Brazilian Guitar Quartet

Spanish Dances

BRAZILIAN GUITAR QUARTET

1 0 13491 34662 5

SPANISH DANCES • BRAZILIAN GUITAR QUARTET Manuel de Falla: Federico Mompou: Cuatro Piezas Españolas (15:42) from Cançons i Danses (13:23) 1. Aragonesa (3:08) 12. No.3, Modéré / Sardana - temps 2. Cubana (3:41) de marche (3:56) 3. Montañesa (4:11) 13. No.6, Cantabile espressivo / 4. Andaluza (4:42) Ritmado (3:54) 14. No.1, Quasi moderato / Allegro Enrique Granados: non troppo (2:26) from Goyescas, op.11 15. No.8, Moderato cantabile con 5. El fandango de candil (5:42) sentimento / Danza (3:07)

Joaquin Turina: Manuel de Falla: from Tres Danzas Andaluzas, op.8 from La Vida Breve 6. Zapateado (4:41) 16. Danza Española No.2 (4:10)

Joaquin Rodrigo: Isaac Albéniz: 7. Sonada de Adiós (Homenaje a 17. Azulejos Paul Dukas) (3:35) by Enrique Granados) (9:08) (incomplete; finished Cuatro Piezas (11:48) Enrique Granados: 8. Caleseras (2:00) from Goyescas, op.11 9. Fandango del ventorrillo (1:43) 18. El pelele (4:47) 10. Plegaria de la Infanta de Castilla (4:52) 11. Danza valenciana (2:53) Total Playing Time: 73:21 All arrangements by Tadeu do Amaral

2 As part of the Guitarrísimo series at Insti- NOTES ON THE PROGRAM: tuto Cervantes, it was my special pleasure to organize a concert tour of the Brazilian The Unique patterns and sounds of Spanish Guitar Quartet to many Brazilian cities music – as perhaps most idiomatically re- in 2009, presenting their adaptation for alized in the more than 1,000 dance forms guitar quartet of Albéniz’s Suite Iberia. native to the Iberian peninsula – is one of The freshness of the arrangements as well the richest cross-cultural amalgams to be as the brilliant interpretations captivated found anywhere. Its structural, harmonic audiences, and left me with a sense of ev- and rhythmic foundations go back as far as er-growing fascination. Their new album the Moorish invasions, the Medieval Sep- dedicated to – besides Albéniz – the great hardic Jews, and the glories of the Spanish Spanish composers de Falla, Granados, Renaissance. This broadly-based heritage, in Rodrigo, Turina and Mompou sets a new turn, was carried across the Atlantic to the standard for guitar quartet interpretations new world – where it became the primary of the Spanish repertoire. I am thrilled to foundation of Latin American music. discover – through this well-chosen program, so coherent and finely performed – Acknowledging their debt to Iberian musi- the deep Iberian roots of the instrument cal traditions, the members of the illustrious and its spectacular development in Brazil: Brazilian Guitar Quartet were inspired to a country that shares with Spain the guitar prepare a program devoted entirely to Span- as its favorite instrument. In this album, ish music. In this – the sixth of this Latin the BGQ again lays claim to the true “alma GRAMMY-winning ensemble’s recordings española” (Spanish soul), in all its richness for Delos – they pay passionate and sensi- and diversity. tive tribute to their old-world musical heritage. Their selections – some well-known, Francesc Puértolas some uncommon – are drawn mostly from Head, Department of Culture the piano compositions by the finest Span- Instituto Cervantes, Berlin ish composers of the 20th Century, expertly transcribed for guitar quartet by Tadeu do Amaral, the BGQ’s gifted arranger. 3 One could say that Isaac Albéniz (1860- Iberia – perhaps the most virtuosic piano 1909), Enrique Granados (1867-1916) collection of its day – was finished in 1909: and Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) form the last year of the composer’s life. Azule- the “great trinity” of Spanish nationalistic jos (track 17), the work from him heard music. All of them were deeply influenced here, was also written that year, though by the ideas of Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922), it was left unfinished when the compos- a Spanish composer and musicologist who er died (Granados completed it after his set the premises for composing music with death). Had he lived to finish it and go on a strong national identity and bearing the from there, it would have been the prelude particular influence of the flamenco, one of to a suite of similarly superlative pieces of Spain’s most prominent folkloric styles, es- the same name. Albéniz’s later music em- pecially throughout Andalusia. bodies the nationalistic influence in a way that is idiomatically true and highly evoc- In 2006, the BGQ released an entire al- ative, though at times striking the listener bum presenting Albéniz’s monumental as a Spanish take on the Impressionistic Suite Iberia – for the first time in an ar- style. No wonder composers like Debussy rangement for a guitar quartet. Critic and Messiaen praised the composer for his Arthur Nestrovsky, of the Brazilian news- masterly use of tone colors and effects. paper Folha de São Paulo, wrote that the arrangement was “the translation of the Azulejos is a rather intimate work, starting translation, taking the music back to its with a single line taken up by the 8-string origins.” The reviewer thus acknowledged guitar and slowly building up to more the fact that Albéniz sought inspiration complex textures and patterns that we (among other sounds and sights) in the could associate with the mosaic patterns different sonorities and stylistic nuances of seen in the many examples of decorative the guitar as played in the streets of various tile found in the Iberian Peninsula. The cities and regions of Spain – whose names music soon establishes a very entrancing Albéniz applied as the titles of the work’s atmosphere, with the theme meandering varied movements. through different contexts and tonalities, as well as – in the BGQ’s arrangement – 4 different guitars. After coming to an un- Northeast of Spain. It is followed by “Cu- expected pause near the end, the piece’s bana” (tr. 2), which – as the title implies opening line returns almost as a distant – evokes the Caribbean atmosphere of the remembrance, soon spreading out and former Spanish colony: sometimes relaxed fading away – gently punctuated by chords and contemplative, sometimes more pas- that slowly settle the mood down, but leave sionate and dance-like. a mysterious quality hanging in the air. “Montañesa” (tr. 3) depicts the Asturian Of our “trinity” of Spanish masters, de Fal- landscapes of Northern Spain and is the la is the only one who was actually born most intimate movement of the set, despite in Andalusia. His early studies in theology its lively, folk-inspired central passage. Fi- finally gave way to the conviction that his nally, the inspiration for “Andaluza” (tr. 4) is destiny was to become a musician – where- unmistakably the flamenco and particularly upon he moved to Madrid to study com- the cante jondo (a style of flamenco singing), position with the above-mentioned Felipe which in this arrangement is given voice by Pedrell. Later developments took him to the two 8-string guitars by turns. Paris, back to Madrid, then Granada; he finally emigrated to Argentina, following From de Falla’s rarely heard opera La Vida Franco’s victory in the Spanish Civil War. Breve (The Brief Life) comes “Danza Es- He excelled as a composer and is deservedly pañola No. 2” (tr. 16), which appears in seen as the successor to Albéniz and Grana- the opera’s second act; the operatic origi- dos. The Cuatro Piezas Españolas (Four nal is vocally punctuated. Indeed, this – as Spanish Pieces), dedicated to Albéniz, are well as the well-known No. 1 dance – has from his initial years in Madrid; they clearly been arranged for several different instru- convey the strong influence of folk music mental combinations; both are far bet- from various regions of his country. ter-known than the original opera. This is our program’s only work that was not orig- The work opens with “Aragonesa” (tr. 1), inally written for piano. The music is high- an elegant and rhythmically driven rendi- ly rhythmic and driven, full of bright tonal tion of the popular jota dance, from the colors and irresistible Spanish flavors. 5 Enrique Granados, the “Spanish Chopin,” which recurs throughout the whole piece: enjoyed – like Albéniz – an illustrious rep- sometimes isolated and sometimes in more utation during his lifetime, both as a com- complex figurations, they form sensual poser and as a pianist. His music for piano and sinuous lines that occasionally give evolved from a somewhat lighter Romantic way to strongly driven melodies. style to a more complex and nationalist-inspired idiom. One can’t help but notice “El Pelele” (The straw doll, tr. 18) con- the influence of Spanish painter Francisco cludes the original suite (and the album), Goya (1746-1828) in some of his most almost as a “cherry-on-top” offering to the important works – like Goyescas, op.11, a listener after the preceding movements’ cycle from which the BGQ performs two dense and complex characteristics. There movements in this program. The work is actually is a painting by Goya bearing this subtitled “Los majos enamorados” (The exact title, depicting a scene of popular Gallants in love), and in spite of the direct amusement wherein a straw puppet is be- inspiration, it is debatable whether there ing tossed high up in the air by a group are particular associations of movements of women: an image that is wonderfully with specific works by the Spanish painter. conveyed by Granados’ exuberant music.

“El fandango del candil” (Fandango by Following the 1907 première of his Piano candlelight, tr. 5) is based on the typical Quintet, Op. 1, Joaquin Turina (1882- couple-dance in triple meter that originat- 1949) met with de Falla and Albéniz to ed as early as the 16th century. Once con- discuss the young composer’s desire to cre- sidered an overly sensual dance, it made ate music in a modern, yet authentically its way from its popular origins to high Spanish idiom. He soon produced a num- Spanish society – as shown by Boccherini, ber of works that captured the regional fla- who composed a fandango as part of a fa- vors of his native Andalucía and its historic mous string quintet while in service to the city of Seville. Among these was his Tres Spanish court. In this extremely rhythmic Danzas Andaluzas, op.8. number, Granados builds up tension by adding layers to a motivic cell in triplets 6 The set’s third and final “Zapateado” gradual buildup of dissonances combine to (roughly, “Shoe dance,” tr. 6) is often ex- create a sonic tapestry of quiet, yet despair- tracted from the set and performed by itself, ing grief . as it is here. As part of the entire set, it fol- lows a rather impressionistic flamenco-fla- Rodrigo described this piece as “written on vored piece and a stylized Spanish tango in a type of pedal ... that is to say an ostinato, which the characteristic dance rhythms are well harmonized with a good melody ... It somewhat masked by their musical tex- is like a tolling of bells ... and upon this tures. But this one remains entirely true to basis are founded the two short themes.” the form’s original rhythmic character, pro- Many, from the title, misconstrue this as a jecting a livelier and more percussive sense sonata – but Sonada, meaning “sounding,” of intermittent “shoe-stomping” that sets it makes the translation of the piece’s title apart from its preceding companion piec- something like “Sonorities of farewell.” es. This impression contrasts nicely with the gentler middle section in 5/8 time that Rodrigo composed his Cuatro Piezas (Four recalls a section of the set’s first piece, “Pe- pieces) for piano between 1936 and 1938. tenera” – which is in turn derived from the Almost totally blind since childhood, his zortzico: a Basque dance form. handicap didn’t keep him from becoming one of his nation’s most beloved composers, Following the death in 1935 of Paul Du- as well as a brilliant pianist and musicologist kas, his teacher during his Paris years, Joa- who saw himself as an extension of Renais- quin Rodrigo (1901-1999) was moved to sance Spain’s “golden age” of music – reflect- commemorate him in music (as did Mes- ed in his use of polyphonic structure and siaen and De Falla, among others). The ancient tonalities in many of his works. result is one of Rodrigo’s most touching piano works, the Sonada de adiós (tr. 7)– The original piano pieces are often of rath- heard here for the first time in an arrange- er complex nature, making it almost im- ment for guitar quartet. Written in a mod- possible to set them for solo guitar – hence ern style for its time, the piece’s expansive, these beautiful arrangements for guitar stately tempo, minor-hued sonorities, and quartet that evoke the spirit of Spanish 7 dance as well as the nation’s ancient Moor- like the malagueña, granadina, and rodeña. ish and Renaissance musical roots. Three You’ll appreciate the music’s often capri- of the set’s numbers are characteristic of cious and playful nature. Andalusía; only the final piece represents Rodrigo’s home region of Valencia. The gentler strains of “Plegaria de la In- fanta de Castilla” (Prayer of the Princess of The set opens with “Caleseras” (tr 8) a mu- Castille, tr. 10) hardly seems to be an actu- sical evocation of a ride in a calesa: a Ma- al dance, though it is reminiscent in places drid-style horse-drawn carriage. The piece’s of the ancient sarabande. That and other syncopated rhythms and melody effective- characteristics make this piece the set’s ly convey the horse’s steady trotting, while most palpable representation of Spain’s blending a wealth of other influences – like golden age. The Phrygian mode resurfaces the use of the ancient Phrygian mode and here, and is used more extensively than in a Moorish-style droning effect in the open- “Caleseras.” Its stately, somberly searching ing bars. But the salient influence is that of course has given rise to speculation that the Federico Chueca (1846-1908), one of his piece may be a prayer for peace in musical nation’s foremost composers of the Zarzu- disguise, with the “princess” symbolizing a ela, or Spanish operetta; in fact, the piece nation that had been caught up in the ago- was written as a tribute to him. Echoes in nized turmoil of the Spanish Civil War for the style of Chueca’s catchy Zarzuela tunes about a year when the piece was written. and lively waltzes are heard throughout. Oddly, Rodrigo seldom used native source “Fandango del ventorillo” (Fandango of material from the music of his home re- the old tavern, tr. 9) is based on a popular gion of Valencia; “Danza valenciana” (tr. folk-theme. Rodrigo originally dedicat- 11) is one of the few exceptions. The main ed it to Mariemma, a prominent Spanish thematic element of this work was adapted ballerina of the day. The fandango – one from a well-known folk tune known as “El of Spain’s most frequently heard and seen u y el dos” (The one and the two) – a dance historic dance forms (as discussed above) in the style of a jota: a lively form in triple – draws from other styles and dance forms meter from Northern Spain. It’s normally 8 performed by at least one couple, to the Paris, where he came under the influence accompaniment of a singing guitar play- of the late French romantics and impres- er, plus castanets. Of the set, this piece, in sionists. Erik Satie seems to have been a particular, exemplifies the Spanish concept salient influence in both, with the first of of “Casticismo,” reflecting a reverence for the set (in third place here – tr. 14) sound- long-standing artistic traditions, and – in ing almost like a kind of dreamy Hispanic general – cultural purity. gymnopédie – even in the not-so-fast dansa. The No. 3 is heard first here (tr. 12): it’s The Cançons i Danses (Songs and Danc- based on the sardana dance form. After the es) is a fifteen-piece collection of (most- wistful opening cançó, it comes across as a ly) piano pieces by Federico Mompou steady march, but in 6/8 time; the music (1893-1987); they were not intended to was salvaged from a discarded string quar- be grouped as a formal cycle, having been tet. composed intermittently between 1918 and 1962; all four items excerpted here The original set’s sixth piece (tr. 13); it began musical life as piano pieces. Each begins as a tenderly poignant and heart- one – rather like the Hungarian csardas – felt song, before a manic variation of sorts begins with a slow introductory cançó, fol- brings it to its conclusion. It employs the lowed by a livelier dansa, usually based on rhythmic characteristics and projects the (or combined with) the same theme. The often sultry moods of West Indian music. thematic source materials are mostly actual The aching melancholy of the opening Catalan folk melodies and dances. The es- cançó of No. 8 – heard last here (tr. 15) – is sence of Mompou’s genius lay in his knack offset by a cheerful dansa that projects an for melodies and harmonies that sound de- air of contentment and leaves a smile on ceptively organic, or even simple – but that the listener’s face; it’s based on a popular are actually quite sophisticated and highly Catalan folksong known at “La Filadora.” original.

The first and third pieces heard here were – Lindsay Koob and written during Mompou’s early years in (BGQ member) Luiz Mantovani 9 Winner of the 2011 Latin GRAMMY tar festivals in the U.S., Brazil, Australia, Award in the “best classical album” catego- Denmark, Scotland, Mexico, Portugal and ry, the Brazilian Guitar Quartet has estab- Germany. lished itself as one of world’s leading guitar ensembles. Praised by the Washington Post In 2004, the Brazilian Guitar Quartet were for its “seductive beauty” and “virtuosic “headliners” at the inaugural World Guitar gusto,” the group’s unique combination, Congress in Baltimore where, together with of regular six-string and extended-range, the Baltimore Symphony, they gave the eight-string guitars, allows for the explora- world premiere of a specially-commissioned tion of an original and unusual repertoire. concerto by Brazil’s 2001 “Composer of In their fifteen years of activity, the BGQ the Year,” Ronaldo Miranda. In 2009, the has performed over 300 concerts in the Quartet performed the Suite Iberia by Isaac Americas, Europe and Asia, often receiving Albéniz in a Brazilian tour that included the ecstatic audience responses, garnering rave major capitals of that country, sponsored by reviews, and meeting sold-out halls. Instituto Cervantes in honor of the 100th anniversary of the composer’s death. Highlights of the BGQ’s past seasons in- clude performances at the 92 Street ‘Y’ and Counting this CD, the BGQ’s discography the Metropolitan Museum in New York, includes six CDs for Delos. Three of them Spivey Hall in Atlanta, Vancouver Play- are devoted to Brazilian Music: Essência do house, Flagler Museum in Palm Beach, Brasil (1999), Encantamento (2001) and Dumbarton Concerts and National Gal- the Latin GRAMMY winner Brazilian lery in Washington, D.C., Chamber Music Guitar Quartet plays Villa-Lobos (2011). Albuquerque, Beethovensaal in Hanover, Two recordings present, in their entirety, Wortham Theater in Houston and Libby two great works of Western classical music, Gardner Hall in Salt Lake City, as well as Bach’s Four Orchestral Suites (2000) and at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Felicja Albéniz’s Suite Iberia (2006). Blumental Festival in Tel Aviv, Colorado Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Carmel Bach Festival and some of the major gui- 10 BRAZILIAN GUITAR QUARTET: Everton Gloeden and Luiz Mantovani - eight-string guitars Tadeu do Amaral and Gustavo Costa - six-string guitars

Recorded at the Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall/Arthur Zankel Music Center (Skid- more College, Saratoga Springs, NY) between July 18 and July 22, 2013

Executive Producer: Carol Rosenberger Recording Producer: Brazilian Guitar Quartet Audio Engineer: Brian Peters (Tech Valley Audio), assisted by Dan Czernecki (Classical Recording Service) Additional assistance provided by Noah Ross

Post-production: Tadeu do Amaral and Digi Studio Microphones: Royer SF24 and Schoeps MK2H/CMC6XT Preamp and A/D converter: Cranesong Spider Recorders: Metric Halo ULN-8 and Sound Design 788T Monitors: B&W 805 Nautilus speakers Mastering: Matthew Snyder

Cover: Spanish Dances (2013), by Maria Carmen von Linsingen All BGQ photos by Susane Medeiros Vianna Special thanks to: Joel Brown, Carol Rosenberger, André de Moura, Francesc Puértolas and Naldo Nogueira

DE 3245 DE 3254 DE 3302

DE 3364 DE 3409 DE 6013