Three Southern Landscapes
Author(s)
Dirie, Gerardo
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2019
Metadata
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Background: This is a composition for bassoon and piano, commissioned by the publisher as an audition piece for a Woodwind Camp in the US. The three movements gathered in this set were inspired by the rhythmic and lyrical designs typical of genres that I used to listen to as I grew up in Argentina. ‘Diverge Tango’ evokes the angular, arppeggiated and driving gestures that marked Astor Piazzolla’s ‘música popular contemporánea de la ciudad de Buenos Aires’ [contemporary popular music of the city of Buenos Aires] that played on the radio at home during the 1970s; those tangos were commonly played side to side with local ...
View more >Background: This is a composition for bassoon and piano, commissioned by the publisher as an audition piece for a Woodwind Camp in the US. The three movements gathered in this set were inspired by the rhythmic and lyrical designs typical of genres that I used to listen to as I grew up in Argentina. ‘Diverge Tango’ evokes the angular, arppeggiated and driving gestures that marked Astor Piazzolla’s ‘música popular contemporánea de la ciudad de Buenos Aires’ [contemporary popular music of the city of Buenos Aires] that played on the radio at home during the 1970s; those tangos were commonly played side to side with local progressive rock. The ‘estilo,’ and other similar lyrical folk genres, would populate the airwaves during the summer folk festivals season. The estilo offered a gentle, almost erratic strumming and plucking on guitar to support a singer delivering verses that could span from references to landscapes to very intricate philosophical discourse or argument. Short interludes on the guitar would allow time for the singer to plan the next strophe of syllabic verses. Enigma, nostalgia or pun were common characteristics of this form. Finally, and also on the vernacular aspect of arguments or contests through verse and music, the evocation of the Uruguayan ‘murga’ is presented here in concert fashion, in which the prepared piano takes the role of percussion instruments in this style (bass drum, snare drum and clashed cymbals) in a very veiled, almost ghostly manner to sustain the sparse lyrical gestures in the bassoon.
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View more >Background: This is a composition for bassoon and piano, commissioned by the publisher as an audition piece for a Woodwind Camp in the US. The three movements gathered in this set were inspired by the rhythmic and lyrical designs typical of genres that I used to listen to as I grew up in Argentina. ‘Diverge Tango’ evokes the angular, arppeggiated and driving gestures that marked Astor Piazzolla’s ‘música popular contemporánea de la ciudad de Buenos Aires’ [contemporary popular music of the city of Buenos Aires] that played on the radio at home during the 1970s; those tangos were commonly played side to side with local progressive rock. The ‘estilo,’ and other similar lyrical folk genres, would populate the airwaves during the summer folk festivals season. The estilo offered a gentle, almost erratic strumming and plucking on guitar to support a singer delivering verses that could span from references to landscapes to very intricate philosophical discourse or argument. Short interludes on the guitar would allow time for the singer to plan the next strophe of syllabic verses. Enigma, nostalgia or pun were common characteristics of this form. Finally, and also on the vernacular aspect of arguments or contests through verse and music, the evocation of the Uruguayan ‘murga’ is presented here in concert fashion, in which the prepared piano takes the role of percussion instruments in this style (bass drum, snare drum and clashed cymbals) in a very veiled, almost ghostly manner to sustain the sparse lyrical gestures in the bassoon.
View less >
Subject
Performing arts
Music