Description
Il Sorriso del Diavolo —The Devil’s Smile— is a composition for solo tenor trombone by Ricardo Mollá, dedicated to the Thailand International Trombone Festival and Martin Schippers.
The piece is set in a nocturnal and carnivalesque Venice, during the final hours of Carnival, when Piazza San Marco begins to empty and, among narrow alleys, water reflections, and masks, a mysterious figure appears: Arlecchino. Through theatrical, virtuosic, and darkly ironic writing, the trombone becomes narrator, character, and mask, leading the performer through a scene filled with seduction, dark humor, and devilish energy.
The work combines virtuosic writing with theatrical elements and extended techniques, including dramatic glissandi, multiphonics, vocal effects, foot stomps, physical gestures, and passages in which the performer must integrate body movement into the musical discourse. As a result, the piece becomes not only a musical work, but also a visual and dramatic experience.
This edition includes the PDF score with a personalized password, watermark, and digital signature.
Year of composition
Movements
Single movement.
Duration
Approximately 6’.
Orchestration
Solo tenor trombone.
Additional information about Il Sorriso del Diavolo
The work was composed on the occasion of the International Competition of the Thailand Trombone Festival 2026, Open Category. Its language combines the virtuosity of contemporary trombone repertoire with a strong theatrical inspiration connected to the Commedia dell’arte, the Carnival of Venice, and the figure of Arlecchino.
Throughout the piece, the performer is asked to take on an almost theatrical role: not only to play, but also to suggest, seduce, shout, turn, stomp, and transform the sound of the trombone into a dramatic presence. Il Sorriso del Diavolo thus seeks to expand the expressive limits of the instrument, turning the soloist into the central character of a small Venetian scene suspended between comedy, grotesque fantasy, and the diabolical.
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