimarães, rute praça - violoncelo, pedro rôxo - contrabaixo, vítor rua - composição & condução, (ao vivo em Serralves, 1995)
Why do you need music?
Because I'm an animal. And animals need music.
Porque sou um animal. E os animais precisam de música.
What are the challenges and benefits of today's digital music scene?
In the dromological society in which we live, I believe that digital, and many other advantages, brought the "speed" to our days. Things that used to take months or years to complete analogically, nowadays are done in minutes...
Na sociedade Dromológica em que vivemos, creio que o digital, além de muitas outras vantagens, trouxe a "rapidez" para os nossos dias. Coisas que demoravam meses ou anos a realizar analogicamente, faz-se actualmente em minutos...
Why do you love the guitar?
I believe it was its sound... Especially in the beginning the distorted sound... But I always loved the synthesizer that also touch since my 11 years old...
Creio que foi o seu som... Especialmente no início o som distorcido... Mas sempre adorei o sintetizador que também toco desde os meus 11 anos...
How would you define "rock"?
There is only English, American and German rock. Each one of these types have a grammar itself. There is no Portuguese, Italian, French, Norwegian, Japanese rock, etc.. The rock is essentially a "generational pulsation" and uses one determined instrumentation that has become idiomatic, like it happened in jazz, for instance. The rock should be always cathartic and original.
Só existe rock inglês, americano e alemão. Cada um destes tipos de rock têm uma gramática própria. Não existe rock português, italiano, francês, norueguês, japonês, etc. O rock é essencialmente uma "pulsação geracional" e que recorre a determinada instrumentação que se tornou idiomática como no jazz, por exemplo. O rock deverá ser sempre libertador e original.
What are your motivations for composing?
The act of composing is something wonderfully mysterious and divine. Just the fact that you can compose is a motivation to be happier. Compose raises my BIF (Brute Inner Felicity). And because I have the desire that my music can be played at a time when I did not exist...
O acto de compor é algo de maravilhosamente misterioso e divino. Só o facto de poder compor é uma motivação para ser mais feliz. Compor faz subir o meu FIB (Felicidade Interna Bruta). E porque tenho o desejo que a minha música possa vir a ser tocada num tempo em que eu não exista...
What dead artist would you like to have collaborated with?
What is your relationship with other disciplines?
Jackson Pollock. It has always been part of my life as a musician this interdisciplinarity. With Telectu, we always work with performers, painters, filmmakers, videographers, sculptors, poets, choreographers, directors, etc ... I myself am a musician, artist, video artist and researcher ... It's in my DNA.
Jackson Pollock. Sempre fez parte da minha vida como músico essa interdisciplinaridade. Com os Telectu, sempre trabalhamos com performers, pintores, cineastas, videastas, escultores, poetas, coreógrafos, encenadores, etc... Eu próprio sou músico, artista plástico, videasta e investigador... Está-me no ADN .
What’s your next project about?
I'm working on several projects simultaneously. At this time I finished my third opera and I'm writing a piece for sax and orchestra every month during 2014. I have written the January and February ones and I'm already composing March. I am also in the studio, mastering over 70 original CDs from mine, till 1991 to 2014.
Estou a trabalhar em vários projectos simultaneamente. Mas neste momento terminei a minha terceira opera e estou a escrever uma peça para Sax e orquestra todos os meses durante 2014. Já escrevi as de janeiro e fevereiro e já estou a compor a de março. Estou também em estúdio a masterizar mais de 70 CDs originais meus desde 1991 até 2014.
