According to composer Javier Alvarez, the title of his piece for maracas and tape, Temazcal (1984) "stems from the Nahuatl (ancient Aztec) word literally meaning 'water that burns'. The maraca material is drawn from traditional rhythmic patterns found in most Latin American musics, namely those from the Caribbean region, southeastern Mexico, Cuba, Central America and the flatlands of Colombia and Venezuela. In these musics in general, the maracas are used in a purely accompanimental manner as a part of small instrumental ensembles. The only exception is, perhaps, that of the Venezuelan flatlands, where the role of the maracas surpasses that of mere cadence and accenet punctuation to become a soloistic instrument in its own right. It was from this instance that I imagined a piece where the player would have to master short patterns and combine them with great virtuosity to construct larger and complex rhythmic structures which could then be juxtaposed, superimposed and set against similar passages on tape, thus creating a dense polyrhythmic web. This would eventually disintegrate clearing the way for a traditional accompanimental style of playing in a sound world reminiscent of the maracas’ more usual environment. The sound sources on tape include harp, a folk guitar and double bass pizzicatti for the tape’s attacks, the transformation of bamboo rods being struck together for the rhythmic passages and rattling sounds created with the maracas themselves for other gestures." Watch a performance of Alvarez's "Temazcal" by Brad Meyer . . . one of this week's FEATURED NEW MUSIC VIDEOS.

The music of Ástor Piazzolla epitomizes our situation in the modern world, with his fusion of folkloric beauty and contemporary tension. He forged a new music that challenged the traditionalist, and left the adventurous craving more. He took the music of the great tango masters like Garde, ripped it away from the velvet-walled concert hall and the soft-cushion drawing room, and slapped it down on the pavement of Buenos Aires. Reviled by the critics, shunned even by the conservative government, his music spoke to the next generation, and popular performers, jazz musicians and listeners all over the world eventually fell under the spell of his Nuevo Tango. Hear Piazzolla talk about his life and his music with Charles Amirkhanian . . . it's this week's COMPOSER PORTRAIT.

Elena Ruehr has been called a "composer to watch" by Opera News, and her music has been described as "stunning ... beautifully lighted by a canny instinct for knowing when and how to vary key, timbre, and harmony" (The Boston Globe). She has had commissions, awards and residencies with leading ensembles and presenters across the country including the Shanghai, Borromeo and Cypress Quartets, the Washington Chorus, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Boston, the Metamorphosen Chamber Ensemble, the Rockport Chamber Music Festival and the Cincinnatti Symphony. Recently, she has written two string quartets for the Cypress String Quartet - her String Quartet No. 4 (2005) was called by The Washington Post "music with heart and ... a forceful sense of character and expression." A natural collaborator across genres, Ruehr has also worked with the Nicola Hawkins Dance Company on critically acclaimed performances in New York and Boston. Watch a Elena Ruehr/Rebecca Rice dance collaboration, Echoes (2004) . . . this week's DANSES PYTHEUSES.

Gerald Finzi's two works for piano and orchestra, the Eclogue (1929) and Grand Fantasia and Toccata (1928/1953), were both conceived for a piano concerto that never materialized. The Grand Fantasia and Toccata is a demanding virtuoso work inspired by Finzi's love of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. According to Michael Jameson (ClassicsToday.com) it's a piece that can be seen "as a kind of neo-Baroque refraction, more closely associated with the 20th century than the 18th." Watch a beautiful performance of the Grand Fantasia and Toccata with pianist Leon McCawley . . . this week's FROM THE PYTHEAS ARCHIVES.

Explore, Listen and Enjoy!
Vinny Fuerst
Pytheas Center for Contemporary Music