New World Composers

[Latvian]

I refer you to the following:

http://www.floridaorchestra.org/pdf/May14-16GinasterasHarpConcerto.pdf

There's no indication that the premiere was of the original version, and I would be surprised if it were, as the composer wouldn't be likely to prefer the original version to be the version of the premiere after he went to the trouble of revising it.

[jowcol]

I refer you to the following:

http://www.floridaorchestra.org/pdf/May14-16GinasterasHarpConcerto.pdf

There's no indication that the premiere was of the original version, and I would be surprised if it were, as the composer wouldn't be likely to prefer the original version to be the version of the premiere after he went to the trouble of revising it.

Just as  a note- the description you referenced was not of the premiere performance, but one for a much later one that had a very good set of program notes. 

This review       http://www.classicalcdreview.com/agharp.htm implies there at 6 versions, and also a 9 year gap between when teh concerto was written and when it premiered, putting it closer to the phase with Panambi and Estancia:

Nothing in this tribute to Ginastera (1916-83), South America's greatest composer of any century, is new to North American catalogs. Schwann/Opus lists five other versions of the 1956 Harp Concerto, a work that retains elements of the composer's Argentinian national style, dominant in the suites from his two early ballets,

At this point, unless anyone objects, I'll remove the "original version" from the postings, but to reply to the original question,  if there are that many versions, I think we now know even less than before.

[Semi.Serio]

Hi! Is there any chance that someone will re-upload the rare Symphony by Meseron? The link does not work any more. If of interest, I can upload a Symphony by Neukomm, written for Rio de Janeiro.
Many thnaks
SemiSerio

[Dundonnell]

Can I respectfully point out that there are now two Folders in the Downloads Section, one entitled "New World Composers" and a new one, started today by Ilja, entitled South American Music (New World).

Should these be merged?

[Mark Thomas]

Yes, I agree Dundonnell, and I've merged Ilja's post into the already established New World topic. Hope that's OK with you, Ilja?

[Ilja]

Entirely. I had been looking for a 'new world composers' section, but apparently missed it.

[TerraEpon]

So that Levy symphony seems to not want to download completely, even after multiple tries. Anyone else with the issue?

[Ilja]

Don't know what went wrong, but I've replaced the link with a new one that should work.

[TerraEpon]

Yeah it worked last night. I wonder if it's related to MF's new interface they seemed to have rolled out today.

[jowcol]

Santa Cruz de Pacairigua, by Evencio Castellanos  (Venezuela)



Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor
April 5th, 2007

Recording of live performance.  To the best of my knowledge, not commercially released.
From the collection of Karl Miller

It is only fitting the Dudamel conducts this work of a fellow Venezuelan, and one people who helped lay the groundwork for El Sistema. 


Naxos Liner notes from their Castellanos Album (not the performance here...)


Evencio Castellanos may well be considered one of the most significant and representative Venezuelan nationalistic composers of the twentieth century. Born into a family of active musicians, he received his first musical instruction in organ from his father, Pablo Castellanos, and piano lessons from Rafael González Guía in Caracas. At an early age he began to assist his father by playing organ in various churches in Caracas and eventually became the organist of the Cathedral of Caracas, a position his father held for many years. His first formal training in composition began at the Escuela de Santa Capilla, the founder of which was Vicente Emilio Sojo, perhaps the most imposing musical figure in Venezuelan musical history, who exerted a lasting influence over a whole generation of Venezuelan composers such as Gonzalo Castellanos-Yumar (brother of Evencio), Antonio Estévez, Ángel Sauce, Antonio Lauro, Carlos Figueredo, Blanca Estrella, José Clemente Laya, José Luis Muñoz, Raimundo Pereira, Modesta Bor and Inocente Carreño.

After furthering his musical studies in New York at the Dalcroze School of Music, Evencio Castellanos embarked on a dynamic and active musical life in Caracas, becoming a member of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela (of which Sojo was one of the founders in 1930) and, eventually, vice-president of its board of directors. In addition to his own prolific work as a composer he enjoyed a long association with the Escuela Superior de Música, teaching composition and ultimately becoming its director between 1965 and 1972. The work and influence of Castellanos as a conductor cannot be underestimated. He was the founder and director of the Collegium Musicum of Caracas and the orchestra of the Universidad Central de Venezuela. His association and work with the Experimental Orchestra of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela wielded lasting influence over the creation of the current and vibrant movement of youth orchestras in Venezuela founded by José Antonio Abreu.

The establishment of a nationalistic school of composition by Sojo came about partly as a result of the need to preserve much of the popular music which had found its place in the social and cultural life of colonial Venezuela. European musical forms such as the mazurka, the waltz, the minuet and the polka were embraced by Venezuelan culture, absorbing them and, thus, producing its own distinct expressive voice. Fearing that this tradition would fall into oblivion, Sojo and another notable figure, Juan Bautista Plaza, set about to write down a heretofore vocal tradition of hundreds of popular melodies which would later permeate the works of the new generation of composers educated by Sojo at the Santa Capilla.

The creation of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela and the first mixed choir, Orfeón Lamas, around 1930 provided a platform and outlet for the creative outpouring by this new generation of composers such as Evencio Castellanos, who not only were instrumental in the formation of the ensembles but actively participated in them as performers. Hence, the early history of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela is inextricably linked to the vital creative process and work of many of the composers of that generation.

Castellanosʼs compositional style can perhaps best be divided into works that are emblematic of the nationalistic influences set forth by Sojo, on the one hand, and on the other, sacred compositions influenced by his religious upbringing and life-long religious devotion. His major orchestral works are permeated with a nationalistic aesthetic and are infused with folkloric elements, as are most of his instrumental and chamber works. His various sacred choral and organ compositions are more representative of his religious orientation.

The title of the work Santa Cruz de Pacairigua (1954) pays homage to the construction of a church in Guatire, near the capital of Caracas, where Vicente Emilio Sojo was born and is perhaps Castellanosʼs best known and most frequently performed composition. The main theme introduced by a solo trumpet invokes and paves the way for the feast of San Pedro, when the folk dance to the rhythms of drums led by a principal dancer disguised as Maria Ignacia (a historic black slave of the region) wearing a long-braided wig. This first exuberant section, which introduces several contrasting melodic ideas, transitions into a more lyrical and reflective episode containing a Venezuelan vals and an allusion to a borrowed melody by Henrique de León. The sections are distinctively linked by the introduction of a four-note motive played by tubular bells which spells out the tuning of the Venezuelan cuatro (a folkloric, four-stringed version of the European classical guitar). The last section returns to the festivities of San Juan and Corpus Christi where Castellanos quotes an old medieval Lauda Sion over an incessant drum motive. A quirpa (a variant of a popular dance from the region of the tropical grassland plains called joropo janero) brings the festivities to an energetic conclusion.

[karl.miller]

To answer the question on the "original version" of the Concerto...According to Deborah Schwartz-Kates (author of the Ginastera A Research and Information Guide) he began work on the piece in 1956 but did not finish it until 1965. According to Deborah, there is but the one revision, dating from 1968. The first performance of the original version was given on the 18th of February of 1965 with Zabaleta, Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It is dedicated to Philadelphia Orchestra harpist Edna Phillips. She may have retired by the time the piece was completed. It was commissioned by Samuel Rosenbaum for Ms Phillips.

Karl

[jowcol]

Symphony 1 (in one Movement) 1956 by Roberto Falabella (1929-1958)


Chile Symphony Orchestra
Hector Carvajal, Cond.
Live performance, private recording.  Date unknown.

From the collection of Karl Miller

This Symphony is several minutes shorter than Webern's, has some modern trappings, but also mixes in folk motifs and interesting rhythms. 

Wikipedia Bio

Roberto Falabella was a chilean composer active in the decade of the 50′s. He suffered from a disease called Little that kept him in a wheelchair through out his life and eventually killed him at the age of 29.

Despite his disease, he was a very active composer that created a huge catalogue of works and became known by his colleagues as the "Chilean Mozart". He had a deep knowledge of Latin American music, the classical tradition and of the avant-garde music of his time.

Most of his work remains unperformed.

His unorthodox eclecticism was very uncommon at his time and connects Falabella's music to younger generations of composers (such as Alfred Schnittke, John Adams, John Zorn, etc) .

The work "Estudios Emocionales" (Emotional Studies) combines minimalism, serialism (in a time when they were considered antagonists) and huayno rythms and melodies from the Andes. Another peculiar aspect of this work is the use of very long pauses.