Viva España
Program notes, Oct. 17 & 18, 2009
by Horace Work
Malcolm Arnold (1921-2006)
Prelude, Siciliano, and Rondo (1979)
Arnold was an English composer and trumpeter. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London. In 1941, at the age of 20, he won the Cobett prize in composition. He composed works for an number of ensembles, including orchestra (nine symphonies), string symphony, 20 concertos for horn, clarinet, harmonica and solo piano, as well as chamber works, ballets, operas, and pieces for vocal and choral groups.
The term “light music” was applied to much of Arnold’s music. Light music is mainly a British musical style of orchestral music that is a less serious form of Western classical music. Usually the compositions in this style consist of shorter orchestral numbers and suites designed to appeal to a wider audience. The style is also known as “mood music” and is often grouped with the “easy listening” genre.
Arnold wrote the film score for “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” which won the Academy Award in 1957. In all, he composed 62 feature film scores.
The Prelude, Siciliano and Rondo, written originally for all-brass band, was arranged by John Paynter for brass plus wind ensemble. All three movements, written in short, clear five-part song forms, show Arnold’s interest in folk songs and dances.
The Prelude begins in a fanfare style and evolves into a quiet cantabile ending. The Siciliano is a Sicilian dance using solo instruments to carry the melody, as brass and woodwinds provide contrasting textures. The Rondo in rollicking style explodes with the prominent theme that reappears again and again alternating with contrasting themes.
Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)
La oración del torero (Prayer of the bullfighter, 1925)
A fine pianist who studied in Paris under the great pedagogue Moszkowski, Turina was influenced by Vincent D’Indy, de Falla, Debussy, Ravel and Dukas. After his stay in France from 1905 to 1914, he returned to Madrid and became known as one of the most representative figures of the Spanish nationalist school. The sound of his music clearly shows its connection with French impressionism (Debussy and Ravel) and Spanish rhythms and scales.
At 4 years of age, Turina was given an accordion and surprised everyone by quickly learning to play the instrument with great facility. At 12 he began the study of theory, harmony and counterpoint, and soon after, composed his first pieces.
Striking contrasts of moods and colors mark La Oracion del Torero. After a quiet opening, impulsive rhythms and impetuous moods drive an expansive melody forward. A powerful climax at fortissimo (or fff) is followed by the return of opening ideas, and finally the principal melody is heard at the pianissimo (or ppp) conclusion.
Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra (1940)
Rodrigo, one of the most significant of all Spanish composers, stands alongside his famous Spanish predecessors Albeniz, de Falla, Granados and Turina. Though blind from age 3, he studied composition with F. Antioch in Valencia, won the prestigious National Prize at 23 for Cinco Piezas Infantiles for orchestra, and began study with Paul Dukas in Paris in 1927.
At age 8, Rodrigo began studies in solfege ( a system of musical notation using the syllables do, re, mi, etc. rather than A, B, C), piano and violin, and at 16, harmony and composition. He wrote his pieces in Braille, dictating them later to a copyist.
In 1933 he married the Turkish pianist Victoria Kahmin, who became his close companion and collaborator in all aspects of his work as a composer for the next 64 years. She died in 1997, two years before Rodrigo.
One of Rodrigo’s definitive achievements during his long life was giving dignity and universality to the Spanish guitar as a concert instrument.
The Concierto de Aranjuez is in standard form; three movements in tempos fast-slow-fast.
The slow middle movement contrasts both by its slower tempo and its character, which is somewhat sad next to the upbeat, ebullient outer movements. The rhythms of the middle movement are also different, employing long held notes for much of the time and quick turns or ornaments near the end, while maintaining a somber mood.
Javier de los Santos
 Javier de los Santos holds a master’s degree in guitar performance from the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music, and a bachelor’s degree in guitar performance from Mesa State College in Grand Junction. He lives in Grand Junction, where he teaches private lessons and performs regularly.
Mr. de los Santos was born in the United States to Mexican parents, and grew up in Jerez in the Mexican state of Zacatecas. At age 15 he took up the guitar, and began his formal music studies in guitar at age 20 under Francisco Javier Muro Guevara at the Unidad Academica de Música of the Universidad Autonoma de Zacatecas.
During the three years of guitar study in Zacatecas, he performed at the solo final concert every semester and in concerts with the academy’s guitar ensemble under the direction of Daniel Escoto Villalobos. The ensemble performed in Fresnillo, Jerez and Zacatecas.
In 2002, Mr. de los Santos came to Grand Junction to continue his undergraduate studies in guitar and music, earning his bachelor’s degree in 2006. He was a recipient of the Helen Krey Scholarship. At Mesa he performed with the chamber orchestra, concert choir and mariachi ensemble, and accompanied students and faculty in concerts.
He went on to study guitar performance at the University of Denver under Maestro Ricardo Iznaola. He attended on a dean’s scholarship and the Spulecki Scholarship, and held a graduate teaching assistant position. He performed every quarter in guitar ensemble concerts, playing in guitar duos and quartets and accompanying vocal students for their recitals.
Mr. de los Santos took first place in the 2009 Denver Classical Guitar Society Debut Competition, and will make his formal debut in the society’s February 2010 concert.
Performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez is the fulfilment of a dream Mr. de los Santos has held since his start as a student of classical guitar.
“It is such beautiful music, with a Spanish flavor and a classical flavor. So many things happen in this piece,” Mr. de los Santos said. “It’s a difficult piece – a real test for any guitarist with a lot of challenging passages.”
Mr. de los Santos began practicing the concerto while at the University of Denver. He was several months into work on the piece before learning his teacher’s close connection to the concerto’s composer. His teacher, Ricardo Iznaola, had studied guitar under Regino Sainz de la Maza, who performed the debut performances of Concierto de Aranjuez in November 1940 in Barcelona and Madrid.
Symphony in the Valley Conductor Carlos Elias said, “It’s almost a straight line from Rodrigo to Javier de los Santos. That makes it very special for us to have this soloist performing with the orchestra.”
Mr. de los Santos will also be performing the concerto with the Mesa State College Orchestra on Oct. 22, under the baton of Carlos Elias, and with the Niwot Timberline Symphony Orchestra in November.
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