Body percussion in the band repertoire: the case study of the work Palindromia Flamenca, by Antonio Ruda Peco

: Body percussion constitutes a decisive expressive-musical element in many works of the band repertoire. The compositional possibilities that it offers from a rhythmic, timbral and choreographic point of view are often linked to traditional musical elements as in the case of Palindromia Flamenca by Antonio Ruda Peco. In this work for solo soprano saxophone and band the Spanish musician, through the almost constant presence of clapping, creates a musical climax very close to flamenco as the performance, entrusted to a specific group of musicians, brings to mind the role of palmeros . In this article, through a musicological investigation we intend to pay particular attention to the musical characteristics and functions that body percussion performs within the composition. This will represent the basis for developing a teaching proposal based on the BAPNE Method for the development of executive functions.


Introduction
Due to the rhythmic-melodic characteristics and the harmonic solutions it presents, the organology it employs and the performative aspects through which it expresses itself, flamenco constitutes a source of great inspiration for the artistic production of various authors of wind band music (Di Russo andRomero-Naranjo 2021a, 2021b;Di Russo et al. 2023;Di Russo et al. 2024).Its ability to represent the Andalusian (Dirkx 2021), Spanish (Winrow Hart 2013) and Mediterranean (Berlanga-Fernández 2012) identity and the "true musical repertoire of rhythmic-timbral melodies (MERTS)"1 (De la Torre-Jiménez 2019, 15) that offers through body percussion, represent the primary reason for its use in order to recreate a musical surrondings close to Iberian folklore.Las palmas (claps), in particular, an idiomatic element of the flamenco genre, appears in the opera Duende by Luis Serrano Alarcón (Goodwin 2016;Iyescas 2017), in the II Concerto by Oscar Navarro (Harbaugh 2019), La corrida de toros by Mario Bürki (Di Russo et al. 2024) and Palindromia Flamenca by Antonio Ruda Peco (2006).In this latest musical composition, the Spanish musician, using a palindromic compositional technique, like many other authors throughout the history of music (Eunha 2022), creates a piece in which two groups of musicians, indicated in the score as palmeros (hands-claps players), perform a sort of rhythmic counterpoint close to a palo de soleà, una particolare musical form of the flamenco tradition.Starting therefore from a brief reflection on palindrome in music and on the characteristics of las palmas in flamenco, the main objective of this chapter is not to develop hypotheses or theses around this dance-musical genre, but rather to analyze Ruda Peco's work to be able to answer the following questions: A. What are the new elements that this work brings?B. What are its main rhythmic-timbral-expressive characteristics?C. Is there an evolution in the use of body percussion in band literature?Q. Can the artistic-musical proposal of Palindromia Flamenca constitute an educational resource?

Palindromy in music
A palindrome in the classical sense is a word or phrase which, normally written from right to left, can then be reread, unchanged, from left to right.This linguistic device, which clearly also includes a logicalmathematical dimension (Isola 2016), has used as a compositional technique by various musicians since the Middle Ages including Guillaume de Machaut, Bach, Haydn, Monteverdi, Mozart, Schubert, Bartok (Chrissochoidis 2011;Dagdug et al. 2007;Eunha 2022).If until the dawn of the 20th century palindromy was used proceeding horizontally, the introduction of twelve-tone and the slow liberation from tonality allowed composers to apply it also experimenting with further possibilities as demonstrated by Schönberg's works (Mailman 2015), Berg (De Rosa 2023), Webern (Venturini and Porceddu Cilione 2023), Ligeti (Iverson 2014), Messiaen (Fabbi, 1989).The metaphorical example also used by Webern himself (Webern and Reich 1975) to explain the theoretical and applicative concept of this compositional technique is Sator's magic square.It consists of an inscription made up of five words: SATOR, AREPO, TENET, OPERA, ROTAS which, arranged on a square matrix, in such a way that in the center the word TENET appears according to a palindromic cross (Figure 1).The words can thus be read in the same way following four directions: left-right, top-bottom, right-left, bottom-top.Found in various archaeological sites that were once the seat of the Templars, its use would have spread in the esoteric field and its meaning therefore remains unknown.Sator, the band piece by Angelo Sormani (2004), was inspired by it, composed on commission by the International Festival of Military Bands of Modena and premiered in 2005 by the Banda della Marina Militare Italiana and Sator for melodic instrument and accompaniment by Daniele Trucco (n.d.).We can also find palindromic compositions in the avant-garde jazz of Ducret (Mansilla 2020), in the pop of Nitin Sawhney (1999) and in the progressive rock of Laghetto (2005).

The use of the hand in flamenco
Las palmas, states Sandra De la Torre-Jiménez in her doctoral thesis, is "the main manifestation of the flamenco compás, and indisputable and pertinent criterion of classification for artists"2 (De la Torre-Jiménez 2019, 22).
Its execution is entrusted to the palmero who, as a musician, bailaora (flamenco dancer) or singer, professional or not, exercises an "labor de dirección orquestal" (work of orchestral direction) as mentioned by De la Torre-Jiménez (2019, 118) fundamentally aimed at a rhythmic function linked to the execution of the compás, the specific rhythmic sequence of flamenco.This does not exclude the involvement of other musical characteristics of high aesthetic value such as timbric, using the sounds produced by the las palmas sorda, with a sound "muffled and partial bass"3 (De la Torre-Jiménez 2019, 122) and sonoras o claras, with a "timbre full of treble and strong intensity"4 (De la Torre-Jiménez 2019, 122) dynamic, with the alternation of strong and weak accents, and executive, implementing improvisational processes.In flamenco, however, the use of the hand is not limited to las palmas but expresses a broader form of body percussion that includes sounds produced with the snapping of the fingers, pitos (whistles), blows on the chest, abdomen, quadriceps, twins of the legs, feet and head (Figure 2).

Palindromia flamenca: a musicological analysis
Palindromia Flamenca is based in all the main components (melody, harmony and rhythm) on a refined work of palindromopoiesis (Buratti 2011) as declared by Ruda himself who defines it as "a toy in the shape of a soleá (or Soleares)"5 (Ruda Peco 2006, 5) highlighting the ludic-intellectual operation, the underlying theme of the project.This palindromic game is inserted in a precise ethnomusical context, that of flamenco music, evoked through the organological palette, the stylistic features, the harmonic ambiguities but above all thanks to the rhythm based on compàs characteristic of the genre and performed by identifying instruments and by the manual percussion of a group of palmeros.In fact, as the composer himself declares in the score, the listener is projected into an atmosphere "como tablao flamenco" (Ruda Peco 2006, 5), place where flamenco is performed.A further element that favors an ontological framework of Palindromia Flamenca is that linked to the dedication of the work "To Pedro Iturralde, who taught me the meaning of this word"6 (Ruda Peco 2006, 4), a Spanish jazz saxophonist who, with two albums published in the years 1966 and 1968 by the Hispavox record company, entitled Jazz Flamenco (Iturralde 1967a(Iturralde , 1967b) ) opened the way to the hybridization process (García Canclini 2000) between jazz and flamenco linked to a development of an approach aimed at making "jazz attractive to Spanish consumers through the projection of "national" symbols of identity in a more universal language"7 (Iglesias 2005, 826-827).These instances are found in the ontological profile of Ruda Peco's piece; the elements characterizing flamenco which are the Phrygian mode, otherwise called Andalusian scale, the cante jondo, the improvisational introduction of the solo guitar (not marked in the score but often present in performance practice), the characterizing metric and rhythm, create a form hybrid musical by combination (Steingress 2022) with jazz-style pseudo-improvisational forms.Palindromia Flamenca presents a wind band with the addition, essential for the specificity of the work, of typical flamenco instruments: cajon, marked on the staff as "Percusion 1", castañuelas (castanets) and palmeros (hands-claps players) present on the "Percusion 2" line and guitar Spanish on the last staff of the score (Figure 3).The piece is structured into 17 sections according to the compositional architecture illustrated in the following table (Table 1).

Structural and harmonic-compositional note
LENTO (Intro).Bars. 1 -4: this section serves as an introduction and creates flamenco musical environment of the piece through a trumpet solo which, evoking an epic atmosphere from the bullring, supported by a pedal of the medium-low instruments and by a tremolo of the guitar on the main harmony, in palindromic form will constitute the leitmotif of the composition and the motivic archetype (the original and fundamental theme) of the subsequent melodic material.The apparent main key of the piece is D minor but the actual tonal zone is that of D (A Major)9 , a device that projects the piece into the dominant Phrygian A, characteristic of flamenco music.At the bar 4 a fragment of Andalusian cadence (Thompson 1985) built on the sequence t -dP -sP which takes you back to the area of D in bar. 5.Not marked in the score, but widespread in performance practice, this initial slow, for a more effective reference to the ambient of the flamenco tablao and for an ideal connection to the work of Pedro Iturralde and Paco De Lucia (Garcìa-Peinazo 2023) and preceded from a cadential episode, in free form, of the solo guitar.
ALLEGRO.Bars 5 -6: two measures that launch the next episode through a fully organic crescendo D chord underlined by a suspended cymbal roll, a consolidated stylistic feature aimed at creating a climate of suspension and waiting, a teeming brain (E.T. 1921).Note the particularity of the instrumentation where the trilled note is entrusted to the saxophone section excluding the most suitable woodwinds (flutes and clarinets): in this non-canonical coloristic assignment one could read the Author's intention to underline this timbre by creating an anticipation of the solo part of the Soprano Saxophone, protagonist of Palindromia Flamenca (Figure 4).In Ruda Peco's intention this accentuation would create a rhythm of soleá but it does not fall within the usual typologies of palo neither from the accentuative nor from the executive point of view, since the repeated design of the palmeros is neutral, devoid of accentuation and a task that is completely carried out by the instrumental, contrary to what happens in traditional practice (Figure 6).The entire section is supported by an ostinato bass built on a D (T)10 pedal on which an insistent harmonic rhythmic design develops on the D (T) -dP -D5/7 zones in palindromic mode.The melodic line, very schematic, is made up of a triplet of bisquavers which exploits a fragment of the melodic material exposed by the trumpet in the introductory adagio and which is cadenced on a DD.
At bar 7 enter the flamenco cajon and two groups of palmeros who, with the clapping of their hands, mark two distinct rhythmic designs together with the guitar.All these elements combine to create an environment like a flamenco tablao (Figure 7). the trumpet solo).In the following four measures the palindromic game is carried forward by the rhythm, while the melodic part is made up of new material (Figure 8).
B. Bars 22 -30: new rhythmic-melodic material with horizontal and vertical palindromy is exposed.The palindromic game is entrusted to the first clarinets and the alto saxophones.The trombones exhibit a melodic phrase derived, with aggravation, from the starting quatrain of the initial leit motiv.This melody is supported homorhythmically by a series of guitar chords with the succession D -sP -D7 -sP -D.The rhythm no longer presents the decisive accentuation of A and A1, conforming to the more relaxed climate of the episode, in formal contrast with previous.The dynamics are also attenuated (Figure 9).The line of the palmas contains the indication sordas which is achieved by creating a small bowl between the hands which produces a lighter sound.The palmas sordas are used for an accompaniment that gives rhythm but at the same time does not overpower the cante, the baile or the guitar (Figure 10).
C. Bars 39 -46: second entry of the soprano saxophone with a new melodic design with a palindromic character derived from bar 2 of the initial Lento theme.The vertical-horizontal palindromy is supported not only by the soprano saxophone, but also by the 1st flute and the 1st oboe with a counterpoint in unison and by the bass clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones, bombardino and guitar through a counterpoint always in unison.Note at bar 39 the entrance of the xylophone which enriches the contrapuntal palette with an eighth note design (Figure 11).From an organological point of view, the indication given to the cajon "dobles pero sordas" (double but dampened) referring to the percussive modality of the instrument is interesting which must be performed with both hands but with an attenuated sound (Figure 13).G. Bars 113 -121: dissolutive episode where the oboe restates the melodic cue played by the trumpet in section A as a reminiscence of what was previously explained.A chromatic scale of the soprano saxophone which ends with a trill on the fundamental pseudo tonic D (T), leads to a crown of the instrumental full on a DD 5-7-9 (always referring to A major) which, creating a tension suspensive, prepares for the soloist's cadence (Figure 16).Cadenza: dialogue between the solo instrument and the guitar which provides the harmonic carpet for a long cadential episode with an ostinato character characterized by the reiteration of rhythmic figurations at different pitches that move by joined heights11 .In the performance practice the Author's note has a mere function of outline, since the two soloists, as noted in various performances (Figure 17). 12A3.Bars 129 -136: last reprise of A with the novelty of a melodic line inspired by that of the original exposition but with the addition of original material which is exposed by the repetition of the refrain on trumpets and soprano saxophone (Figure 18).

H (finale)
. Bars 123 -145: rhythmic and percussive ending, markedly dancing which resumes at the bar 132-139 the marked quatrains performed by trumpets, trombones and guitar at B1.The composition ends with a chromatic design repeated in crescendo, a compositional device that gives impetus to the conclusion of the piece which is achieved on a marked and strained note on the A Major chord (Figure 19).

A teaching proposal on Palindromia Flamenca
In recent years, the scientific literature on body percussion has grown greatly (Arnau-Mollá and Romero-Naranjo 2022a) thanks, in particular, to the work carried out by the BAPNE Method research group in Spain which counts more than of 50 publications in Web of Science (Figure 20).In particular, the high number of scientific publications based on neuromotricity published in the journal is highlighted Retos.Nuevas tendencias en Educación Física, Deporte y Recreación positioned in the second quartile of SCOPUS (Simbolon 2024).The sequencing of the proposal is detailed below: 1. perform the meter in which case you articulate the compass moving according to a geometric shape, in this case the triangle, counting from 1 to 3 its each vertex; 2. the teacher proposes an activity in which on each pulsation (number or vertex of the figure) performs respectively a blow on the thighs, and two snaps of the fingers, one with the right hand and the other left; 3. add to the previous proposal a verbal text that is always diverse, meaning the words drawn from the flamenco nomenclature that the members must repeat continuing to move in triangle and striking the body itself, for example: palmeros-palmeros-palmeros; bailaora-bailaora-bailaora cantar-cantar-cantar; tocar-tocar-tocar   compás-compás-compás; palo-palo-palo   soleá-soleá-soleá; fandango-fandango-fandango 13   4. with the objective of stimulating and developing the memory of work the teacher proposes the lexical sequence but now the students have to repeat it on the contrary, for example:

Student: bailaora-palmeros-palmeros; palmeros-palmeros-bailaora
Of course, it is up to the teacher to make the proposals more flexible to adapt them to the characteristics of the students.Adapting dynamics to students' differential and particular characteristics facilitates collective achievement, enhancing the individual development of participants (Bernabé- Villodre et al. 2015).

Conclusion
At the conclusion of this paper, by virtue of the elements that emerged during the study of Antonio Ruda Peco's Palindromia Flamenca, we can put forward some answers to the questions posed in the introductory part.In particular: I. published in 2006, can be considered an absolute novelty in the field of band music and a model for future compositions which introduced body percussion into the score; II. the use of las palmas, which from a superficial reading might seem to be a simple device of folkloristic evocation, in addition to creating a dense rhythmic texture, characterizes the expressive development of the entire composition.Palindromia Flamenca stands as a stylistic precedent which will be the characteristic seal and identifier of important compositions for concert bands such as Libertadores by Oscar Navarro and La corrida de toros by Mario Burki.In these works, this percussive typology will achieve equal organological dignity compared to the other instruments of the score as it is not a simple rhythmic event but an expressive, evocative and emotional one; III. it is possible to hypothesize a development of the use of body percussion in band literature starting from Palindromia Flamenca, where las palmas takes on a symbiotic value with flamenco, passing through La corrida de toros by Mario Burki, in which it acquires a semiotic value to recreate a Spanish musical context, arrives in Princesas descanocidas, a composition by Jose Luis González-Sanchis (2018), inspired by the book by Philippe Lechermeir and Rebecca Dautremer translated into Spanish by Isabel Rozarena (2013) in which, freeing itself from musical parameters, it responds only to narrative and didactic needs; IV. this highlights the possibility of being able to rethink the band repertoire that uses body percussion with pedagogical purposes for the development of motor skills, bodily expression but, above all, cognitive and executive functions.
As this work demonstrates, the study of the musical repertoire composed for band that uses the body and movement can still be considered in a rather embryonic phase.The importance of this typology of investigation is directly proportional to the widespread diffusion that band organizations have, each with their own specificities, in different societies.Therefore, as demonstrated by the analysis of Palindromia Flamenca, further research possibilities open up which, starting from musicological elements, can project themselves into an anthropological and sociological dimension.The use of palm trees in Ruda Peco's work highlights some questions that are not yet answered in this article, including: • The value of tradition in performance practice; • The process of learning a kinesthetic/rhythmic sequence; • Gender relations in the composition of los palmeros traditionally represented, as in the case of several traditional instruments in flamenco, to men.

Figure 2 -
Figure2-Actions of the hand on the body in flamenco as De laTorre-Jiménez (2019, 134)

Figure 12 -
Figure 12 -Palindromic drawing of the soloist (by authors)

F.
Bars 89 -112: constitutes the freest episode of the composition as the soprano saxophone, through a pseudo-improvisation (the character is improvisational but the entire melodic line is notated), based on the previous melodic material, frees itself from the palindromy present only in the specular contrapuntal lines of the first clarinets and of the bassoon.From a harmonic point of view, there is a succession t (bars 89 -96), Dp (bars 97 -104), tG (bars 105 -112) -see Figure 15.

Figure 14 -
Figure 14 -Thematic variants of A and A1 (by the authors)

Figure 20 -
Figure 20 -BAPNE Method in Web of Science

Figure 21 -
Figure 21 -Rhythmic line of the palmeros (by the authors)

•
The possible discrepancies between what the composition prescribes and what the performers achieve in relation to the use of the body and the rhythmic-timbric-expressive possibilities that it can formulate;

Table 1 -
Structure of Palindromia Flamenca (by the authors)