8/10–Music of de Falla and Pärt

Arvo Pärt was born in Estonia just about 75 years ago; his 75th birthday will be this coming September 11. After conservatory training in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, and a position with Estonian Radio, he emigrated to central Europe and has lived in both Vienna and Berlin. As a young composer, he first embraced and then rejected the atonal and 12-tone processes of Arnold Schoenberg, finding his own voice instead through sounds that are simple and contemplative. A man of deep religious faith, he is known for his sacred choral compositions, for the moving instrumental piece called “Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten,” and perhaps especially for “Fratres,” which originated in 1977 as a work for five string and five wind players, and has since been arranged for a wide variety of instrumental combinations, including string orchestra, string quartet, wind ensemble, and solo violin with string orchestra.

The version we hear tonight is for four cellos. Brant Taylor, one of our cellists, tells us that this cello version was crafted in 1982, and can be performed either with one player on each of the four parts, the way we’ll hear it this evening, or with two or more players “doubling” or “tripling” each part. The main melody resembles that of a hymn and is supported by chord sequences, which are punctuated by a recurring motive that sounds percussive (several arrangements of “Fratres” involve percussion instruments). The chord sequences move downward in pitch each time they’re repeated. Given the nature of the theme, and the title “Fratres” – Brothers – many listeners have envisioned a brotherhood of monks walking toward their church in a slow procession.

During the late 19th century and the early part of the 20th, composers throughout Europe began to assert their individuality by reconnecting to the music of their native countries. In Hungary, Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály used the earliest primitive recording techniques to document folksongs that would become part of their later concert works. Ralph Vaughan Williams undertook similar folkloric research in England. A notable development in this movement toward musical nationalism took place in Spain, with three famous composers in particular using their country’s artistic resources to create music with a truly Spanish voice: Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados, and Manuel de Falla (1876-1946).

Falla spent several years studying and working in Paris, growing his style through contact with Claude Debussy and other leading musicians of the early 20th century. It was in Paris that he wrote his cycle of “Seven Popular Spanish Songs,” but the set was premiered not in France but in Madrid, Spain, in 1914. Originally scored for voice and piano, it is also sometimes performed by a singer and a guitarist; tonight we’ll hear the sonority of a Spanish guitar transferred to another string medium, a quartet of cellos.

The songs draw on the traditions of several different regions of Spain. “El Paño Moruno” (The Moorish Cloth) and “Seguidilla Murciana” (Murcian Dance) are both from the province of Murcia. “Asturiana” is a lament from one of Spain’s northern provinces. “Jota” is a song-and-dance rhythm from the province of Aragon; “Nana” is a lullaby from the region of Andalusia. “Canción” (Song) has an especially rhythmic accompaniment that propels the vocal line’s intensity. The cycle ends with “Polo,” evoking Spain’s gypsy-inspired flamenco sounds.

program notes by Andrea Lamoreaux