No related posts.

Still rummaging through de musical chest in Youtube we discover Bobby McFerrin leaving us gobsmacked in this fun, 3-min performance from the 2009 World Science Festival. He uses the pentatonic scale to reveal one surprising result of the way our brains are wired. Who said that music is not a universal language?

• Link to this video

• Link a este vídeo

Related posts:

1. Benjamin Zander on music and passion

The growing interest in the revival and new performance of the Latin American colonial repertoire is illustrated by the recent proliferation of recordings. Despite the difficulties encountered in accessing reliable versions of this repertoire, there are plenty of ensembles that have worked directly with the sources to make recordings.

Until just over five years it would have been hard to find two hundred CDs of colonial music, most of it of poor technical and musical quality, or taking a more modern approach that was too general. But this does not detract from the merit of these performers and researchers, who initiated and promoted the appearance of more rigorous groups. While it was common then to choose a varied repertoire without any particular logic, we now find it somewhat more difficult to accept lay, missionary, cathedral and parish repertoires in the same collection, furthermore originating in latitudes and altitudes thousands of miles apart and composed by anonymous or known composers such as Zipoli, Salazar, Padilla Gutierrez, Ceruti, Juan de Araujo, Sumaya, Torrejón y Velasco and Esteban Salas (just to mention a few).

But something is changing. Specialisation and the expectations of the public require performances better adjusted to the context in which the works arose, better prepared and, above all, better performed.

If we go back a decade we find that the growing awareness of the existence of a vast repertoire as yet undiscovered by the recording labels led to the emergence of some projects that have lasted until today. Although highly questionable in concept and of barely acceptable quality, it is worth recalling the work carried out by the Repsol YPF programme for Music of Latin America, which began in 1998 with the release of a box set with several titles with music from Cuba, Argentina, Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and Brazil.

Similarly the French label K.617 has released, as part of its Baroque Latin-American series, approximately forty monographic albums of colonial music. In this collection, the consistency of the criteria used to prepare the different albums is worthy of note.

In 2005 Bolivian Baroque released its first album, recorded by the Ensemble Florilegium led by Ashley Salomon, fruit of Piotr Nawrot’s research and publications. They have released three recordings so far, which display a certain tendency towards the creation of a stereotyped product with a Eurocentric treatment. Lamentably, the quality of the music has declined from the first album to the latest.

Recently, I was surprised by the quality of the music on a recording released by the Ensemble Caprice from Canada under the direction of Matthias Maute. However, once again, the choice of repertoire does not seem to follow any kind of logic that links the pieces together, apart from the mere fact of all coming from Latin America. Furthermore, it does not avoid the clichéd and idealised versioning of the repertoire, where the music has to grab the attention and possess obvious “Latin-American” traits.

Following in the footsteps of pioneers such as Robert Stevenson and Curt Lange, who initiated the revival of the repertoire and the study of the archives of the colonialist cathedrals, there are now specialists working hard all the world, such as Piotr Nawrot, Geoffrey Baker, Bernardo Illari, Miriam Escudero, Lauro Ayestarán, Dante Andreo and Javier Marín. The results of their research provide data that bring us closer to this music and draw attention to its idiosyncrasies. Some recent groups respect these idiosyncrasies by adapting their performances to the different contexts, periods, styles, genres and languages and by trying to produce more careful versions, though no less novel for being so.

La Capilla del Sol is a consolidated Argentinean ensemble that has taken a critical, unbiased approach to colonial music since its beginnings, in 2004. The musical excellence of its members, supported by the thorough research carried out continuously by its director, Ramiro Albino, has paved the way for several concerts by the group in Latin America. Recently, following a European tour (Slovenia, Czech Republic and Spain) the group received very good reviews.

Keeping a careful eye on the editions, using the original sources and taking a creative approach to performance has resulted in music that is alive and full of interest. By merging their specialized training in early music and the folk repertoire, the members give the group a distinctive sound.

The album titled Como pudieran en cualqueir catedral could never sound monotonous, not even to ears unfamiliar with Latin American colonial music. The contrast between the selected works lies in their functional differences, which are, in turn, reinforced by the musical re-creation. In this case there is a guiding principle that links the pieces: the hypothetical reconstruction of a Mass at the Jesuit Missions of Bolivia.

Emulating the procedure followed in the mission chapels, works were selected from missionary archives, which were then transcribed by the musicologists Piotr Nawrot, Sylvia Leidemann, Enrique Godoy and the director of the group, Ramiro Albino; all pieces that were part of repertoire of the Missions of the Chiquitos and Moxos.

As might be expected, the interpretation and recuperation of the sources in an edition and the preparation of a new version requires specific training. In the case of the reconstruction of the colonial repertoire, the performers run into the difficulty of having to “clothe” the music. Some seemingly simple pieces turn out to be extremely difficult to recreate without deep analysis. Other pieces have only survived as fragments and the musicologists chose to reconstruct the missing parts and use additional documentation to obtain further details on the use and ways of the percussion and other instruments, on the natural register of the voices and on how to adorn the music.

Likewise, they have to imagine its possible hybridization with local rhythms, instruments and ways of playing. One of the good points of this album is that there is no sign of contrivance or of an excess of imagination. Nothing seems arbitrary and at the same time the works are imbued with their own character, which distinguishes them from works with a similar structure and function composed in Europe.

It is a real pleasure to listen to this technically polished, high-level recording, with a quality still difficult to find in CDs of colonial music. The similarity in the timbre of voices and their perfect union, and the naturalness of the instrumental performances, gives the pieces a fresh atmosphere that I consider very appropriate if the aim is to reconstruct the spiritual and symbolic context. There are no clichés that fuel the expectations of the listeners; neither is the discourse simplified to bring it closer to the audience. Quite simply, this is a well thought-out, solidly argued and technically sound product.

Capilla del Sol

I hope this work by the Capilla del Sol is only the first in a series of recordings where we will be able discover other repertoires and the associated new approaches, so that they obtain the international acceptance they deserve. Colonial music is consolidating its place in concert programmes everywhere, seeking to re-establish the cultural bond that has united Europe and America for centuries.

CD “Como pudieran en cualquier catedral”

CAPILLA DEL SOL

Adriana Sansone, Silvina Sadoly, Soledad Molina, Isabel Barrios (sopranos) / Cecilia Pahl (mezzo-soprano) / Paul Tavaglino (alto) / Diego Zorah (tenor) / Alicia Moran, Virginia Llansa (violins) / Maria Jesus Olondriz (cello) / Evar Cativiela (guitar, vihuela) / Federico Ciancio (harp) / Cristina Garcia Banegas (organ) / Eduardo Rodriguez (bassoon) / Sergio Bazán (percussion) / Ramiro Albino (flute and direction)

Buenos Aires, 2010

This CD was produced with no profit motive in mind and its distribution is free.

No related posts.

Summer is the best time of the year to rummage through the seemingly bottomless memory chest that is the Internet in order to find some gems of recent years. In this ocasion we think is worth posting the presentation that the English conductor Benjamin Zander did in the 2008 TED edition.

Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it — and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections. Enjoy.

• Link to this video

Related posts:

1. Bobby McFerrin hacks your brain with music

Funny and spiring speech by Maestro Riccardo Muti, after receiving the Musician of the Year 2010 Award, of Musical America. He is both witty and wise when describing the difficult art of Music Conducting. You should not miss this.

No related posts.

Dove of Peace. Homage to Picasso Hill will be premiered on 19 May at the Cornerstone, Hope Everton, Great Hall of Liverpool, by the clarinettist Nicholas Cox and the Ensemble 10/10 under the baton of Clark Rundell.

This work, which is his chamber concerto nº 1 for clarinet and chamber orchestra, is fruit of a commission from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. The fact that the date of the premiere coincided with the celebration of a major exhibition devoted to Picasso at the Tate Liverpool prompted the composer to envisage his work as a homage to the much-admired Spanish artist.

With this piece, the author once again explores one of his passions, which has become a constant in his oeuvre, and this is the dialogue with other artistic languages, poetry and literature, and especially painting, whose echo we can recognize in pieces like Alter Klang, Impromptu for orchestra after poems by Paul Klee (2006) or Four Darks in Red, based on the work of Rothko, and recently premiered in New York..

This work is Casablancas’ first incursion into the concertante genre.

Related posts:

1. The OBC premiere Casablancas’s orchestral work
2. Zagreb and Alexandria to hear Benet Casablancas
3. Acclaim for Casablancas’s premiere

Since late April, Tritó Edicions‘ catalogue is just a click away. In order to follow the vertiginous speed at which the music business evolves and to offer our users all the options to enjoy our productions, we have accomplished significant partnerships to strenghten our presence in the worldwide web.

Now, it is possible to buy songs and complete albums in mp3 format at the most important online stores, such as Amazon, iTunes, emusic, Lastfm, among others, and to listen to them at the main online radios.

During the month of May, we will increase availability of our productions, so you can access our complete catalogue. Thus, you will be able to count on our music ‘anytime, anywhere’, as the digital era requires.

Some online stores:

No related posts.

In the midst of the upsurge of the web 2.0, where the users have taken control of the contents of Internet, the social networks seem to have become the main players in the movement. Facebook is the social networking website par excellence, so we need to be there too, and now we are!

You don’t need a Facebook account to visit our page; just click on the link at the top.

Our page on Facebook is not only ours; it is also the place where you can comment on whatever you like, make suggestions, announce events, and a lot more.

You can also take advantage of our seasonal promotions: mp3 downloads, concert invitations, links of interest…

Since Monday and until next week, you can download absolutely free the mp3 of Evocación para guitarra, by Isaac Albéniz. This work is one of the pieces on the latest CD from Javier Riba “La Guitarra Soñada“.

See you on Facebook!

No related posts.

It’s called Music Reader and it may be the format that definitively pensions off the traditional score and parts in paper. And there’s really no doubt it has many advantages:

The musical notes are visualised on a tablet PC type of screen that can be placed on the music stand while the pages are turned with an accessory pedal. Another advantage that also affects the publishing companies is that it permits the introduction of corrections in real time by the musicians, and also various annotations.

Naturally Music Reader is not the only initiative in this direction. Another device on the market with similar characteristics is MusicPad Pro.

We will have to wait and see what happens but what’s for sure is that the digital revolution is arriving everywhere and classical music is no exception.

Related posts:

1. Boosey announces its online score service

With the figure of the composer Xavier Montsalvatge we are launching a series of biographies of some of the most famous Spanish composers of all time, which will be published periodically in this blog.

Xavier Montsalvatge is the first because he is the publisher’s principal composer and almost the totality of his work has been published by Tritó. Montsalvatge will be followed by Isaac Albéniz in view of his evident importance on the Spanish music scene together with Enrique Granados.

You can access the series by clicking on Biographies.

Related posts:

1. Last quarter news from Tritó
2. Three unpublished piano scores by Xavier Montsalvatge found
3. New design for the Tritó website