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Author's coments, in
english
(Comentarios del autor, en inglés)
The
order of the works in this CD reflects solely the personal motives
of its author. I adopted an emotional sequence because a
chronological succession appeared artificial.
1-
LA
ESPERA INÚTIL
Op.
100, Composed in 1994.
Chilean
composer Eduardo Cáceres commanded this work in order to première it
in Germany. The original
idea was to use a text by Gabriela Mistral to be sung by a contralto
accompanied by a small musical group. Like many of our projects,
this one failed for lack of funds, which is an ineluctable part of
all Chilean composers’ life. However, I finished the work and I
dedicated it to Eduardo Cáceres. As years went by, I made several
adjustments, among which the most important was to increase the
number of instruments, from an initial viola and cello to a quartet.
The Chilean Paula Elgueta —who is a soprano—premièred it as a
contralto, to the accompaniment of a quartet of instruments directed
by Boris Alvarado.
“La
espera inútil”, belongs to the group of poems Gabriela wrote at the
death of her lover. It is part of her book «Dolor» together with
other poems to which I added music: «El amor que calla», «Balada»,
«Nocturno» and «Los sonetos de la muerte». The last piece is not
included because it requires a Symphonic Orchestra.
For
personal reasons and a certain “tragical sense of life”, these poems
impressed me at a very young age. Nevertheless, their composition
was not continuous. Vast periods elapsed between one and the other.
This poem's subject is the reluctance to accept mourning. The poet
recalls the place she usually met her lover before he died. She
longs to find him, and calls him. However, he doesn't come and she,
terrified, sees how the night descends over the fields. Then she
understands that she must accept the loss of her beloved and cease
to search an impossible encounter.
2-NOCTURNO
Op.
80. Composed in 1987
I
composed this work the year of the demise of Mr. Domingo Santa Cruz
—former teacher of my music professor Gustavo Becerra. I had the
privilege of being his friend —in spite of difference in age— and
chance had it that we became neighbours in Santiago,
Chile. When I moved to
Viña del
Mar together with my family, he showed grief.
He longed for his “musical grandson and personal medico”, who would
jump over the fence to doctor him even after Pinochet's curfew. The
Chilean Institute, of which Mr. Santa Cruz was president, organized
a composition contest. The work had to be “In memoir of Domingo
Santa Cruz” and was to rest on a text by Gabriela Mistral. Federico
Heinlein won the first prize and I, the second. For obscure reasons
the work —for contralto and a string sextet— never was premièred. As
time went by, I made several changes. Among them, I substituted the
string sextet and arranged the score for a string orchestra. I
changed the original contralto for a soprano in order to have Paula
Elgueta sing it. If a contralto has to sing it, a transposition by
several semitones would be necessary. The poem —as I already
observed— is part of the book “Dolor”. The poet prays God to end her
ordeal and make her die. God gives life and death to everything
around her —the January fruits; the flowers; the elm's leaves; the
clouds— and the poet compares herself with all of these and prays
“Our Father Who Art in Heaven”, remember me.
3-CIMA
Op.
74. Composed in 1985
“The
evening hour, the one that leaves its blood on the hills.” In 1985,
I went sight seeing to La Serena and the Elqui
valley. I saw Gabriela’s Museum, the hills and the red colours
mentioned in this poem. I had the verses en my memory and something
unexpected happened. I sketched the first sentences of CIma, without
writing them. Back home, I put my ideas on paper y worked on the
song. The lied was premièred in a composition studio by a group of
my students from the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Later Mrs.
Elvira Savi and Mrs. Carmen Luisa Letelier presented it
publicly.
4-BALADA
Op.
122. Composed in 2002.
This
work answered a request by Mrs. Elvira Savi, pianist, professor and
Art laureate. She premièred it at the Goethe Institut in Santiago,
Chile. Carmen Luisa
Letelier sang the contralto part.
Always
within the gloomy feeling of Gabriela's poems I never saw in this
one a sadly resigned woman but a jealous and wounded wife. I
similarly posited the feelings in «Sonetos de la muerte». The piano
and voice express the sensation together. Between verses the piano
makes its responses. There are few moments of tranquillity or
sadness, the mood is furious. The piano part is very demanding,
technically.
I
changed today's version for soprano, in the same way as I
altered «Nocturno». I rewrote the work in such a way that if it
has to be sung by a contralto a transposition will be necessary.
5-EL
AMOR QUE CALLA
Op.
88. Composed
in 1991.
Mrs.
Elvira Savi requested this work, a song for soprano to be
interpreted by Ms. Patrica Vásquez, recorded in the “Retrospectiva
de la música vocal chilena” (Chilean Music Retrospective) Album. The
poem had a special emotional weight for me as during my years of
courtship my future wife gave me a book in which she wrote this poem
as a dedication. I had done the same in a book for her.
It
is a work in which the pianist improvises the notes. There is no
written rhythm for the song; only suggestions that follow the normal
cadence of the words.
6-MIEDO
Op.
133. Composed in 2007.
This poem also has an emotional
significance for me. One year before Mrs. Gabriela Mistral demise,
mi father taught the words to my sister Gabriela, one year younger
than I. For years, I was unable to find a way to tackle with this
poem. Finally, this past autumn —when I was working on the “Cradle
Songs”—, I suddenly understood how to approach it. I thought of it
during the week and wrote it directly in my computer on Saturday and
Sunday. It is a part of those Cradle Songs but had a different Opus
number because it is a separated poem.
The
piano part is very demanding and follows Schubert's, whom I admire
immensely.
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