Estudo magno

Estudo Magno is a piano étude composed in the late 1990s, during a period in which Mendes sought to reconcile tonal and atonal approaches within an accessible postmodern language. Completed in 1998, the piece belongs to Mendes’s mature period, marked by his association with the Nova Consoância movement (New Consonant Music), of which he was a key figure in Brazil. In Estudo Magno, Mendes pays implicit tribute to the tradition of the grand virtuoso étude while simultaneously exploring new harmonic structures.

The work opens with a surprisingly tonal gesture, then develops its material through a gradual intensification of rhythmic motion without any overt tempo change. Mendes employs techniques such as inversion and retrograde transformation, continually transposing musical figures across various tonal centres. This “pentonal” process — as described by the publisher — leads the listener through five principal key areas before a conclusive return to a strongly asserted C major. The formal design is continuous, giving the impression of an expansive toccata in which pianistic virtuosity is fully displayed. Estudo Magno exemplifies the balance Mendes achieves between structural complexity and tonal clarity: despite the constant transformation of thematic material, the work culminates in a final cadence of almost classical harmonic transparency.

Although conceived as a study piece, Estudo Magno has been praised for its structural inventiveness, particularly by performers specialising in contemporary Brazilian repertoire. The Brazilian pianist Beatriz Alessio gave a notable interpretation in the 2010s, available on a 2015 recording. Her performance highlights the motoric progression of the work and its climactic apotheosis in C major. The piece is now part of the repertoire of several pianists exploring Mendes’s pianistic legacy and has contributed to broader recognition of the “neo-consonant” strand within his output.