Peruvian guitar through the centuries
Since string instruments landed on America during the 16th century, guitar was not only well received, it was renewed. Every nation in Latin America tailored the early forms of guitar (say, vihuela or baroque guitar) according to their own expressive and aesthetic needs. Such process gave birth to a remarkable number of composers, performers, instruments, repertoires, and styles.
URDIMBRES (Spanish for wefts) aims at informing a wide audience about the blossoming art of guitar in Peru and performing a repertoire still scarcely known abroad. The concert offers an overview of Peruvian guitar evolutions from the 18th to the 20th century. The program highlights how diverse sources and mutual influences between Western and indigenous music melted in Peru, including music from pre-Colombian times. It is worth noticing how traditional genres changed their melodic, rhythmic and harmonic structures. For instance, ornamental forms typically baroque have deeply influenced the way Andean guitar is played, both technically and aesthetically.
Pieces such as the Suite Virreinal, of clear European descent, will surprise the listeners with “strange” harmonies and purposeful dissonances. Indeed, it is interesting to dwell on the fine line where the composer still holds on to the memories of his own listening tradition yet, concurrently, losing footing under the wave of the new world soundscape. The end result is a singular music, full of vitality, different from the one performed in that era.
The works included in this study/concert embody a valuable contribution to the guitar repertoire. Their musicological value as well as their intrinsic musical quality are undeniable. Several of the pieces remained buried in archives for over two centuries and they will now be performed again for your appreciation.
Since string instruments landed on America during the 16th century, guitar was not only well received, it was renewed. Every nation in Latin America tailored the early forms of guitar (say, vihuela or baroque guitar) according to their own expressive and aesthetic needs. Such process gave birth to a remarkable number of composers, performers, instruments, repertoires, and styles.
URDIMBRES (Spanish for wefts) aims at informing a wide audience about the blossoming art of guitar in Peru and performing a repertoire still scarcely known abroad. The concert offers an overview of Peruvian guitar evolutions from the 18th to the 20th century. The program highlights how diverse sources and mutual influences between Western and indigenous music melted in Peru, including music from pre-Colombian times. It is worth noticing how traditional genres changed their melodic, rhythmic and harmonic structures. For instance, ornamental forms typically baroque have deeply influenced the way Andean guitar is played, both technically and aesthetically.
Pieces such as the Suite Virreinal, of clear European descent, will surprise the listeners with “strange” harmonies and purposeful dissonances. Indeed, it is interesting to dwell on the fine line where the composer still holds on to the memories of his own listening tradition yet, concurrently, losing footing under the wave of the new world soundscape. The end result is a singular music, full of vitality, different from the one performed in that era.
The works included in this study/concert embody a valuable contribution to the guitar repertoire. Their musicological value as well as their intrinsic musical quality are undeniable. Several of the pieces remained buried in archives for over two centuries and they will now be performed again for your appreciation.