Whilst figures from
the 20th century such as Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) and Alberto
Ginastera (1916-1983) are well known, less is heard of other South American
composers, particularly contemporary ones, something which Miguel Harth-Bedoya
http://miguelharth-bedoya.com and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra www.nrk.no/kork seek to address on their new release from Harmonia Mundi www.harmoniamundi.com
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| HMU 907670 |
South American Discoveries brings together orchestral works from
composers from Peru, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Bolivia.
A Brazilian citizen, Jorge
Villavicencio Grossman (b.1973) www.linkedin.com/in/jorge-villavicencio-grossmann-82970a71
was born in Lima, Peru and is now a resident of the United States. Initially
trained as a violinist, his work consists of solo, chamber, orchestral, vocal,
choral and electroacoustic music. Wayra
(2011) brings a great urgency with a forward driving, scurrying opening, full
of sudden rising motifs from the woodwind and pounding rhythms. Woodwind and
strings scurry around through the textures before a gentler central section
full of finely orchestrated detail. This is a highly approachable, impressive
piece.
Colombian composer
Víctor Agudelo (b.1979) www.victoragudelo.co studied at the
Escuela de Música
Colombo-Venezolana and then at the Colegio de Música de Medellín.
He has written symphonic, choral and band works as well as instrumental works. El Sombrerón (2009) rises in the basses
with a rhythm provided by the wood block before expanding through the orchestra
with tubular bell chimes, building in power. Soon the music slides back to a
hesitant section over which strings bring a slow melody. Bells chime again and timpani
pound as the music heaves itself up through passages of restrained power. The hesitant
theme is heard again on low pizzicato strings before a more transparent and
luminous section appears with a myriad of instrumental detail. The music
quickly heads forward with a rhythmic pulse before a particularly lovely passage
for hushed strings interspersed by brass phrases. The wood block eventually brings
a regular beat with a tune from a whistle and a bell chime as the music falls
to a silence at the end.
Chilean composer, Sebastián
Vergara (b.1978) www.sebastianvergara.com
studied at the Instituto Profesional Escuela Moderna de Música and the Facultad de Artes at
Universidad de Chile. His compositions include music for film, video art and
documentaries as well as concert music for symphony orchestra, string
orchestra, chamber ensembles and works for mixed media. As a performer he has
recorded several metal rock albums. His
Mecánica for 20 strings (2005) leaps in with a Latin rhythm underscored by
a pounding rhythmic layer before reducing to a rather static section where the
theme is slowly developed, again finding a rhythmic repeated idea. Whilst in
the minimalist mould this work constantly finds subtle changes. Higher strings
appear over the repeated rhythmic motif before a quieter section appears with
delicate pizzicato phrases echoing the rhythmic motif around which lower
strings weave. Broader string phrases appear as the rhythmic pattern increases
in strength before losing power to end on a sudden pizzicato chord.
A short video of the rehearsal of this work by Miguel
Harth-Bedoya and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra can be seen on the composer’s
website www.sebastianvergara.com
Born in Loja, Ecuador,
Diego Luzuriaga (b.1955) http://diegoluzuriaga.com studied at the Quito National
Conservatory and Ecuador Central University, then at the Paris Ecole Normale
and later at Manhattan School of Music and Columbia University in New York. In
Ecuador, he was involved in the studying, performing, and recording of native
Andean folk music and Latin American music. In the earlier stages of his career
he was known for his concert pieces influenced by European spectral music. More
recently he has turned for his inspiration to the rhythmic and modal musical
traditions of the Andes, often combining the two approaches. A regular pounding
drum opens Responsorio (2000) soon
overlaid by a double bass theme. A cymbal is heard as the theme is shared
around the orchestra, very much with a South American flavour. The music increases
in strength before a piccolo brings a jaunty theme that is woven with other
instruments, still with the rhythmic drum line. There is an inexorable slow,
forward drive with sudden fleeting pizzicato phrases appearing as it moves through
some attractive variations. The piccolo appears again to weave with other
woodwind before the music picks up in strength to pound forward to end on a
last drum stroke.
Diego Vega (b.1968)
http://diegovega.com studied at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia with Guillermo
Gaviria and Radostina Petkova, the University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music with Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and Joel Hoffman and at
Cornell University with Steven Stucky and Roberto Sierra. A sudden orchestral
chord with tubular bell stroke opens Música
Muisca (2009) immediately followed by a gentle atmospheric theme for whole
orchestra. The music develops quietly with further tubular bell chimes before a
rhythmic passage with xylophone leads forward. Cellos take the theme over a rhythmic
pizzicato motif that leads to a slow, melancholy section for flute around which
the orchestra weaves before rising to lead to the coda with stabbing phrases
and a final drum stroke.
Sebastián Errázuriz
(b.1975) www.sebastianerrazuriz.com
was born in Santiago, Chile and began his musical career as a teenager, in the
Projazz Academy, studying guitar and harmony as well as participating in
choirs. His professional education in composition started in the Instituto
Profesional Escuela Moderna de Música. Later he went on to earn a Master of
Arts Degree from Universidad de Chile. La
Caravana (2003) opens with a steady rhythm in the basses which is varied as
the brass join. A longer breathed theme is soon heard as the music develops. Raucous
brass slides are responded to by sliding strings as the music gains in strength
over which the longer melody flows. Later the music quietens to a hush as a
rhythmic string pulse is heard, soon leading to an atmospheric string passage
out of which individual instruments arise, bringing a rather entrancing idea. A
trumpet plays a plaintive theme over pizzicato strings before the music speeds
in a fast moving, rhythmic passage to a decisive coda.
Although born in Bolivia
Agustín Fernández (b.1958) www.agustinfernandez.com now lives
in the UK. He studied composition with Alberto Villalpando in La Paz, with
Takeshi Iida and Akira Ifukube in Japan and Douglas Young in England. In three
movements, Una música escondida (2004) Preludio con vaticinios opens with a mysterious string theme through
which a piano adds gentle phrases, soon finding a faster jaunty tempo with
attractive dissonances in the piano part. Pizzicato strings join before the
gentler idea returns. There are moments of faster impetus later with a sudden
little peak preceding the quiet coda. A rising theme for piano and orchestra
opens Nana con despedida, running through
a gentle string passage around which the piano picks out the theme, quite
beautifully conceived. The music slowly develops an emotional edge in the
string melody, growing in passion only to fall to a quieter passage for strings
before a gentle coda. In the Final con
campanas the piano leads the orchestra before strings and piano take the
theme. This leads to a faster idea as the piano and higher strings play over a fast
moving, rhythmic, hushed pizzicato background through some terrific passages as
the music reaches a peak. All fall back to a hush as a cello enters, the music
continuing with piano to find a sudden quiet coda.
Antonio Gervasoni (b.1973)
www.antoniogervasoni.com studied
piano with pianists Elke Brunke and Teresa Quesada from his homeland of Peru.
He later took master classes with Russian composer Vladislav Uspensky
(1937–2004), a former student of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975), who
encouraged him to dedicate himself to music composition. After finishing a
career in computing sciences, he was admitted at the National Conservatory of
Music of Peru where he studied with Peruvian composer José Sosaya. In 2007, he
received the Fellowship Diploma in Composition from the London College of
Music. Icarus (2003) opens quietly
and slowly with a variety of instruments flowing through the orchestra. Soon a
rhythmic idea gently appears but is cut off by a more flowing theme. A solo
violin brings a little theme which is woven by the woodwind before a scurrying
motif is heard in the lower orchestra. This flourishes into little peaks but
falls back as a long held note is heard, leading to a burst of scurrying
orchestral ideas, a myriad of sounds including a xylophone that allow the music
to move quickly ahead, gaining a rhythm as the music dances forward to a riotous
coda.
With top notch performances from Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the
Norwegian Radio Orchestra and an excellent recording from the NRK Store Studio,
Oslo, Norway this is a highly recommended way to discover some very fine
contemporary South American composers. There are useful booklet notes.
See also:
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