Topic: Your Favorite Latin American Composer?

[canninator]

Revueltas on the list then probably Agustin Barrios and Leo Brouwer off it.

[Lethevich]

Hmm, Nancarrow was Latin American only in sense similar to Roman Polanski being Swiss ; )

Hehe, I figure - what could be more Latin American: being born there and remaining, or liking the place enough to move there

[Sid]

What about living Latin American composers? (As some guy suggests) There must be plenty of them. I just went to a recital a few months back here in Sydney where the octet version of Daniel Rojas' Danzas Amorosas was premiered. A brilliant piece of music fusing the tone cluster with native rhythms. He's Chilean but currently living and teaching here in Australia.

I don't really care for comparing the ones listed. It's like apples & oranges. All of these guys wrote in differing styles, from Romanticism through to Neo-classicism (the various Modernisms) and serialism/pantonality. Anyway, I think that there's been a whole lot of newer stuff coming out of that region in the past 10-20 years, especially now that these countries are no longer eclipsed by military dictatorships as they once were. So I think that the book is still very much open, there are many directions in music coming out of the region, in many styles...

[snyprrr]

I really really like the Mexicans. The whiff of hallucination is always in the air.

I've had that Arditti disc of Julio Estrada for what, ten years now? It is some of the most consistently trippy stuff out there. And I just ordered the Arditti disc "Mexico", after listening to the snippets for way to long. I hear the wood, and the dirt, and the sky, and the rocks, in these Composers. The Mexican terrain is very intering that way.

Brazil is totally different. Noctice how Milhaud's music sounds so much like V-L. There is a definite Brazilian sound,... Elis Regina, ahhhh!!



All these Composer's, I think, injected sooooo much freshness into Western Art Music (WAM).

Roberto Sierra,..is he Spanish, or,...??

[jimmosk]

As the first person to choose Chavez in the poll, I feel obligated to say a little something in support of him. I'm impressed by the variety of styles he's written good pieces in, from the Coplandisms of the Sinfonia India (Symphony #2) to the bitonal Horsepower ballet to the warm Mitteleuropean Sarabande for Strings to the amazing Energia, which is like a happy-go-lucky version of Webern!
I'm now discovering his chamber music, which include several quite complex pieces. (Obligatory disclaimer: I happen to be running an eBay auction for a disc of his chamber music at the moment).

More than the other three composers in the poll, I find Chavez to have the broadest range of styles. Let's have more votes from the Chavezphiles!

-J

[Lethevich]

Jimmosk - thanks for advocating Chávez. I must admit, I know nothing of his music beyond his symphony cycle and a handfull of other pieces. Looks like yet another composer I need to look into

[snyprrr]

As the first person to choose Chavez in the poll, I feel obligated to say a little something in support of him. I'm impressed by the variety of styles he's written good pieces in, from the Coplandisms of the Sinfonia India (Symphony #2) to the bitonal Horsepower ballet to the warm Mitteleuropean Sarabande for Strings to the amazing Energia, which is like a happy-go-lucky version of Webern!
I'm now discovering his chamber music, which include several quite complex pieces. (Obligatory disclaimer: I happen to be running an eBay auction for a disc of his chamber music at the moment).

More than the other three composers in the poll, I find Chavez to have the broadest range of styles. Let's have more votes from the Chavezphiles!

-J

That Dorian Chamber Music cd has been with me the whole time, but that Southwest Chamber series is great too. There's a lot of variety in those 4 cds, and his Songs are some of his most experimental music.

I have to admit though, that I was super disappointed in his SQs (available). This is the most conservative side of Chavaez, and it's pretty normal, his big SQ sounding like a very very polite Hindemith. eh.

Hmmm, I guess, compared with V-L's output, Chavez's seems almost quaint. I think we have enough available to make an honest assessment.



I personally like how Chavez looks different in each portrait on those chamber discs!

[Guido]

As the first person to choose Chavez in the poll, I feel obligated to say a little something in support of him. I'm impressed by the variety of styles he's written good pieces in, from the Coplandisms of the Sinfonia India (Symphony #2) to the bitonal Horsepower ballet to the warm Mitteleuropean Sarabande for Strings to the amazing Energia, which is like a happy-go-lucky version of Webern!
I'm now discovering his chamber music, which include several quite complex pieces. (Obligatory disclaimer: I happen to be running an eBay auction for a disc of his chamber music at the moment).

More than the other three composers in the poll, I find Chavez to have the broadest range of styles. Let's have more votes from the Chavezphiles!

-J

It's all rather shalllow stuff though - ? Nice on the ear but little substance behind it? That's been my overarching impression...

[bwv 1080]

Piazzolla or Ginastera or Ponce

Roberto Sierra is from Puerto Rico

[karlhenning]

My favorite Latin American composer is Sibelius.

[karlhenning]

(Sorry; I just had to make a perfectly nonsensical post.  Back to your regularly scheduled chat.)

[Teresa]

My favorite Latin American composer is Sibelius.

My favorite Latin American composition by a non-Latin American composer is by Morton Gould.  I first purchased his Latin American Symphonette as performed by Maurice Abravanel conducting the Utah Symphony on a Barclay-Crocker Reel to Reel tape back in the 1970's.  It has been one of my favorite compositions since then.  Having also owned the Analogue Productions LP version and the Vanguard SACD.    

[Lethevich]

Piazzolla or Ginastera or Ponce

Roberto Sierra is from Puerto Rico

Welcome back, yo.

[bwv 1080]

Welcome back, yo.

thanks

[snyprrr]

I just got the Arditti disc "Mexico", and,....mm,...let me tell ya, there is not a trace of LatinAmerica on this cd, haha! The cd could just as well have been called "Brooklyn", haha! But,...I like it!

You will comply with Modernist Ideals and sound Internationalist.
You will comply with Modernist Ideals and...

You WILL comply!

[some guy]

Nationalism was never a good idea.

Besides, what about the sounds on this disc is NOT Latin American? Maybe you're defining "Latin American" too narrowly, eh? (What IS "the Latin American sound"? Some people on this thread, including Mirror, have been at some pains to point out how different the four names on his list are from each other. Different, not similar.)

[Bulldog]

I just got the Arditti disc "Mexico", and,....mm,...let me tell ya, there is not a trace of LatinAmerica on this cd, haha! The cd could just as well have been called "Brooklyn", haha! But,...I like it!

All Mexican composers, so the title is appropriate.

[jhar26]

Villa-Lobos. I love his music and I have heard more of it than from any of the others, so it's almost inevitable that I vote for him.

[some guy]

Villa-Lobos. I love his music and I have heard more of it than from any of the others, so it's almost inevitable that I vote for him.

Hahaha. In a nutshell.

(Actually, that should be "In a nutshell."

[jhar26]

Hahaha. In a nutshell.

(Actually, that should be "In a nutshell."

Well, at least I'm honest about it.