Four Dances from "Estancia"

From Wind Repertory Project
Alberto Ginastera

Alberto Ginastera (arr. Phil Snedecor)


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General Info

Year: 1943 /
Duration: c. 11:50
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Phil Snedecor
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $45.00


Movements

1. The Land Workers - 3:10
2. Wheat Dance - 2:25
3. The Cattle Men - 1:55
4. Final Dance (Malambo) - 4:00


Instrumentation

B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion

(Percussion detail desired)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

In 1937, while Ginastera was still a student at Argentina's Williams Conservatory, conductor Juan José Castro premiered an orchestral suite from the young composer's ballet Panambi. The performance generated substantial attention for Ginastera, and just three years later the complete ballet was staged at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Lincoln Kirstein, director of the American Ballet Caravan, attended a performance of Panambi while visiting Argentina. He was so impressed with the brilliant and colorful music that he immediately commissioned Ginastera to write a new ballet for his company, and Estancia was completed just a year later. Unfortunately, Kirstein's American Ballet Caravan was disbanded before the premiere, leaving Estancia in limbo. Ginastera reworked four of the episodes into an orchestral suite that was introduced in 1943, but the complete ballet was not premiered until 1952, when it was presented by the Teatro Colón. In spite of this considerable delay, the work was a tremendous success and firmly cemented Ginastera's international reputation.

The plot of Estancia, the Argentine word for ranch, features the story of a young boy from the city who is struggling to adapt to life in the country. His love for a local girl is unrequited, because she considers him too weak and unskilled to be able to compete with the local gauchos (cowboys). The boy eventually wins her affections by immersing himself in ranch life until he is able to beat the gauchos at their own games.

The suite from the ballet is cast in four scenes which paint a vivid portrait of the passion and brutality of life on a ranch: Los Trabajadores agricolas (The Agricultural workers); Danza del trigo (Dance of the wheat fields); Los Peones de hacienda (The Cattlemen); Danza final (Final Dance). This last scene culminates is a malambo -- a frenetic Argentine dance in which gauchos complete to demonstrate their prowess and masculinity.

- Program Note from liner notes for the U.S. Marine Band CD Symphonic Dances


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Georgia State University (Atlanta) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Robert J. Ambrose, conductor) - 16 November 2023
  • University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Symphony Band (Michael Haithcock, conductor) – 19 November 2021
  • New England Conservatory (Boston, Mass.) Symphonic Winds (William Drury, conductor) - 14 October 2021


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources