“Interstizi” was commissioned to Javier Torres Maldonado by the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in 2002 and it was premiered on July 16 2003 during the “Settimana Musicale Senese” (Siena Music Week), in Italy. The performers were Carlo Chiarappa, violin and Martin Zeller, cello. The piece is a three-piece cycle for violin and cello. The composer tells us about it: “The first piece bears the title “X”, being inspired by the canon technique used by Nancarrow in his famous Study N. 21 for mechanic piano, namely “Canon X”, where he uses different speed ostinato rhythm for each two voices (one evolves from slow to fast and the other vice versa; the temporal relation between the two voices is graphically simbolized by the x). In the case of the first piece of “Interstizi”, this technique is applied to different layers of groups of rhythmic figures that make up the different levels of speed, so a voice will speed up and slow down in steps, making the levels irregular. The whole is articulated by a rhythmic ostinato, which does not correspond to the number of notes of the different pitch of sequences (as in the “talea” and “color” of Medieval music) and includes some variations in its paradigmatic model. The second part is characterised by different particular techniques that explore the use of pizzicato. With and almost ironical intention, this central movement bears the title “Y”, once more alluding to the graphical shape of the letter; in fact, this movement evolves from an homorythmic beginning towards a rhythmic differentiation of figures proposed in every instrument. The third and last piece of the cycle –“¡Oh, Luz lejana!”- is characterised by the use of microtonal pitches stemming from two superimposed “spectral” harmonic fields. The abundant use of glissandos often creates instability in the resulting harmonies, which fluctuate in the central region. The title of the entire cycle alludes to the idea of finding the minimal spaces-namely, interstices – that allow us to focalise on the instant of difference that precedes a situation of convergence or to differentiate the process towards a situation opposed to the one heard at the beginning of the pieces”.