Repertório pianístico para a mão esquerda: estudo performativo de obras portuguesas

Andre Roque Cardoso; Helena Marinho

doi:10.33871/vortex.2026.14.10853

Authors

Andre Roque Cardoso Universidade de Aveiro, INET-md https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4254-1318
Helena Marinho INET-md, Universidade de Aveiro, Departamento de Comunicação e Arte | Aveiro, Portugal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5868-8480

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33871/vortex.2026.14.10853

Keywords:

Portuguese music, Left Hand Piano Works, Performative practice, Physical limitations

Abstract

This article aims to identify and discuss performative particularities of the left-hand piano repertoire. Grounded in a qualitative, practice-informed approach, and score-based inference, with analysis parameters based on the strategies for pianists with small hands by Lora Deahl and Brenda Wristen (2017), this research addresses five case studies by Portuguese composers: António Chagas Rosa, Cláudio Carneyro, Christopher Bochmann, Joaquim d’Almeida, and Paulo Bastos. In addition to belonging to a limited corpus of repertoire, these works allow the comparison with two-handed or right-hand solo approaches. The limitations of hand and finger span, keyboard navigation, and ‘simultaneity of multiple events’ pose challenges of fatigue, strength, and reach. Motor, technical, and musical solutions reveal specific patterns associated with one-handed performance, constituting structural elements in the development of a distinctive performative language.

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Author Biographies

Andre Roque Cardoso, Universidade de Aveiro, INET-md

Pianist, pedagogue, and researcher, André Roque Cardoso graduated from the University of Aveiro and the École Normale de Musique de Paris, earning several diplomas in piano and chamber music. He performs regularly as a soloist, with orchestra, and in chamber music at international festivals. Dedicated to Portuguese repertoire for the left hand, he released the albums Adestro and Adestro vol. ii. He also works as an editor, focusing on contemporary Portuguese music. He teaches at the Coimbra Music Conservatory and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Music (Performance) at the University of Aveiro.

Helena Marinho, INET-md, Universidade de Aveiro, Departamento de Comunicação e Arte | Aveiro, Portugal

Helena Marinho is Associate Professor at the University of Aveiro, where she coordinates a branch of INET-md (Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre for Studies in Music and Dance). She combines a performing career with academic research. Her publications include national and international book chapters and articles, focusing on performance research, women and music, and empirical studies on performance and learning. She has performed solo and chamber concerts across Europe, South America, and Asia, and recorded 12 CDs. She has led several research projects funded by the Portuguese government and EU, and currently coordinates a Creative Europe project.

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