Sakkara

This triptych for guitar quartet takes as inspiration the trilogy of gods of Memphis in ancient Egypt. The work is a poetic journey through the mythological landscapes of their world around 3000 BC. Sakkara is a plateau south of Cairo, where an ideal space for a culture of the afterlife developed, through tombs and the construction of the first pyramids. To this contributed the fundamental role of Imhotep, the great architect in the III Dynasty from the Sakkara area, who was almost a god in his time and most likely responsible for the stepped pyramid of Djoser.

The trilogy is formed by the couple Ptah and Sekhmet, and Nefertem, their son. Ptah is the patron of artists, and at the same time the god for measuring time. Sekhmet was the wife and sister of Ptah, goddess of war — related to the Sun god and associated with the color red. Nefertem, son of both, was the god of fragrance, of perfume and linked to the lotus flower, the symbol of rebirth. The three movements of this composition are musical spaces created on poetic associations around this mythical world and in an area that has always fascinated me: Sakkara.

The work is commissioned by the Aleph-Gitarren­quartett, which is also its dedicatee.

(José M. Sánchez-Verdú, 2022)