|
Temazcal
Javier Alvarez
program notes
The title of this work stems from the Nahuatl (ancient aztec) word literally meaning " water that burns". The maracas material throughout Temazcal is drawn from traditional rhythmic patterns found in most Latin-American musics, namely those from the Caribbean region, southeastern Mexico, Cuba, Central America and the flatlands of Colombia and Venezuela. In these musics in general, the maracas are used in a purely accompanimental manner as part of small instrumental ensembles. The only exception is, perhaps, that of the Venezuelan flatlands, where the role of the maracas surpasses that of mere cadence and accent punctuation to become a soloistic instrument in its own right. It was from this instance that I imagined a piece where the player would have to master short patterns and combine them with great virtuosity to construct larger and complex rhythmic structures which could then be juxtaposed, superimposed and set against similar passages on tape, thus creating a dense polyrhythmic web. This would eventually disintegrate clearing the way for a traditional accompanimental style of playing in a sound world reminiscent of the maracas' more usual environment.
The sound sources on tape include harp, a folk guitar and double bass pizzicatti for the tape's attacks, the transformation of bamboo rods being struck together for the rhythmic passages and rattling sounds created with the maracas themselves for other gestures. The tape was realized at the Electronic Music Studio at the Royal College of Music during the last months of 1983.
The piece is dedicated to Luis Julio Toro who first performed it at the EMAS series in London in January 1984. Since receiving an honourable mention at the 1985 Bourges Electro-Acoustic Music Festival, Temazcal has been regularly performed and broadcast by percussionists worldwide.
bio
I have been active as a composer since 1974. Born in 1956, I studied clarinet and composition under Mario Lavista in my native Mexico City. In the late seventies I moved to the USA where I completed a Masters Degree at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee with John Downey. Subsequently, I came to the UK to study with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music and a few years later obtained a Doctorate at the City University. I have lived in London since 1981 and during these last two decades I have been active mainly as a freelance composer but also as teacher and animateur. I was a founding member and a past Chairperson of Sonic Arts Network and was the Artistic Director of the Society for the Promotion of New Music during the 95-96 season. I have lectured and taught composition at several institutions in th UK and abroad including the Royal College and the Royal Academy of Music. More recently, I have taught at the Malmö Music Academy of Music in Sweden - where I am Visiting Professor of Composition. I hold similar positions at the University of Hertfordshire and at City University in the UK.
My work has been commissioned and performed by soloists such as Miguel Bernat, Ricardo Gallardo, Simon Limbrick, Philip Mead, Luis Julio Toro, James Wood, Mercedes Gomez, Gloria Cheng, Russ Hartenberger, and ensembles and orchestras such as Ictus, Lontano, Cuarteto Latinoamericano, American Composers Orchestra, Music Projects-London, Brodsky Quartet, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, London Sifonietta, L’Itinéraire and the Chicago Symphony New Music Ensemble.
International honours have included awards at the Bourges Competition (1985-87-89) such as the 1987 ICEM prize and at the Prix Ars Electronica (1988,93 and 95). I have been the recipient of several distinctions in the UK including Arts Council Composition Bursaries, the Mendelssohn Scholarship, the Lionel Robbins Memorial Award, the 1988-89 Gemini Fellowship and a Hinrichsen Foundation Bursary. Since 1993 I have been a member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores in Mexico.
|
|
|
