To paraphrase the opening scene of Robert Redford’s film “The Last Castle”, by observing a castle and studying the key elements which make it a fortress, one can see that those key elements haven’t changed in the last 2000 years. Those elements are the location, the walls, the guard and the flag.

There are other related epic themes, such as legend and love, both of which Andrés Álvarez includes in this, his fortress. Commissioned by the Town of Tomiño to celebrate the restoration of the San Lourenzo Castle, this symphonic poem was debuted by the Goián Band in 2013, the year after its composition.

In addition to the leading role of the percussion instruments, which is typical for this type of work, the trumpets and saxophones draw the listener into the thematic ideas of the piece. The rhythmic acceleration and the displacement of the natural compass accentuation, together with the use of triplets, allow the composer’s original intent to come through. The prolonged final notes and the agitated ostinato rhythm of the wood instruments create the impulse that is characteristic of this type of work, respecting the established canons that have been approved throughout time.

FORTALEZA

(…) The trees distract; they are as innocent as can be, they know no evil. They especially like to sing and in concert they sing the few songs they have managed to write. Like all plants, they love water and they dedicate their best symphonies to singing its praises; there are two of them and they can be heard in any forest in the world: one imitates the sound of the rain falling on branches and the other copies the rumbles of the distant sea. Sometimes, in the shadows of the canopy you might be surprised by the sound of a downpour that, though it starts in the distance travels closer and closer until it passes over your head; you look up to the sky through the gaps in the greenery and there it is, clear and blue: not even a drop falls to wet the earth, but the sound continues, moves away from you and moves back… and that is when you see the branches, you see the outstretched leaves, like the throat of a cantor. The choral session of the trees has commenced… (…)

Wenceslao F. Flórez, 1943, O bosque animado

Notas al programa

In this piece, Andrés Álvarez sets to music the book The Lively Forest, by author Wenceslao Fernández Flórez, evoking the childlike nature reflected in the title. This might be the most internally developed work in the composer’s portfolio. With its animal mimicry and auditory elements reflecting nature’s sounds, so clearly identifiable in the first and third movements, there is no need to read the title to know that it refers to a forest. Of the three movements in this great work, the most important is the second, the dark night, with its shadows, gives greater light to the other two, even if that seems impossible.

Written in 2011 upon commission of the Professional Music Conservatory of Vigo it was later recorded on CD. It is supremely important to note the idea of the programmatic music with its small elements that seek to imitate nature. In this way, the audience will enjoy a moment in the “Cecebre Forest” in which night falls for a moment in the second movement, only to give way to the light of a new day.

O BOSQUE ANIMADO

The legend of Mount Medulio tells the story of the last battle between the Cantabrians, Astures and Galicians and the Roman Empire.

(…) Surrounded by the enemy in the mountains, they had no choice but to await the arrival of the Romans. When they climbed over the moat they began to pelt them with stones and torches which soon set fire to the brush, making it harder for the Romans to climb the great Mount Medulio. Many inhabitants of different villages within the occupied territory of Lugo sought refuge at the top of Mount Medulio, unwilling to give up their freedom.

Resources for defence ran low and they watched as many warriors lost their lives to arrows just metres away. There was no other way for them to keep their freedom. They had it all planned out; if they were to lose the battle they would not surrender to the Romans, they would fight to the death or kill themselves to preserve their liberty.

The Romans began to arrive and were perplexed to find many of Lugo’s strongest and bravest warriors lying inactive on the ground with their families. They didn’t understand; they were hungry for blood and their rage peaked when they realized that the battle was over. A mass suicide for freedom. For the freedom of the realm of Gallaecia: the honour of the last and bravest Asture, Cantabrian and Galician warriors will never again be conquered. (…)

Program notes

“Mount Medulio, the site of battle between the Roman troops and the last of the Asture, Cantabrian and Galician warriors in 22 A.C.” That is the legend on which this symphonic poem, finalist in the 3rd Galician Composition Contest, is based. Like every story with a beginning, middle and end, Mount Medulio delivers just that. Beginning in the morning with sunrise, it ends with the final homage to the brave warriors. The most exciting part, without a doubt, is the sound of the Roman troops, led by Gaius Furnius.

The solid orchestration of the rhythmic-melodic material manages to pull the listener into the legend. One need not even mention that without the typical fanfare, this effect would be quite lifeless. The military march, thanks to the percussion, lends important weight to the idea of the battle as well as making the army seem more grandiose. This number gives way to the sweet melody of the oboe in harmony with the low brass, in the form of a patriotic anthem.

The counterpoint and collaboration within instrument families gives these melodies an added fullness. This work was first performed in the Galician Auditorium in 2010 by the Galician Federation of Popular Music Bands.

MONTE MEDULIO

This piece, for trumpet in C and piano, was commissioned by Rubén Simeó for his tour of Japan in 2013. Brushing all three octaves, this piece wants for nothing. Double and triple picados, ferociously fast arpeggios, legatos with impossible intervals and hairpins that push against the repose of the performer. This piece would be ideal as an assignment and elimination piece for international competitions for promising young artists as well as established legends in the field. The introduction on piano deceives with its sweet cuatriada chords and beautiful sound gives way to a swarm of notes from which even the best performer, in his or her best moment, would feel fatigued upon its conclusion.

“Diversions” is what the composer wanted to convey throughout this piece. The quick, ascending arpeggios simulate the little leaps of a child and the rhythmic combinations used in the work are like the unpredictable movements of children at play. The piece, independent of its performance, has unique characteristics that are difficult to find in other works. Any listener could easily notice even the smallest error in execution, therefore the trumpeter is exposed to judgement from the beginning to the end. The accompanying pianist lacks the elements to collaborate in this performance which in some ways reflects the use of fragmented melodies of 20th century composers.

This piece, included on the CD “Contemporary Trumpet” with piano by Alejo Amoedo, was heard in Japan in February of 2013, the year it was composed.

DIVERSIONS

(…) Several historical and archeological sources maintain that on the altar at the side chapel in the church of O Cebreiro, a eucharist was being celebrated by a Benedictine monk in the 14th century. He thought, on that cold winter day on which the snow was piling up and the wind was howling, that nobody would come to mass. He was wrong. A peasant from Barxamaior called Juan Santín climbed up to O Cebeiro to participate in the holy mass. The monk, who was of little faith, seemed to scorn the peasant in spite of his sacrifice but at the moment of consecration the priest saw how the host turned to meat and blood boiled in the chalice (…)

Program notes

The Holy Grail, one of the best known elements in the Christian tradition, is the pretext that the composer embraced when composing this work. Many stories revolve around this icon which reached its peak in popular culture in the novel by Dan Brown, ten years before the composition of this symphonic poem in 2013.

The melodies are architecturally complex. Through them, the composer evokes the period of King Arthur and all of the stories that surround that figure and his knights. The cavalry’s motor cadence, communicated through the precursive triplets, creates an atmosphere that could be reminiscent of the best known films on the big screen. This Holy Grail is not only based on this well-known story but also it centres on the 500 year old legend which speaks of a Galician peasant and the icon which lends its name to the poems that are set in the Cebreiro region in Lugo.

This poem, debuted by the Chapela Band was designed originally for a youth band with medium difficulty and through it the composer narrates the story of the peasant. It serves as a preamble, which introduces the story of O Cebreiro and acts as the catalyst of the protagonist’s journey. After this first part comes the intermediate section which is divided into storms, clearings and clouds in which the quick quavers will reveal the light that transcends the darkness in a tranquil countryside, finally concluding in a characteristically ambling journey through the cloudy galician countryside, set in the mountains of Lugo. The miracle and the procession will be the final moments of the peasant’s story for which the composer will use earlier ideas and so will conclude the story which, to this day, has generated many legends about the icon which has most successfully transcended from religion to popular culture thanks to the mystery around its true significance, something it has managed to keep hidden all these years.

SANTO GRIAL

(…) The minotaur was a half-bull half-man creature, son of Minos, the king of Crete who built a labyrinth in which he looked up his son to hide him away from the world. Minos, who ruled most of the cities in continental Greece including Athens, ordered the sacrifice of 14 Athenians, 7 men and 7 women from the best families in the city, to feed the minotaur.

Theseus, the son of Aethra and Aegeus, the king of Athens, stood out for his immense strength and bravery. He volunteered to go to the island of Crete and kill the minotaur and so began his journey to Crete.

When he arrived in Crete, Ariadne, Minos’ daughter and the sister of the minotaur, fell in love with Theseus. When Theseus promised to take her back to Athens with him, she helped him escape from the labyrinth by giving him a ball of wool that he would use as a guide to get out.

And so, Theseus killed the minotaur and, thanks to the ball of wool that Ariadne gave him, he managed to escape the labyrinth. Theseus had promised his father that his boat would return with white sails if he had survived and with black sails if he had not. In the excitement of the victory, Theseus forgot to hang the white sails and his father Aegeus, upon seeing the boat without the white sails and assuming that his son had died, threw himself into the ocean, losing his life and thus giving this part of the Mediterranean Sea its name (…)

Program notes

Birth of the Minotaur – Journey to Athens – Theseus – Journey to Crete – Ariadne – Cretan Labyrinth – Theseus and the Minotaur – Death of the Minotaur. These are the eight sections through which the composer has framed the life of Theseus and his legend. Theseus is known as the protagonist of Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare, as well as the king of Athens in ancient Greece.

This symphonic poem was first performed in the year it was composed, 2013, by the Musical Group from O Rosal.

The polyrhythm, changes in accent, amalgamated meters and the register are only a few of the challenges of this piece which make the composer define it as ‘difficult’. This work was commissioned by the Province of Pontevedra as a mandatory piece for the first section of the Provincial Band Exam in 2014.

THESEUS

Impressions is a title that suggests searching the hermeneutical sense of music, It is the title that Andrés Alvarez has chosen for this work for euphonium and piano. The execution is quite difficult for the soloist because of its large melodic leaps. This work explores the wide tessitura of the instrument, looking for the different timbres of an instrument that is not well-known.

The composition of this work arises from an assignment for the Spanish Association of tubas and euphoniums, as a mandatory piece for the first competition to be organized by the association in July 2014. For this occasion, it will be performed by the Barcelona Municipal Band on euphonium and tuba even though this version was originally created for the piano.

This piece which is meant to communicate a sense of ‘fun’, was heard for the first time at the Professional Conservatory of Vigo in January 2014, conducted by Ignacio Fernández.”

Not only is difficult to play every single note perfectly, but also the notes must be given the right amount of emphasis so that the audience can feel the purpose that the composer wants the soloist to convey .
This composition is analogue to another composition of the same composer: Diversions. Both w!orks were created with the same idea.

IMPRESIONS (Piano)

This paso doble, which was commissioned by José Márquez Paramés, the author of its lyrics, will be recorded by the Barro Youth Band as Vilasobroso’s anthem. It was in this spirit that it was originally performed by the Mondariz Band in 2013. Like any other paso doble, this piece has two thematic components, phrases ending in characteristic triplets, intermediate keying and the low brass ostinato

VILASOBROSO

NAMASTE

SYMPHONIC SKETCHES is a symphonic wind band concerto and wind quintet commissioned by RUBATO Quintet that follows the structure of classical symphony, but, no shares all features because the duration is less than a symphony (18min aprox) and it is structured in one single movement.
Internally we find four movements but in this case are linked and disordered, from there the nickname of sketches. Divided into four movements without pause together, I.- Adagio-Andante, II.- Allegro, III.- Largo-Adagio and IV.- Presto scherzando is a composition in which they emphasize their rhythmic and colorful contrasts, where the wind quintet exercises its role concertante but without neglecting the band, that not only do the function of support.
The entire composition tour around the same chord and intervals which the composer elaborate and develops all themes.
This composition was inspired by the wind, referring to the solo training, hence its rhythmic, often unstable, their colorful harmonic which rarely has the same tonal center and its colorful and contrasts. instrumentation.

SYMPHONIC SKETCHES

Impressions is a title that suggests searching the hermeneutical sense of music, It is the title that Andrés Alvarez has chosen for this work for euphonium and piano. The execution is quite difficult for the soloist because of its large melodic leaps. This work explores the wide tessitura of the instrument, looking for the different timbres of an instrument that is not well-known.

The composition of this work arises from an assignment for the Spanish Association of tubas and euphoniums, as a mandatory piece for the first competition to be organized by the association in July 2014. For this occasion, it will be performed by the Barcelona Municipal Band on euphonium and tuba even though this version was originally created for the piano.

This piece which is meant to communicate a sense of ‘fun’, was heard for the first time at the Professional Conservatory of Vigo in January 2014, conducted by Ignacio Fernández.”

Not only is difficult to play every single note perfectly, but also the notes must be given the right amount of emphasis so that the audience can feel the purpose that the composer wants the soloist to convey .
This composition is analogue to another composition of the same composer: Diversions. Both w!orks were created with the same idea.

FORTALEZA

andresalvarez_

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