Crossroads of Traditions Concert
| Dos manera de ser | Raúl Iglesias (born 1933, Cuba) |
| Summer Ends | Lincoln Hanks (born 1969, USA) |
| Flores del viento | Ricardo Zohn Muldoon (born 1962, México) |
| Shattered Rainbows | Cary Boyce (born 1955, USA) |
| Three short prayers | William Banfield (born 1961, USA) |
| El guayaboso | Guido López Gavilán (born 1944, Cuba) |
| La aporrumbeosis | Guido López Gavilán |
Presented by The Latin American Music Center with the support of the School of Music and the Office of Creative Arts Exchange Program of the United States Information Agency. | |
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| Auer Hall Sunday Evening July 7 Four O'clock | |
Program Notes
Dos Maneras de Ser (1971)
Raúl Iglesias
This is an old work of mine that does not reflect the strong Afro-Cuban style I adhere to nowadays. Dos Maneras de Ser consists of two studies that avoid stepwise motion and favor intervalic leaps; these studies also call for unusual techniques from the oboe and, furthermore, try to awaken the imagination of the performer by allowing him/her to improvise the cadenza, solve some problems of agogics and dynamics when they are not written down, and interpolate at different points three passages from five possibilities offered in the score. (Note by the composer)
The Summer Ends (1995)
N. Lincoln Hanks
In memory of Mr. Thomas Binkley
With caution I employ rhythmic and harmonic gestures borrowed from what I know of American popular music including jazz and the music I heard when growing up in the 1980s in the USA. The Summer Ends incorporates popular idioms such as jazz-like harmonies, syncopated rhythms, "swung" rhythms, and use of repetition. (Note by the composer)
The Summer Ends
Text: Wendell BerryThe summer ends, and it is time
To face another way. Our theme
Reversed, we harvest the last row
To store against the cold, undo
The garden that will be undone.
We grieve, we grieve under the weakened sun
To see all earth's green fountains dried.
And fallen, fallen all the works of light.
You do not speak, and I regret
This downfall of the good we sought
As though the fault were mine. I bring
The plow to turn the shatt'ring
Leaves and bent stems into the dark,
From which they may return.
At work, I see you leaving our bright land,
The last cut flowers in your hand."1984: Part IV" from SABBATHS by Wendell Berry. Copyright © 1987 by Wendell Berry.
Flores del Viento (1990)
Ricardo Zohn Muldoon
The poems that I have set to music are based on the myth of Quetzalcóatl, particularly his fall from grace and subsequent death. According to the story, Quetzalcóatl is tricked by a rival priest-of the god Tezcatlipoca-into drinking mezcal. Under the influence of this inebriating drink, Quetzalcóatl profanes his own temple by dancing wildly and furthermore by attempting to propagate his species with the help of a beautiful youg priestess. While the exhausted Quetzalcóatl sleeps, his unprotected people-the Toltecas-fall easy prey to the magic of the evil, rival priest. By means of music, he charms the Toltecas and attracts them to a cliff, while they dance in a trance-like state; many fall off the cliff to their death, while others become transformed into stones. When Quetzalcóatl awakens and realizes what has happened, he is overwhelmed by shame and despair. Feeling unworthy to lead his people again, he resolves to leave his kingdom. After a long journey, he reaches the coast, where he performs a ritual sacrifice: he dresses in his elaborate ceremonial attire and sets himself on fire. As he burns, he is surrounded by the flight of thousands of birds. After the fire is over, his heart, intact among the ashes, ascends to the heavens and becomes Venus, the star of the morning. (Note by the composer)
Flores del Viento (1990)
Poems by Laura Zohn-Muldoon (except where indicated)
Translations by the composerDanza del Alba
Drink, at least taste once.
Turn this liquor to gold and dance.
The birds sing, sing along with them
and wrap yourself in the myriad lights of
their plumage.Taste this just once, drink.
Your beautiful flower-people
wilted by sorrow at daybreak,
now oblivious sleepDanza Nocturna
Tonight there is a strange luminosity.
A brilliant wind tinted in an
enchanted fire
blows shadows towards the cliffs.I dance deep in a sorcerous dream
to a melody that tolls death
with a terrible glow which nests
like an infinite echo in my brain.
(One had to dance, one had to die towards the sea)El Río Pasa
(Ancient Otomí poem)
Trans. into Spanish by Ángel GaribayThe river flows and flows
and never ceases.
The wind blows and blows
and never ceases.
Life passes on,
never to return.Danza del Fuego / Arrullo de Muerte
By the edge of the water, wrapped in feathers,
I inhaled the fire.
The smoke is bejeweled by the flowers of the
wind, while slowly I drown in a sea of
stars, forever.
Shattered Rainbows (1995)
Cary Boyce
Commissioned by the Ensemble Tra i Tempi of Bonn, the instrumentation reflects the Baroque components of the group and the piece was designed to suit both the virtuosity of the individual players and the acoustics of the old world churches and cathedrals in which they often play. Reminiscent of plainsong, Medieval isorhythmic procedures, Renaissance motets, Baroque Fortspinnung, and impressionistic textures, the score indicates the notes to be played and the role of each instrument within the texture, but not always the exact relationship of one part to another. The musicians also have decisions to make concerning voicing and interpretation, so melodies brought out and nuances of phrasing may change substantially from one performance to the next. (Note by the composer)
Three Short Prayers
William Banfield
This work was originally scored for organ, choir, two solo sopranos and tenor. I composed the piece for organist and conductor Phillip Brunell and the Plymouth Congregational Choir of Minneapolis, based upon three short prayers created by ethnomusicologist and poet Anna María Ochoa. Three Short Prayers is simply a liturgical dialogue between keyboard and voices, growing from its opening ostinato to fuller sonorities which evoke the sentiment of a prayful journeyer. (Note by the composer)
Three Short Prayers
Text by Anna María Ochoa1. We Ask
We ask that confusion give way to clarity
turning gray to silk flower,
Your guiding hand in our humble steps
illuminating the path to follow.
We ask, Dear God, We ask, Oh God,
Your hand illuminating the path to You.
We ask.2. We Thank
We thank You for Your presence, Oh Lord,
as it flows from black, brown, pink, yellow counterpoint
to universal power.
We thank You, Lord.
We praise You, Lord.
We thank.3. We Offer
Lord, we offer our bouyant rhythms
and our creations.
We offer the match of our bouyant rhythms,
and our creations,
that play like stars,
which spring off our opened hands.
We offer.
Two Songs
Guido López Gavilán
I defend the freedom to use, or not to use, the national elements according to the expressive needs of the composer and the nature of the work itself. Naturally, my music is a reflection of the above statement. Frequently I have written works based on rhythms and genres from the Cuban popular traditions-I confess I enjoy very much conceiving them and even more when I listen to them. The rumba and specifically the guaguancó are present in both El Guayaboso (1987) and La Aporrumbeosis (1990). (Note by the composer)
Notes prepared by Mario Ortiz
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