Passarim consists of three parts in a large ABA-form, meaning that themes from the first part return in the latter. The composer uses a pentatonic scale and melodies that reflect Brazilian, Chinese and Tibetan influences.
In the first part a repetitive landscape forms the background for emerging melodies that subsequently evolve. Next you hear a sustained chord made up of fifths with microtones in the strings. In the second part – slower, more expressive – occurs a large tutti with straightforward harmonies: Aeolian triads, fifths and sixths in E flat minor. The third part resonates the first, but is different in character and has a more transparent instrumentation.
The instrumentation of Passarim refers to the Japanese gagaku. From these influences and the sounds you can sense the urge of the composer to express his mystic and transcendental feelings, be it through hypnotic and mantra-like repetitions, be it with a strong melodic expression.
