Stealing time C is the third piece in the Stealing time cycle, a series of four works in which composer Octavi Rumbau explores different ways of perceiving and manipulating musical time. The first two pieces are written for percussion and electronics, while the fourth — a trio for violin, cello, and piano — is scheduled to premiere in 2023, concluding this captivating sonic journey.

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The connecting thread throughout the cycle is an ongoing exploration of the rhythmic canon by tessellation, a technique Rumbau has been developing extensively. To understand this seemingly abstract concept, one might think of the mosaics in the Nasrid palaces of the Alhambra: geometric patterns that interlock perfectly without gaps or overlaps, forming a continuous and harmonious surface. While in music we cannot tessellate in two dimensions, we can do so in one — that of time. In this sense, symmetry becomes a fundamental structural principle.

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In Stealing time C, the piano unfolds a rhythmic canon that evolves progressively, almost fractally, accelerating and decelerating in a continuous flow. Midway through the piece, this movement reverses direction, as if reflected in a mirror, symbolically returning to its origin.

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Meanwhile, the violin introduces a motive that is obsessively repeated throughout the piece. With each repetition, the time between occurrences shortens until the silence between them vanishes — though the motive itself remains unchanged. Unlike the piano, the violin maintains a fixed, unchanging tempo.

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This tension between motion and stasis, between acceleration and obsessive repetition, generates a temporal paradox that places the listener between two perceptions: one of linear, evolving time, and another of circular, suspended time.