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- Gabriela Lena Frank
Cuentos Errantes: Four New Folk Songs (2015)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Programme Note
Movements:
I. Harawi de Charanguista Ciego
II. Kachampa Picante
III. Serenata Serrana
IV. Huayno
Composer note:
Cuentos Errantes (Wandering Stories): Four New Folk Songs, for piano and strings, draws on the utopian concept of mestizaje as envisioned by the Peruvian writer, José María Arguedas (1911-1969), in which cultures can co-exist without one subjugating another. As a mixed race American-born mestiza, I’ve long been enamored with the poetry, music, and cuisine of my mother’s beautiful homeland of Perú, and explore them in my compositions. My latest foray, Cuentos, consists of four movements:
I. Harawi de Charanguista Ciego (Harawi of the Blind Charanguista): The blind charango players of Perú are famous and beloved. Wizened and with broken voices, these revered elders of the small charango guitar (often constructed using an armadillo shell) convey tremendous emotion, both plaintive and stately. Here, I imagine a charanguista accompanying himself with strummed tremolos and repeated notes while singing an harawi, a love song with Incan roots that is melancholy and minimally accompanied, if at all. The piano is largely soloistic while the strings introduce and conclude the movement in a style reminiscent of the bass toyos panpipes.
II. Kachampa Picante (Spicy Kachampa): My rendition of a traditional battle dance, nimbly executed for tourists and natives alike. Rhythmic and lively, kachampas nowadays exhibit a bit of mischievous wit in addition to the expected moves designed to show off the dancers’ excellent physical conditioning.
III. Serenata Serrana (Mountain Serenade): Both lyrical and fluttery in nature, this serenade’s melodies are accompanied almost exclusively by strummed strings.
IV. Huayno Silbando (Whistling Huayno): A song form of the larger Andean region including Ecuador and Bolivia, simple harmonies and a recognizable karnavalito rhythm persist throughout.
Cuentos Errantes is lovingly dedicated to Edward Orth Doughtie (1935-2014), my residential college master in the early years of my musical training at Rice University in Houston, Texas. A life-long lover of classical music and a wonderful amateur violist, Ed was the first person in my emerging professional life to encourage me to explore my heritage in music. He shall be missed.
—Gabriela Lena Frank