UPCOMING CONCERTS & EVENTS

DEBUSSY, POULENC, E. GAMBOA, and E. ANGULO - OFJ
Segunda Temporada 2021 Program 5
DEBUSSY, POULENC, E. GAMBOA, and E. ANGULO
Thursday, July 15, 2021
20:30 hrs. Teatro Degollado
Sunday, July 18, 2021
12:30 hrs. Teatro Degollado
EVENT DESCRIPTION

Program 5

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Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco
Jesús Medina, Music Director 

Danse (also known as Tarantelle Styrienne) | DEBUSSY
Sinfonietta | POULENC
Jarabe | E. GAMBOA
Suite Mexicana | E. ANGULO

SYNOPSIS:  Click on "View event details". 

 

Program 5, Second Orchestra Season 2021

Synopsis

All of the works to be performed on this concert were originally inspired by dance.

 

Composer Claude Aquiles DEBUSSY (1862-1918), considered the creator of the “impressionist” movement in music (although he himself categorically rejected the term), won the “Prix de Rome” in 1884 for his cantata  L Enfant Prodigue.  The prize included a stay at the Villa Médici, home of the French Academy in Rome, where the winner was encouraged to broaden and deepen his knowledge.  Debussy remained at the Villa Médici from January, 1885 until March, 1887, and there he wrote the original version of Tarantelle styrienne for piano solo, changing the name to Danse in a new, modified edition in 1903.1,2

Ever since his student days, Ravel had admired Debussy, whom he regarded as a role model; however, each of the two composers developed his own personal and independent style.

Maurice Ravel excelled not only as a composer but also as an orchestrator of other composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov and Chabrier; in fact, some versions of “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky owe their fame to Ravel’s orchestrations.

After Debussy passed away in 1918, editor Jean Jobert commissioned Ravel for an orchestral version of Danse as an homage to the late composer.2  This, of course, is the version we will hear in our Fifth Program.  The work was premiered in 1923 by Paul Paray and the Lamoreaux8 Orchestra in the Salle Gaveau in Paris.

Danse is a robust, colorful piece, permeated by images from the commedia dell arte.  

 

French composer Francis POULENC published his first work at the age of 18 (Rapsodie nègre -1917- for baritone soloist and chamber orchestra) and it caught the eye of Igor Stravinsky, who—along with jazzy dance hall music—became an important musical influence on the work of Francis Poulenc (It is said that Ravel told Poulenc than he envied the latter’s ability to “write his own pop tunes”).

In 1920, music critic Henri Collet coined the sobriquet “Les Six” to designate a group of six avant-garde composers that included Poulenc, Darius Milhaud, Arthur Honneger, Georges Auric, Germaine Tailleferre, and Louis Durey.  Even though these composers denied that they had a common musical style or objective, there were more similarities than differences.  For the most part, their musical writing was clear, lively, and entertaining.

Sinfonietta, the only symphonic work by Poulenc, was written in 1947 in response to a commission from the BBC, and it premiered in London the following year.  The music is of a light—at times satirical—character, overflowing with popular-sounding themes and dance rhythms.  The piece has four movements: Allegro con fuoco, Molto vivace, Andante cantabile, Très vite et très gai.3 

 

Our dance-inspired program continues with the Jarabe by composer Eduardo GAMBOA.

The works of Eduardo GAMBOA (1960--), a Mexican national born in Cuba to Mexican parents, “include concert music—both chamber and symphonic—as well as an extensive catalogue of music for film, theatre, and television.  He has devoted himself completely to composition since 1985.”4

“Ever since childhood he has alternated between piano lessons and learning the popular and folk music of Mexico and Latin America, and he has also always been fascinated by jazz and Cuban music.”5

His Jarabe is a symphonic work that exhibits clear influences from Mexican folk dance and lasts approximately six minutes.  Noteworthy are two solos by the concertmaster in “mariachi” style, interpreted on this occasion by Concertmistress Angélica Olivo.

 

The Suite Mexicana by Eduardo ANGULO (1954--), consists of five short movements that emulate dances from different regions in Mexico.

  1. Jarabe Colimeño                                                    
  2. Serenata                                                                 
  3. Huapango Criollo                                                 
  4. Vals                                                                         
  5. Polka                     

 

Angulo, born in Puebla and a cum laude graduate of the Mexican National Conservatory, also “…received a fellowship from the government of the Netherlands to continue his studies in the Royal Conservatory of the Hague, obtaining the Award for Excellence two years later, in 1975.”6

In an interview given on the 27th of January this year, Eduardo Angulo shares his inspirations for the Suite Mexicana:

“It is a work commissioned by my publisher in Germany…who begged me to write something in the spirit of Mexican folklore.  The idea was that it should be between three and five movements, relatively short or very short movements, that could each stand alone and not necessarily be performed as a suite.  So I included a couple of Mexican songs to arrive at a total duration of ten to fifteen minutes.  But there was also another aspect to consider: the technical difficulty—that it should be of intermediate or even lower level, [my publisher] perhaps foreseeing a crisis that was coming, with Germany or Europe in a tight situation with depressed sales of published books.  There are many people who enjoy playing an instrument and buying sheet music is an option for entertainment and good times with a group of companions.

So…I had to study.  I was unfamiliar with folklore.  Needless to say…I fell in love with Mexican folklore, so florid, so varied, so vast.  Each region has its own very particular music, with a mysticism and a variety that I adore. From that suite forward, Mexican folklore plays a big role [in my music].  I became known all over the world because of this work.  They go to Germany to look for scores: from France, from the United Kingdom, the United States.  What I had to leave out would be about 95% because it is too vast, and I couldn’t make it longer than ten or fifteen minutes.”7

 

References: 1https://www.hornweb.ch/en/piece/danse-tarantelle-styrienne; 2https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy3https://musicaenmexico.com.mx/sinfonietta-francis-poulenc-1899-1963/

4https://www.fonotecanacional.gob.mx/index.php/noticias/2026-sesion-de-escucha-eduardo-gamboa-de-la-musica-de-concierto-a-las-bandas-sonoras-para-cine

5https://musicaenmexico.com.mx/musica-mexicana/arturo-salinas-eduardo-gamboa/

6https://www.historiadelasinfonia.es/naciones/la-sinfonia-en-mexico/angulo/

7https://yucatancultura.com/eduardo-angulo-musica-mexicana/

8https://www.sfsymphony.org/Data/Event-Data/Program-Notes/D/Debussy-(orch-by-Ravel)-Sarabande-and-Danse

 

 

 

 

 

 


Thursday, July 15th, 8:30 PM
Sunday, July 18th, 12:30 PM

Second Orchestra Season 2021, Teatro Degollado 

*Tickets range from $90 to $250 pesos, available at the Teatro Degollado box office and through the Ticketmaster system.