guitar music of argentina

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GUITAR MUSICOF ARGENTINA

Máximo Pujol • Quique SinesiMarcelo Coronel • Pepe Ferrer

Julio Santillán • Carlos GuastavinoVictor Villadangos, Guitar

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Victor VilladangosBorn in Buenos Aires, Víctor Villadangos graduated as Profesor Superior de Guitarra fromthe Conservatorio Juan José Castro as a student of María Herminia Antola de GómezCrespo. Since 1980, he has performed extensively, both as a soloist and in chamber musicensembles, in all the major concert halls and theatres of Buenos Aires and more than ahundred different cities in the interior of Argentina with prominent musical organizations.Abroad he has been featured in concert throughout Europe, in North and South America,Israel and Japan. He has made a number of solo recordings and collaborated on otherreleases of classical and popular music. Since 1990 he has given master-classes throughoutArgentina and abroad, and is professor of guitar at the Conservatorio Juan José Castro and Conservatorio Manuel deFalla de Buenos Aires. His achievements have brought him the award of the Diploma al Mérito from the FundaciónKONEX for his artistic work over the last decade.

grace. Once everyone has arrived, musicians lift thegeneral mood, while coffee and drinks are provided, torevive the afflicted spirits of friends and relatives. Atmidnight the godmother takes the little coffin in herarms and dances to the beat of the music. After a fewminutes she gives the coffin to the godfather, who endshis godchild’s farewell with zapateos (a traditional

Argentinian dance for men only). From that moment on,all the guests join the dance, singing and drinking. Atdawn the burial takes place. People intone typical songsof the region and do so without shedding tears, for theywould wet the wings of the little angel, impeding itsascent to heaven.

Marcelo Coronel

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Marcelo Coronel (b. 1962): Imaginario popularargentino: centro y noroeste (Popular ArgentinianLegends)# I: PachamamaPachamama is the principal deity of the native people ofBolivia, Peru and the Argentinian Northwest. She isidentified with the earth and all of nature is her temple.To pay homage to her, locals and travellers erect smallmounds of stones, called apachetas, by the roadside.There they make their requests and leave humbleofferings for her. She intervenes in all aspects of life,and her protection is called upon for a good harvest, forthe propagation of the herd, to relieve cold spells andplagues, to bring luck to the hunt, to prevent altitudesickness on journeys, and for other needs. In someregions of Salta it is believed that the Pachamama is anancient Indian woman, who watches over all valley-dwellers and keeps guard over the treasures of theancients.$ II: La Salamanca La Salamanca is a place, generally a pit or distant cavein the forest, devoted to the cult of the Devil (also calledZupay or El Malo). Those who go there do so to requestdiverse powers or abilities, like the skill to play musicalinstruments or to sing, to be irresistible in love orinvincible in fighting. The women that gather there do so,in general, to learn witchcraft. As the price for obtainingsuch gifts, all must hand their souls over to the Devil. LaSalamanca draws attention to its presence with thejoyful music that emanates from it, attracting whoeverpasses by. At the entrance there are usually religioussymbols that must be desecrated as a sign that one hasrebelled against God. To enter, one must undress andwithstand a siege of repulsive creatures (enormoustoads, bats and serpents). If the visitor cannot keepcontrol of himself, he dies. On the other hand, if he does,he remains unharmed and enters an enclosure where menand women surrender themselves to all types of carnalpleasures and participates in them until the first

cockcrow, the moment in which he leaves, bestowed withsupernatural powers in exchange for his soul.% III: Coquena In the Argentinian provinces of Salta and Jujuy therelives a goblin named Coquena, who is considered to bethe divine protector of animals. He is described as adwarf with indigenous features, dressed as a shepherd.Coquena watches over the herds that graze in the hills,striving to remain unseen by man. To meet him isconsidered a bad omen. It is believed that when animalsare seen moving without anyone driving them, it isCoquena who is leading them to better pastures. Healways chews coca leaves and wanders about the hillswhistling and playing his flute made of condor bones.At night he leads herds with gold and silver towards theBolivian Potosí Mountain so that its wealth is neverdepleted. It is said that he can be very generous withgood shepherds, but he punishes mercilessly all thosewho prey on the vicuñas and guanacos with firearms ortravellers who place over-heavy burdens on their llamas. ^ V: Velando al angelito (Holding a Wake for theLittle Angel) In the interior of the country, especially in the North andNorthwest, it is believed that children who die beforethe age of seven are pure beings, since they have not hadtime to be tainted by human misery. For that reason theyare considered to be angels who go directly to heaven, incontrast to adults, who after death must pass throughpurgatory. When a child dies, the parents celebrate witha party to pay homage to the child, bringing togetherrelatives and neighbours. The godmother sees to thepreparation of the body of the little angel: a sheethanging from the ceiling represents heaven and the littlecoffin (placed above the table) is adorned with paperflowers. A cord is tied to the little one’s waist so thatwhen the godmother dies and finds herself in purgatoryshe can grasp it to rise to heaven. Another cord is placedaround the box for those who attend the wake to tieknots in it and then ask the little angel to give them

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8-9 Sergio Natali (b. 1964): Mate dulce – mate caliente (Sweet Maté – Hot Maté)El arte de cebar (The Art of Serving Maté) lends itsname to a series of four paintings accompanied bypoetic prose about mate, the traditional herbal drink thatis shared in a circle with friends in Argentina and otherSouth American countries. The texture thatdistinguishes the paintings and the constant reference tothe meaning of the prose, motivated the composer tofollow the game of synesthesia, this time with sound.That is how these pieces for guitar emerged, presentinga small motif from the beginning that insistently repeatsitself, an allusion to the ritual of passing the mate aroundthe circle. Of the two mates offered in this recording,mate dulce (sweet maté) brings out the melodic element,while mate caliente (hot maté) has a more rhythmiccharacter.

0 Victor Villadangos (b. 1958): Hora libre Hora libre was composed during a class period fromwhich a student was absent at the conservatory whereVictor Villadangos teaches. Through a fresh and simplemelody, he seeks to suggest a feeling of creative joy.! Tucututá Tucututá is the onomatopoeic sound of the openingrhythm of the piece, which explores the differentpercussive effects of the guitar and the combination ofmelody and percussion played simultaneously by bothhands independently.

@ Pepe Ferrer (b. 1958): El Felipe El Felipe is based on the form and character of theArgentinian dance, the Gato (cat), originating from theprovince of Santiago del Estero. As with otherArgentinian folk rhythms, it uses accents that resultfrom the superimposition of 6/8 and 3/4 measures. Thisis the story of an anxious and curious cat named Felipe,a veteran of battles for the love interests of the femalecats in the neighbourhood.

& Julio Santillán (b. 1974): Estudio n° 4 ‘Mal ando ‘(Badly Off) The title Mal ando is a play on words that evokes therhythm of the malambo, using the rhythm of the title“mal ando” – or ando mal (badly off) – for that ofmalambo. It includes two contrasting sections: one veryrhythmic, using the rasgueo (traditional folk strumming– or imitation of certain percussion instruments) and theother with more counterpoint and unexpectedmodulations.

*-) Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000): Sonata n° 3 (1973) In 1989, Victor Villadangos gave the première of CarlosGuastavino’s third and last sonata, after having agreedupon the phrasing, articulations, tempo and interpretationwith the composer. Dedicated to the guitarist HoracioCeballos, the work is written in the traditional sonataform in three movements. The first movement, Allegropreciso e ritmico, has the original feature of changingfrom minor to major with different harmoniccombinations using the 9/8 rhythm, so typical ofArgentinian folk-music. Guastavino himself defined therhythmic figure used in both themes as the “counter-rhythm”, containing the customary figures of Argentinianfolk-music, but in a different order. The Adagio has abeautiful melody that evokes a certain reflective climatewith a deep lyricism provided by a poetic dialogue,recalling some of the works of the legendary Spanishguitarist and composer, Antonio Jiménez Manjón. Thefinal Allegro is the essence of deep criollo feeling. Itbegins with impetuous rasgueos, passes through troubledand swift rhythmic combinations until reaching a momentof respite, serving as a brief interval. After this comes therecapitulation of the principal theme with harmonic andmelodic variations, enriched by the central part, untilconcluding with the initial rasgueos, this time in a minorkey in order to create tension and to connect with thetonic in the major key.

Diego Orellana

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Guitar Music of Argentina • 2Throughout its recent history, South America hasreceived successive currents of immigration. These,added to the native populations, have resulted in anethnically diverse population, with a culture as rich as itis varied. The native inhabitants of these lands sinceancient times, the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadorsin the sixteenth century, the African slaves in theseventeenth, and Italian, French and other Europeancolonists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries haveall contributed to this their own customs, languages,religions, and, of course, their music. The works hereincluded are an expression of the diversity of genresextant in the Republic of Argentina, not folk-music, butreflections of a unity in cultural diversity.

Victor Villadangos

1 Quique Sinesi (b. 1960): Sonidos de aquel día(Sounds From That Day)As with Contramarea, Sonidos de aquel día is inspiredby the rhythm of the milonga orillera, which is fasterand more cheerful than the milonga sureña. The centralpart is by Villadangos, developing the rhythmic andmelodic elements of the original work.2 Contramarea (Opposing Tide) Quique Sinesi’s Contramarea was originally entitledContra viento y marea (Against Wind and Tide), but thename was changed for legal reasons, owing to the priorexistence of another work with the same title. The piecehas jazz influenced harmonies, and the inspired rhythmof the milonga can be detected.3 Cielo abierto (Open Sky) Cielo abierto uses the candombe rhythm, developedover a bass ostinato. The structure is similar to a rondo,with alternating sections of melodic variations thenreturning to the primary idea of the ostinato. Theinnovative aspect of the piece is in the use of percussivetechniques on the guitar.

4 Carlos Moscardini (b. 1959): Doña Carmen Written in a “criollo waltz” rhythm, Doña Carmen is areminiscence of the composer’s grandmother, takenfrom his childhood memories of the patio of hismother’s house.

Máximo Pujol (b. 1957): Elegía por la muerte de untanguero (Elegy for the Death of a Tango Player) Elegía por la muerte de un tanguero, dedicated toVictor Villadangos, is an expression of profoundadmiration for the music of Astor Piazzolla, homage tothe bandoneon player and composer born in 1921. As acreative device, Máximo Pujol uses a succession ofthree sounds extracted from Adios Nonino and usingserial techniques, inverted and mirrored, achieves asynthesis between his own musical language and that ofPiazzolla. 5 Confuseta: Confuseta (alluding to confusion)presents in the first section the use of canonic imitativecounterpoint, using the aforementioned pattern of threesounds. The second slower section continues the idea ofa cantabile melody, supported by low and elongatedsounds. 6 En Melancolía: En Melancolía (In Melancholy)suggests a rainy autumn afternoon, as seen through thewindow of an imaginary room in a Buenos Airesneighbourhood, culminating with a succession ofimpetuous and dramatic chords.7 Epílogo: Epílogo (Epilogue) applies Piazzolla’s styleto the guitar, with knowledge of the instrument’s realpotential. It takes again the idea of the threeinspirational sounds from Adios Nonino, alternating thetempi. Various rhythmic effects (golpes or strikes,chasquidos or cracks, and so on) are used, until thecoda, where Piazolla’s La muerte de un angel(Death of an Angel) is cited, culminating in an explosiveBartókian pizzicato.

557658bk USA 6/1/06 8:16 pm

8.5576584

Marcelo Coronel (b. 1962): Imaginario popularargentino: centro y noroeste (Popular ArgentinianLegends)# I: PachamamaPachamama is the principal deity of the native people ofBolivia, Peru and the Argentinian Northwest. She isidentified with the earth and all of nature is her temple.To pay homage to her, locals and travellers erect smallmounds of stones, called apachetas, by the roadside.There they make their requests and leave humbleofferings for her. She intervenes in all aspects of life,and her protection is called upon for a good harvest, forthe propagation of the herd, to relieve cold spells andplagues, to bring luck to the hunt, to prevent altitudesickness on journeys, and for other needs. In someregions of Salta it is believed that the Pachamama is anancient Indian woman, who watches over all valley-dwellers and keeps guard over the treasures of theancients.$ II: La Salamanca La Salamanca is a place, generally a pit or distant cavein the forest, devoted to the cult of the Devil (also calledZupay or El Malo). Those who go there do so to requestdiverse powers or abilities, like the skill to play musicalinstruments or to sing, to be irresistible in love orinvincible in fighting. The women that gather there do so,in general, to learn witchcraft. As the price for obtainingsuch gifts, all must hand their souls over to the Devil. LaSalamanca draws attention to its presence with thejoyful music that emanates from it, attracting whoeverpasses by. At the entrance there are usually religioussymbols that must be desecrated as a sign that one hasrebelled against God. To enter, one must undress andwithstand a siege of repulsive creatures (enormoustoads, bats and serpents). If the visitor cannot keepcontrol of himself, he dies. On the other hand, if he does,he remains unharmed and enters an enclosure where menand women surrender themselves to all types of carnalpleasures and participates in them until the first

cockcrow, the moment in which he leaves, bestowed withsupernatural powers in exchange for his soul.% III: Coquena In the Argentinian provinces of Salta and Jujuy therelives a goblin named Coquena, who is considered to bethe divine protector of animals. He is described as adwarf with indigenous features, dressed as a shepherd.Coquena watches over the herds that graze in the hills,striving to remain unseen by man. To meet him isconsidered a bad omen. It is believed that when animalsare seen moving without anyone driving them, it isCoquena who is leading them to better pastures. Healways chews coca leaves and wanders about the hillswhistling and playing his flute made of condor bones.At night he leads herds with gold and silver towards theBolivian Potosí Mountain so that its wealth is neverdepleted. It is said that he can be very generous withgood shepherds, but he punishes mercilessly all thosewho prey on the vicuñas and guanacos with firearms ortravellers who place over-heavy burdens on their llamas. ^ V: Velando al angelito (Holding a Wake for theLittle Angel) In the interior of the country, especially in the North andNorthwest, it is believed that children who die beforethe age of seven are pure beings, since they have not hadtime to be tainted by human misery. For that reason theyare considered to be angels who go directly to heaven, incontrast to adults, who after death must pass throughpurgatory. When a child dies, the parents celebrate witha party to pay homage to the child, bringing togetherrelatives and neighbours. The godmother sees to thepreparation of the body of the little angel: a sheethanging from the ceiling represents heaven and the littlecoffin (placed above the table) is adorned with paperflowers. A cord is tied to the little one’s waist so thatwhen the godmother dies and finds herself in purgatoryshe can grasp it to rise to heaven. Another cord is placedaround the box for those who attend the wake to tieknots in it and then ask the little angel to give them

8.5576583

8-9 Sergio Natali (b. 1964): Mate dulce – mate caliente (Sweet Maté – Hot Maté)El arte de cebar (The Art of Serving Maté) lends itsname to a series of four paintings accompanied bypoetic prose about mate, the traditional herbal drink thatis shared in a circle with friends in Argentina and otherSouth American countries. The texture thatdistinguishes the paintings and the constant reference tothe meaning of the prose, motivated the composer tofollow the game of synesthesia, this time with sound.That is how these pieces for guitar emerged, presentinga small motif from the beginning that insistently repeatsitself, an allusion to the ritual of passing the mate aroundthe circle. Of the two mates offered in this recording,mate dulce (sweet maté) brings out the melodic element,while mate caliente (hot maté) has a more rhythmiccharacter.

0 Victor Villadangos (b. 1958): Hora libre Hora libre was composed during a class period fromwhich a student was absent at the conservatory whereVictor Villadangos teaches. Through a fresh and simplemelody, he seeks to suggest a feeling of creative joy.! Tucututá Tucututá is the onomatopoeic sound of the openingrhythm of the piece, which explores the differentpercussive effects of the guitar and the combination ofmelody and percussion played simultaneously by bothhands independently.

@ Pepe Ferrer (b. 1958): El Felipe El Felipe is based on the form and character of theArgentinian dance, the Gato (cat), originating from theprovince of Santiago del Estero. As with otherArgentinian folk rhythms, it uses accents that resultfrom the superimposition of 6/8 and 3/4 measures. Thisis the story of an anxious and curious cat named Felipe,a veteran of battles for the love interests of the femalecats in the neighbourhood.

& Julio Santillán (b. 1974): Estudio n° 4 ‘Mal ando ‘(Badly Off) The title Mal ando is a play on words that evokes therhythm of the malambo, using the rhythm of the title“mal ando” – or ando mal (badly off) – for that ofmalambo. It includes two contrasting sections: one veryrhythmic, using the rasgueo (traditional folk strumming– or imitation of certain percussion instruments) and theother with more counterpoint and unexpectedmodulations.

*-) Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000): Sonata n° 3 (1973) In 1989, Victor Villadangos gave the première of CarlosGuastavino’s third and last sonata, after having agreedupon the phrasing, articulations, tempo and interpretationwith the composer. Dedicated to the guitarist HoracioCeballos, the work is written in the traditional sonataform in three movements. The first movement, Allegropreciso e ritmico, has the original feature of changingfrom minor to major with different harmoniccombinations using the 9/8 rhythm, so typical ofArgentinian folk-music. Guastavino himself defined therhythmic figure used in both themes as the “counter-rhythm”, containing the customary figures of Argentinianfolk-music, but in a different order. The Adagio has abeautiful melody that evokes a certain reflective climatewith a deep lyricism provided by a poetic dialogue,recalling some of the works of the legendary Spanishguitarist and composer, Antonio Jiménez Manjón. Thefinal Allegro is the essence of deep criollo feeling. Itbegins with impetuous rasgueos, passes through troubledand swift rhythmic combinations until reaching a momentof respite, serving as a brief interval. After this comes therecapitulation of the principal theme with harmonic andmelodic variations, enriched by the central part, untilconcluding with the initial rasgueos, this time in a minorkey in order to create tension and to connect with thetonic in the major key.

Diego Orellana

8.557658 2

Guitar Music of Argentina • 2Throughout its recent history, South America hasreceived successive currents of immigration. These,added to the native populations, have resulted in anethnically diverse population, with a culture as rich as itis varied. The native inhabitants of these lands sinceancient times, the Spanish and Portuguese conquistadorsin the sixteenth century, the African slaves in theseventeenth, and Italian, French and other Europeancolonists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries haveall contributed to this their own customs, languages,religions, and, of course, their music. The works hereincluded are an expression of the diversity of genresextant in the Republic of Argentina, not folk-music, butreflections of a unity in cultural diversity.

Victor Villadangos

1 Quique Sinesi (b. 1960): Sonidos de aquel día(Sounds From That Day)As with Contramarea, Sonidos de aquel día is inspiredby the rhythm of the milonga orillera, which is fasterand more cheerful than the milonga sureña. The centralpart is by Villadangos, developing the rhythmic andmelodic elements of the original work.2 Contramarea (Opposing Tide) Quique Sinesi’s Contramarea was originally entitledContra viento y marea (Against Wind and Tide), but thename was changed for legal reasons, owing to the priorexistence of another work with the same title. The piecehas jazz influenced harmonies, and the inspired rhythmof the milonga can be detected.3 Cielo abierto (Open Sky) Cielo abierto uses the candombe rhythm, developedover a bass ostinato. The structure is similar to a rondo,with alternating sections of melodic variations thenreturning to the primary idea of the ostinato. Theinnovative aspect of the piece is in the use of percussivetechniques on the guitar.

4 Carlos Moscardini (b. 1959): Doña Carmen Written in a “criollo waltz” rhythm, Doña Carmen is areminiscence of the composer’s grandmother, takenfrom his childhood memories of the patio of hismother’s house.

Máximo Pujol (b. 1957): Elegía por la muerte de untanguero (Elegy for the Death of a Tango Player) Elegía por la muerte de un tanguero, dedicated toVictor Villadangos, is an expression of profoundadmiration for the music of Astor Piazzolla, homage tothe bandoneon player and composer born in 1921. As acreative device, Máximo Pujol uses a succession ofthree sounds extracted from Adios Nonino and usingserial techniques, inverted and mirrored, achieves asynthesis between his own musical language and that ofPiazzolla. 5 Confuseta: Confuseta (alluding to confusion)presents in the first section the use of canonic imitativecounterpoint, using the aforementioned pattern of threesounds. The second slower section continues the idea ofa cantabile melody, supported by low and elongatedsounds. 6 En Melancolía: En Melancolía (In Melancholy)suggests a rainy autumn afternoon, as seen through thewindow of an imaginary room in a Buenos Airesneighbourhood, culminating with a succession ofimpetuous and dramatic chords.7 Epílogo: Epílogo (Epilogue) applies Piazzolla’s styleto the guitar, with knowledge of the instrument’s realpotential. It takes again the idea of the threeinspirational sounds from Adios Nonino, alternating thetempi. Various rhythmic effects (golpes or strikes,chasquidos or cracks, and so on) are used, until thecoda, where Piazolla’s La muerte de un angel(Death of an Angel) is cited, culminating in an explosiveBartókian pizzicato.

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Marcelo Coronel

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Marcelo Coronel

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This second recording in the series (Volume 1 is available on 8.555058) brings together pieces writtenfor the guitar by some of the most eminent contemporary composers of Argentina. The huge diversityof popular songs and rhythms still extant can be heard, for example, in the special strikes and cracks in Pujol’s homage to Piazzolla, Elegy for the Death of a Tango Player, Ferrer’s adaptation of the Gato(cat) dance, the “criollo waltz rhythm” of Moscardini’s Doña Carmen and Natali’s evocation of the artof serving the traditional herbal drink, mate.

Recorded at St John Chrysostom Church, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, from 6th to 9th August, 2004Producers: Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver • Engineer and Editing: Norbert Kraft

Booklet Notes: Diego Orellana and Marcelo Coronel • Guitar by Mateo Crespi (Buenos Aires, Argentina)Cover Painting: Blue River by David Utz (by kind permission)

GUITAR MUSIC OF ARGENTINA • 2DDD

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Playing Time66:39

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Quique Sinesi (b. 1960):1 Sonidos de aquel día

(Sounds from that Day) 3:542 Contramarea

(Opposing Tide) 4:263 Cielo abierto (Open Sky) 5:35

Carlos Moscardini (b. 1959): 4 Doña Carmen (Vals Criollo) 3:22

Diego Máximo Pujol (b. 1957):Elegía por la muerte de un tanguero 9:49

5 I Confuseta (In Confusion) 3:016 II En melancolía

(In Melancholy) 3:387 II Epílogo (Epilogue) 3:10

Sergio Natali (b. 1964): 8 Mate dulce (Sweet Maté) 4:059 Mate caliente (Hot Maté) 2:19

Victor Villadangos (b. 1958): 0 Hora libre (Free Hour) 1:49! Tucututá 2:59

@ Pepe Ferrer (b. 1958):El Felipe (Gato) 1:45Marcelo Coronel (b. 1962):Imaginario popular Argentino (Popular Argentine Legends) 9:06

# I Pachamama 2:23$ II Salamanca 2:26% IIICoquena 2:11^ V Velando al angelito 2:07

Julio Santillán (b. 1974):& Estudio No. 4 ‘Mal ando’

(Badly Off) 2:33Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000): Sonata No. 3 14:56

* I Allegro preciso e ritmico 7:16( II Adagio 3:48) III Allegro 3:52

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Victor Villadangos, Guitar

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guitar music of argentina

Documents

theatres of buenos aires

little coffin

popular music

conservatorio manuel

vctor villadangos

little angel

professor of guitar

traditionalargentinian