A Metric Analysis of the Variation No. 13 of Almeida Prados’ “XIV Variações Sobre o Tema de Xangô”

Abstract

Based on a comment by Almeida Prado that the composition "XIV Variações sobre o tema de Xangô" includes elements of candomblé, an analysis of Variation no.13 is made with an emphasis on the metric aspect, as if it was written for Brazilian atabaque drums. Inverting the tools of Godfried T. Toussaint’s paradiddle method (2013), using them not to build rhythms but to analyze them, and observing the derivative processes to which the pattern of strokes is subjected, we obtain a Grundgestalt and a few components that form the entire variation. The combination of the representation of which hand to play with and the metric accents allows explaining why a certain section is destabilized.