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Cantos y Revueltas
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General Info
Year: 2019? / 2022
Duration: c. 30:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Trumpet and orchestra
Publisher: Unknown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown
Instrumentation
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Patrimonio universal heredado gracias al mestizaje
When we talk about music that is so accepted and rooted in the popular culture of the people, perhaps we should not think that most of it is there because that is the way it is and that’s it. Possibly we should accept that today we are what we are and we do what we do because someone once was, or has simply been, the link to be able to develop what we know today. I prefer the idea of several or many links that have contributed to reaching states that were previously unthinkable.
The work songs are so old that the Bedouin camel riders projected melodies to the wind to defeat the isolation and nostalgia of the deserts, thus asking for Allah’s protection. These songs brought by the Spanish herdsmen were inherited from the Arab shepherds, who imprinted a melismatic character on these melodies redolent of the harvest of olives, oranges and other fruits. In our plain we inherit these musical airs from using them in the herd and order, modulated little by little until we reach our unmistakable tunes. The incorporation of the Venezuelan cuatro in the Tonadas reminds us of the rhythm of the horses’ pace. This adaptation has been very significant since sweet, kind and energetic songs based on the Hispanic couplet have been created, acting as a guide for the entire herd. In the early morning, the milker sings ardent couplets “a cappella” to his cattle, guiding the cows to the milking pen.
Revueltas, Joropo and Fandango gaditano
The word joropo comes from the Arabic word "xarop," which translates as "jarabe." This popular dance in Venezuela comes from the fandango gaditano; in fact currently in peasant dances of Lara and Yaracuy it is called fananguillo to a type of joropo where the dancers exchange partners, demonstrating with this a certain courtship.
In a famous Fandango by Father Soler, composed for harpsichord at the beginning of the 18th century, melodic, harmonic and rhythmic registers similar to our Pajarillo were discovered. The festivities organized by the Mantuanos, the most powerful social elite in Venezuela, were also known as “the great cacaos,” since they were dedicated to the commercialization and cultivation of that plant. Our peasants, Blacks, and those of mixed race learned this striking music by ear, and in their free time they discovered all the secrets kept in this music, with the particularity that all their strength was imprinted on it by adapting the rustic harp made of bamboo, or the bandola built of taparo, all these flourishes, ornamentations and virtuoso turns of the harpsichord.
Curiously, this dance was forbidden by the Royal Spanish Consulate of Caracas and the Catholic Church since it sparked flirtations and sexual relations, warranting two years in prison for the offenders and two months of prison for onlookers.
From all these influences many variations of joropos are born and one of them is the Revueltas. Today it is impressive to see and listen to these peasants without academic musical training, not even basic training, who are capable of playing these complex joropos. We could say that the father of this music is the clavecín and the mother is the Fandango.
Taking inspiration from these two genres that are so strong and present in our culture, I wanted to express the essence of these popular songs and dances, albeit without the need to let go of my own artistic reality and without detracting from the current societal movement in this 21st century. That is why these work songs and these sorts of fugues have a touch of modernity in the harmonic proposal and in the inclusion of current jazz and salsa rhythms, so much so that even our famous Pajarillo is in “Pajarillo Salsero.
- Program Note by composer, translated by Emma Ratchford
Media
None discovered thus far.
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H.) Wind Ensemble (Brian E. Messier, conductor; Pacho Flores, trumpet; Héctor Molina, cuatro) - 1 November 2022 *Premiere Wind Ensemble Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Cantos y Revueltas (2019?/2022)
Resources
- Pacho Flores website Accessed 3 November 2022