My Original Demo performance of Whirler back when I composed - and could kinda play it-

WHIRLER OF THE DANCE - 3. Dance

This is the First recording of Whirler - by the amazing Denis Azabagic

SCORE

WHIRLER OF THE DANCE - 3) Dance

La Quinta del Sordo (The Deaf Man's Villa) is the name of the residence where Goya spent his last years. And where, most importantly, he produced his dark or black paintings, on the very walls of his home. 
The dark, haunting, and mysterious quality of these, along with historical issues raised about their authenticity, sparked in me a curiosity that inevitably led to a musical reflection. I chose to compose five of the fifteen paintings which affect me most at this time of my life, and also as an affirmation in the double meaning of the word quinta, which refers to the number five or fifth. 
This piece was made possible with the support of Piano Spheres and is dedicated with great affection to Susan Svrcek.

1-	Asmodea
2-	Un Viejo y Un Fraile
3-	Duelo a Garrotazos
4-	La Leocadia
5-	Judith y Holofernes

LA LEOCADIA - from LA QUINTA DEL SORDO for Solo Piano (Excerpt)

The Pater Noster was written with a choir that loves to sing in mind. The music harmonically reflects the influence of contemporary masters of the medium such as Lauridsen and Whitacre. More importantly, my hope is that the music also reflects an honest attempt at capturing the most personal of sentiments… shared between one and the one prayed to.


EXPLORE

Pater Noster - 2S - 2A - 2T - 2B for Chorus A Capella

"Neither is it asserted that all (the elements) are real, nor are they all realities; Because there is existence, and also non-existence, and (again) existence: This is the Middle Path!"
-Maitreya (C. 270-350 AD)

The concept of the Middle Path (the vision of reality in its true form) is a fundamental tenet of Buddhism. The premise behind the composition originated from this verse. It is that of an entranced group of Tibetan monks, calling out for the spirits to descend upon them. As the spirits descend they are offered a chant which defines the group's faith and strong conviction. Once satisfied, the thirteen spirits rise to the air one by one. The spirits suddenly dissappear as the last one rises, leaving the group in an enlightened, entranced state

After doing research into the religious practice itself, the most important text I came upon were the Five Sacred Syllables. In Buddhist practice, these were hidden in the text of a chant. A sacred syllable such as HUM would be preceded and followed by alterations of itself (IE: LEM-HEM-HUM-HOM-LOM). This was their way of keeping young apprentices and outsiders from understanding the meaning of their prayers. I presented all five syllables (Bhyo-Hum-Om-Hsi-Kye) simultaneously, and used them as percussive elements throughout the work. 

The text I used for the chant was derived from the Tibetan dialect used to describe (not worship) the Stupa. It is the Buddhist symbol of illumination. Analogous to the Christian cross, the text used is simply a description of the individual components of this object (IE: If it were Christian text it would read: Nails, Wood, etc.)

The beauty of the text lies in its percussive quality, hence enhancing the "raw" sound of the choir. 

The "Motet" is a tribute to the Tibetan Chant and the practice of Buddhism, as well as an objective essay on the range and dynamic beauty of their music.


Motet for Twelve Singers

The idea behind this arrangement was to adapt a piece of music I have always loved for my favorite instrumental pairing.
The flute's lyricism helps convey everything the original piano melody intends.

The Little Shepherd (arr. for Flute and Guitar)

Opening clip of Carlos Rafael Rivera's Lecture on the origins of the Habanera Rhythm

SAMPLE LECTURE - HABANERA ORIGINS

"Lula's Prayer" was commissioned by the Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians and is dedicated to Andrew Zohn. The composition was difficult in that it had many false starts, one of which used some quotations of David Diamond's music. David was a friend of Lula Carson Smith (Carson McCullers' maiden name) and had set her poem The Twisted Trinity for Voice and Piano. My intention was to use that melody as a point of departure, and use variation techniques to build the piece.
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Long story short – many sketches, and an imminent deadline... As I learned more and more about her very troubled life, I began to think “What if in the midst of it all - between the strokes, flirtations with suicide, and illnesses - Lula would stop and reflect – perhaps even pray...
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What ensued was a short, heartfelt piece of music for guitar ensemble which attempts to sing - what should be long vocal lines - through the guitar. Always a great performance challenge for guitars to perform as if they were a choir.

Here in this recording is Chuck Hulihan's Amazing Glendale Community College Guitar Ensemble - 

Lula's Prayer

"Raven Dance" was commmissioned by the Cavatina Duo: Denis Azabagic, guitar - Eugenia Moliner, flute. They wanted a piece that was based on Balkan folk music as part of a recording project for Cedille Records. I used Vranjanski as a source and added some original ideas as developmental material. The meter is 3/4 + 3/8 which in English means: very cool...

PURCHASE SCORE

RAVEN DANCE (Vranjanski Cocek) by the Cavatina Duo

"Cumba-Quín" derives its onomatopoeic title from vocal imitation of the sounds produced by conga drums when playing against claves in Rumba style. The guitars emulate this distinctively native Cuban sound by assuming the role of claves, palitos, and congas. Through use of the guaguancó (4/4) and columbia (6/8) forms of Rumba, the Quartet narrates an episodic yet cyclic musical essay on the colorful, visceral, and ritualistic aspects of the Afro-Cuban Tradition.

This work is a result of a commission by the LAGQ for their Sony Classical release Air & Ground.

CUMBA-QUÍN (Sample)

The Creation of "PizziCuban Polka" for the Miami Symphony Orchestra 
was made possible with the support of The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation - Here are the last few minutes performed live at the Arsht Center - wait for the applause - because it was written to trick the audience into thinking it was over ... and then we had the good fortune of having Nestor Torres play along!  

PIZZICUBAN POLKA (Ending)

The Popol-Vuh is the Mayan People’s Book of the Dawn of Life. It is a story at least as fantastic as those of Greek and Arthurian lore, telling us how it is that gods were able to create, after three unsuccessful attempts, humankind. Alongside the creation narrative, the Popol-Vuh tells us of the adventures of the Hero Twin deities through the underworld of Xibalba, their sacrifice in avenging their parents’ death, and their final rise, each as the Sun and Moon. Both of these stories share parallel timelines, ending with the Hero Twins’ appearance in the horizon as dawn to the successfully created human being. 
The music for this second movement - Birth of the Hero Twins - has a sadness which depicts Blood Moon's seduction

POPOL-VUH (2. Birth of the Hero Twins)

This song was featured in the Tom Shadyac film Dragonfly starring Kevin Costner,  and was a ton of fun to perform live - 

STAR - Zoo Story (2003)

CARLOS RAFAEL RIVERA is an EMMY Award winning composer, whose career has spanned several genres of the music industry. He mentored with the incomparable Randy Newman while studying at USC’s Thornton School of Music.
 
His work for Film and TV includes scores for Netflix’ GODLESS,  Universal Pictures’ A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES, and is currently scoring the upcoming Netflix Mini-Series THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT.

He began his mentorship with Randy Newman while earning his DMA in Composition at USC's Thornton School, where he studied with Donald Crockett and Stephen Hartke.

Equally comfortable in popular music, he has performed onstage as opening act for The Who at the Hollywood Bowl, while his guitar work includes performances on feature soundtracks (Crash, Dragonfly); studio sessions for Island/Def Jam, and Universal Records; as well as ABC's Scrubs, MTV, and VH-1.

His music has been acclaimed by the Miami Herald, the San Francisco Examiner, and the LA Times, helping establish him as a composer with the unique ability of incorporating a large diversity of musical influences into his captivating compositions, which reflect his multi-cultural upbringing in Central America and the United States. 

His work has been performed by some of the most prominent ensembles and soloists, including Arturo Sandoval, Colin Currie, Chanticleer, Cavatina Duo, the American Composers Orchestra (ACO), the New England Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ); commissioned by the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, and the American Wind Symphony; recorded by Warner, Sony, Naxos, and Cedille labels; published by Mel-Bay, and Doberman Editions; and awarded by the ACO, the Herb Alpert Foundation, the Guitar Foundation of America, BMI, and twice by ASCAP.

He has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Miami Symphony Orchestra, as well as musical consultant for "Invitation to World Literature," an educational series funded by the Annenberg Foundation and produced by WGBH. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy (Grammy's), and is a sought out guest composer and lecturer throughout the US, as well as a faculty member at the University of Miami's Frost School of Music.

Carlos has recently signed with Amos Newman at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME) - whose clients include Hans Zimmer, Trent Reznor, and Ennio Morricone.

Carlos Rafael Rivera

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