Cántico II: A la memoria de Antonio Mairena (2018)

 

Cántico II follows up the first piece of my cycle dedicated to flamenco singing, being the result of a research about how microtones, rhythm and timbre of flamenco voice work in a completely different environment. When I knew I had to write for four trombones, I instantly associated such instrument with flamenco singing, since the trombone is able to easily play microtonal music and its timbre can be really versatile with the use of both mutes and live electronics. Understanding flamenco as a «music that needs to be watched», I decided to add the video media component to the piece, showing a video of Antonio Mairena singing a toná in his frague with his brother, representing the ritualistic element of this cante, an idea that contains a strong theatrical elements such as the anvil, the fire, the rock, etc.

The electronics are based on pre-recorded tracks of the trombones themselves, which allows the expansion of the sound provinding it with more power. The choice of the tempo is based on the proportional transcription of the cantes; so, when a flamenco line appears, the tempo is ♩=60, to measure in seconds.

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This work is also a tribute to Antonio Mairena, one of the most outstanding and influent personalities of flamenco history. 

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This piece was premiered on June 27th, 2018 at Batavierhuis (Rotterdam), performed by Juanvi Climent, Dávid Parádi, Frankie Ko and Reinaldo Donoso. Video assistant: Ruben Kotkamp.