V CONGRESSO IBEROAMERICANO

Lliria (Valencia, Spain) 13 – 17 July

Sadly we were too busy rehearsing for and competing in the Certamen in Valencia to attend anything more than the concert by the wonderful Centro Instructivo Musical la Armonica de Bunol on 16th July.

Their programme was as follows:

20:30 pm - Theatre Liria Primitive Band -

Musical Concert Instructional Center Buñol Harmonica

PROGRAM

Portuguese Folk Songs Carlos Marecos PREMIERE

(2 songs: Maria - Pedrinha)

Downey Overture Oscar Navarro

Oedipus's Dream (Prelude) Santiago Miguel Alarcon PREMIERE

"Links" Nelly Beatriz Gomez PREMIERE

Tertium Quid Jesus Santandreu

Lament Francisco Tamarit Fayos PREMIERE

Ritual Victoriano Valencia PREMIERE

From games Suite - Suite No. 5 for band

Angelita Luis Serrano Alarcon

Director : Frank De Vuyst

I must confess to being a little disappointed with most of the programme, with several works unsure in stylistic direction, with contemporary gestures which for me did not add up to a coherent musical language. The fault may well be mine, and it would be good to hear some of these pieces again. I very much enjoyed Angelita by one of our most distinguished composers writing for band today, Luis Serrano Alarcon, a paso doble in memory of his grandmother, and I found Ritual by Victoriano Valencia Rincon had interest, but the two works which I most enjoyed can be heard and seen on the web. Oscar Navarro is a young Valencian composer who has recently studied in California on the famous film music course at Los Angeles. His Downey Overture is very good fun, in the genre of Bernstein’s Candide, Gorb’s Awayday or Hesketh’s Masque, highly recommended. Lament by Francisco Tamarit Favos is meatier, certainly the work in this programme which showed the most technique and emotion.

DOWNEY OVERTURE Oscar Navarro

Agrupación Musical "Los Silos" de Burjassot (Valencia,Spain)

"Palau de la Música in Valencia" January 27th, 2013
Oscar Navarro, Conductor

LAMENT Francisco Tamarit Favos

Performance by the Koninklijke Harmonie van Thorn

DOWNEY OVERTURE Oscar Navarro

Downey Overture

Dedicated with all my love for "Downey Symphony Orchestra" for their effort and dedication, and of course, its director Sharon Lavery for their professionalism and passion for music.
Downey Overture is an American-Latin fusion with which I wanted to put a link between my native Spain, and California, a land that after my time there for two years has left an indelible mark on my heart.
An amalgam of rhythms and colors wrapped in a dance are the essence of this overture, cheerful, energetic and written with all the enthusiasm and dedication you deserve the "Downey Symphony Orchestra"

Oscar Navarro

Born in the town of Novelda (Alicante), where he began his musical studies in order to receive a Special Award for Honorable Mention degree in elementary and special award with Honours in the Higher end of their studies in the Conservatory "Oscar Esplá "Alicante. Later he studied composition and conducting at the "International Allegro Music Academy" in Valencia with which it was his main teacher and friend Ferran Ferrer, becoming subsequently selected by the prestigious "University of Southern California" USC (Los Angeles) for the specialization in Composition for Film and TV.

Nowadays, Oscar Navarro has numerous national and international awards and music composition is played and performed in major concert halls around the world For the upcoming 2013-2014 season, Oscar Navarro forms part of the "TANGLEWOOD MUSIC FESTIVAL" as guest composer, where he will perform his latest work "DOWNEY OVERTURE" and perform the U.S. premiere of his "CONCERTO II" for Clarinet with "THE CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA (Ohio, USA) "under the direction of Robert Proco as principal clarinet Franklin Cohen (Soloist of" The Cleveland Orchestra

LAMENT Francisco Tamarit Favos

This work was composed by order of "The Joop Schreurs Foundation" as a tribute to a great musician flutist (Joop Schreurs) died at age 23. This musician belonged to the band "De Koninklijke Harmonie" Thorn (Netherlands), of which his father is also a musician (bass saxophone). Despite not having any interruption, the work is divided into three different parts, but joined together.

Scheduled in the programme as a premiere, I was surprised and delighted to find a video on the web, made in 2012. I felt that this was one of the stronger pieces of the concert, technically very assured, and full of interest.

PART 1: Formally the first part of the work might be described as a TOCCATA. The melodic and harmonic language is extracted from an atonal SYNTHETIC MODE. The CELL A (tritone and 7th), is the generator of this 1st part.
After the Introduction, repeated as a CANON, appears a brilliant passage by the soprano saxophone, repeated by the alto and then imitated canonically by the SOPRANO .


From bar 86, appears an ostinato that accompanies various imitations of the cell A. A very bright passage of calls of trumpets and horns, brings us back to another ostinato accompanying other imitative interventions on cell A (bar 132).

PART 2 is connected with a ritardando of a pedal that leads to Adagio. This passage introduces the low BACH Cell, which will be very important in the 3rd Part. This part represents an "apparition" of Joop (PICCOLO).These occurrences are separated by a Doric mode CHORAL melody and harmonized with very simple chords. This is accomplished choral sometimes simply and other canonical form.


A dialogue occurs between Piccolo (JOOP) and Saxo low (HIS FATHER). This dialogue is accompanied by a Gregorian melody protus mode on the "release me Domine de Morte Aeterna" sung by all the musicians of the band.


This dialogue begins with a plaintive and sad character in both actors (descending melodic patterns), but from bar 200, Joop takes a more cheerful and hopeful character, which is eventually conveyed to his father. The "apparition" ends with a parallel chords that lead us back to the Choral, metals first, then wood and finally with a three-part canon.


3rd Part: After strong introduction and heartbreaking sounds, with a Subject, whose head is the cell BACH, compass response 264, Subject in the 261, 278 and Response in the subject at 285.

A free divertimento CANON leads to five irregular entries. Accompanying this Canon Cell A also appears in canonical form. In measure 333 (Allegro), a dance serves as a rhythmic support with a Subject whose head is the cell A (bar 336). This has four inputs and Response Subject alternating. From the 3rd entry, appears accompanying the Cell BACH Fuga also as imitative.

At this time (364 bar), the real star is the timpani, whose sound should extend to the entire band.

This 3rd party ends with a passage in which each musician plays the whatever notes he/she wants, with some limitations indicated in the score (of course, each performance will be different from others). From this chaotic sounds, the CHORAL reappears , and a few chords end the Work.

Francisco TAMARIT FAYOS was born in RIOLA (Valencia) in 1941 and studied Composition and Conducting. He also has a DOCTORATE in Music from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. He is a retired professor and Head of the Department of Composition, Conducting and Singing at the Conservatory of Music of Valencia.
As a composer, his production includes symphonic works for orchestra, band, organ, piano, chorus and chamber music for various instruments. He has received numerous awards from national and international competitions, among them the award RICARDO VILLA de Madrid (1986) and ALBERT RODRIGUEZ Alicante (1999). Several of his works for band have been classic in the international competition in Valencia, the County Council and the global competition Kerkrade (Netherlands). Other works have been commissioned by various agencies both Valencian, as foreign bodies. He has been principal conductor of bands Riola, Algemesí, Harmonica de Buñol, Carcagente carcagentina Lira, Lira Cheste, Santa Cecilia in Elda and musical Ateneo Cullera, with which he has won awards in competitions and national and international competitions, among which are the 1st. Special Section Award to the International Contest "City of Valencia" (1980), and 1st. Wereldmuziekconcours Award Kerkrade (Netherlands) in 1981 (with the Band Harmonica Buñol) and Spanish TV national competition "New people" with the Band of Cheste.