Since 2016, international media has regarded the peace treaty between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrillas as a happy epilogue to the country’s violent past. Nevertheless, amidst this mediatic celebration, community leaders have mysteriously lost their lives claiming for their rights, other rebellious armed groups haven’t yet agreed to peaceful negotiations, and FARC dissidents have organized their own operations. In this pivotal moment, millions of stories have been left out, as millions of nuanced positions were overlooked on a referendum that limited to a yes-or-no answer the question on whether or not Colombians supported “the final agreement to end the conflict and the construction of a long-lasting, stable peace”.

"At the Edge of Hope", for soprano, mixed choir, and accompaniment, is a suite built within and extracted from the homonym cantata. It captures these narratives compiled in a journey through the Colombia’s five mainland regions. The lyrics by Fernando Linero, Henry Gómez and Catalina Villamarín channel a collection of testimonials, their untold stories and views: From witnesses of massacres willing to forgive, believing in the treaty as a hope for a different future, to kidnap survivors with solid reservations on both parties’ ability to withhold their ends of the bargain. From urban dwellers who witnessed said conflict through the news and occasional testimonials from the people fleeing violence in their region, to travelling professionals who witnessed the struggles and frustration of rural communities forgotten by the state.

As a result, the work does not show a unified narrative that celebrates or condemns a peace treaty, but one that features a multiplicity experiences with war and views on peace and forgiveness.  Ultimately, this cantata is a tribute to all the victims, a reminder of the effects of war, and a testament of the resilience of all Colombians who have lived through the conflict and their hope in leaving a better Colombia for the future generations.

Composition: Julián Brijaldo
Soprano: Laura León
Baritone (Hilando el Horizonte): Graham Fandrei
Choir: Schola Cantorum Coralina
Guitar: Federico Bonacossa
Piano: Priscila Navarro

Al Borde de la Esperanza, suite para soprano, coro y acompañamiento

Drawing inspiration from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "El general en su laberinto", "SIMON" musically channels an imaginary of Bolivar's own perspective on his life and dreams of unifying South America. The primary melodic material is based on "Marcha Libertadora" (presumably Gran Colombia's national anthem), and the three main moments of Bolivar´s life are evoked in the main sections; the endless independence war, the assassination attempt in 1828 and the last months of his life, ending with the faint breeze of the sea and the rumor of the waves.

Performed by Frost Symphony Orchestra 
Winner of the 2015 Frost School of Music's Concerto Competition (Composition contest).

SIMON La patria inalcanzable © 2015

Throughout more than sixty years the Colombian conflict has been described as a clash between different sides: the guerrillas, the state's army, the government, the paramilitares, and the drug traffickers. All of them have specific points of view, opposed to "the others'." However, a great number of anonymous voices have been inevitably trapped in the middle of the conflict, and have been presented only as simple dramatic anecdotes, collateral damage, and isolated victims of the war. Additionally, these voices have been highly affected by the war economic policies, necessary to achieve the end of the war.

'Memorias perdidas' takes interviews of people affected by the Colombian armed conflict, unifying them in a singular narrative.  The second movement, 'La paz es de todos' quotes a man from the capital, calling for a peace with social changes that benefit everybody.

Composer: Julián Brijaldo
Conductor: Melissa Bumbach
Sopranos: Rachel Querreveld, Brittany Mazzurco Muscato
Altos: Alejandra Jiménez, Anna Park
Tenors: Tomas Ramos, Matt Gagnon
Basses: Matthew Bumbach, Kent Barnhill
Audio Engineer: Catalina Villamarín

Find more of my music on www.julianbrijaldo.com

La Paz Es De Todos

"En Silencio" is the first movement of "Al borde de la esperanza, una cantata para el colombiano común.*" The lyrics, by Catalina Villamarín, explore the Colombian armed conflict from the perspective of the Amazonian communities.

*Tambiés es parte de "Al borde de la esperanza, una suite coral para el colombiano común" 

Lyrics:
Caeré entre el rugir del río y el canto de las ranas.
Crujiré en la lengua de la madre que olvidas.
Y los brazos musgosos que sostienen la vida
abandonados por tu desidia cederán al tiempo…

Y en silencio sentiré el vacío,
en silencio volveré a la tierra,
en silencio seguiré tu historia, inerte

En la baldía espesura donde callan tus
cigarras.

Translation:
I will fall amidst the river’s roar and the frog’s chant
crackling in the dialect of the mother you forget.
And the life-bearing, moss-grown limbs
abandoned by your oblivion will succumb to time…

And in silence I will feel the rush,
in silence I will return to dirt,
in silence I will follow your history, lifeless

in the forgotten wilderness where your
crickets hush.

Performance:
Schola Cantorum Coralina

En Silencio ©2019

From the Andes and plains of Colombia and Venezuela, to the sun-bathed coasts of the Caribbean islands, and from the inhospitable cold of the Patagonia to the scorching sands of the Atacama Desert, Latin America is a collage of the different cultures that for generations have grown as a unit. Like a fractal, the region is broken down by countries, which in turn are broken down by regions. Each region within a country has its own musical styles and an infinite number of variants and yet, the influence of the European tradition, the African rhythms and the native folklore is still latent -in different proportions- in every one of them. Anatomy of Sur is inspired in the cultural diversity of Latin America, using elements from contrasting Latin-American dances bringing them together through the use of melodic and harmonic gestures. 

The melodic materials roll down the mountains to the Venezuelan plains for the third movement, and although the rhythm at hand is also called merengue, it bears little resemblance to the first movement. To the unfamiliar listener, a merengue caraqueño is a puzzling dance that calls for five-legged creatures as dancers. This playful dance in 5/8 is presented as a fugue because, what's more fitting for a dance that calls for five feet than an arrangement with many heads?

Performance: Brno Philharmonic (Chamber Ensemble)

Pierrot Ensemble Series Vol. 2choi

From the Andes and plains of Colombia and Venezuela, to the sun-bathed coasts of the Caribbean islands, and from the inhospitable cold of the Patagonia to the scorching sands of the Atacama Desert, Latin America is a collage of the different cultures that for generations have grown as a unit. Like a fractal, the region is broken down by countries, which in turn are broken down by regions. Each region within a country has its own musical styles and an infinite number of variants and yet, the influence of the European tradition, the African rhythms and the native folklore is still latent -in different proportions- in every one of them. Anatomy of Sur is inspired in the cultural diversity of Latin America, using elements from contrasting Latin-American dances bringing them together through the use of melodic and harmonic gestures. 

Dreamy Dance is inspired on an Andean Guabina, where the primary melody is a variation from a melodic gesture presented in the first movement, and is later accompanied by two superimposed new melodies that create a light polyphonic texture.

Performance: Brno Philharmonic (Chamber Ensemble)

From the Andes and plains of Colombia and Venezuela, to the sun-bathed coasts of the Caribbean islands, and from the inhospitable cold of the Patagonia to the scorching sands of the Atacama Desert, Latin America is a collage of the different cultures that for generations have grown as a unit. Like a fractal, the region is broken down by countries, which in turn are broken down by regions. Each region within a country has its own musical styles and an infinite number of variants and yet, the influence of the European tradition, the African rhythms and the native folklore is still latent -in different proportions- in every one of them. Anatomy of Sur is inspired in the cultural diversity of Latin America, using elements from contrasting Latin-American dances bringing them together through the use of melodic and harmonic gestures. 

A hollow hand, curved and concave, hits the head of a tambora repeatedly, followed immediately by a contrasting series of slaps on the rim, melding together to make up the lively heartbeat of a Dominican merengue. On this piece's first movement, the piano leads the way playing the role of the tambora, and is followed by the rest of the instruments, which together emulate the elaborated rhythmic section, comprised of different percussion patterns. Like its name would suggest, the second movement breaks from the percussive roughness, and journeys into a more airy, almost cloud-like dance that hails from the mountains of Colombia.

Performance: Brno Philharmonic (Chamber Ensemble)

La Paz Es De Todos

Julián Brijaldo

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