I had a great time giving a presentation of some of the work on the score to a seminar group called Sophia Cycles led by Béa Gonzalez.  The people who attended my rather wayward presentation (I blame the jet lag!) were charming and a great discussion ensued over the course of the evening.  The wine was excellent too!  So thank you everyone.

I’m off to New York today to finish up some arrangements that I need to complete and to meet with one of my professional music ‘heroes’: the ridiculously talented theatre and film orchestrator, Michael Starobin.  I’ve learned more from studying Mr. Starobin’s orchestrations than numerous books on the subject over many, many years.

The picture is the great little theatre and film bookshop in Yorkville, Toronto that I visited.

More soon.  Bye Toronto, I’ll be back.

Kevin

I have woken up early (jet lag is truly insidious) and think that I have solved the musical ‘progression’ problem for  the last song in the show.  Victor and I had another long discussion about this just before I headed off to Los Angeles.  It’s just tricky – but we’re excited by our progress to date!  I’m going to play this song at the presentation, to illustrate how the writing process is most definitely not-linear in composing a full-length Musical.  The adage, “Show me, don’t tell me” in theatrical song construction never more keenly requires to be observed in this cue.  Resolution through dramatic dénouement is singularly the most difficult ‘three-card trick’ to pull off.  I’m mindful of it in the extreme; being critical of the way in which many contemporaneous Musicals fall short in this respect, whilst acknowledging and keeping clearly foregrounded, those pieces that handle this aspect of musical narrative (as opposed to the separate but interrelated challenges in the Book/Lyrics) to a satisfying conclusion with aplomb.

Anyway, see you in Toronto, and look forward to meeting you all.

Best,

Kevin

In short, I love this CD!  It has provided all sorts of new inspiration for some of the songs yet to be written for certain characters in the Musical of The Mapmaker’s Opera.  The CD itself is 2002 release from BMG Entertainment México S.A. (IMSN: 74321 97621-2) and provides a wealth of music, mostly recorded between 1958-78.

‘Trova Yucateca’ is a musical milieu, as opposed to a musical genre.  The style shares much in common with Neapolitan Song and other forms of Italian ‘canzona’.  It uses quite distinct devices of vocal harmonies, cross-rhythms and cadential endings similar to the llamada in Flamenco song.  Beyond this similarity, however, there seems to be little relationship to Flamenco – at least from the songs included in this two CD set.

As Richard Haefer, from Arizona State University has expertly reminded me, there was no Mariachi in the Yucatán in 1909 – the period in which both the novel and the Musical is set.  This is sort of a musical quandry in many respects, as I prefer not to musically re-invent history when dealing with subject matter that is not fantasy-based.  Notwithstanding, we have infused into the musical fabric of the score certain Mariachi elements, using the similarities and disparities of these distinct musical genres to foreground; for example, the cultural differences between Diego’s Spanish heritage and the characters of the story indigenous to The Yucatán Peninsula.  This is used to some comedic effect in a song entitled ‘Men, Feo y Fuerte’.  This particualr song also makes extensive use of the Columbian, ‘Curalao Aborao’ rhythm which, interestingly, although South American in origin, is used in The Yucatán region.  The mystery of transplanted musical styles in México deepens!

There are two songs on CD 1 in which I am most interested:  the first is Track 3 – ‘Ciudad Blanco’ performed in this rendition by Pepe Guizar from a 1962 recording.  This song will be used as the template for a duet between the character of Edward Nelson (an American Ornithologist) and Sophia’s father, Roberto Duarte in Act I.  The second song is Track 6 – ‘Beso  asesino’ perfomed by Pepe Dominguez (singing both parts) which provides a rich tapestry from which to draw for a trio in Act II, featuring Aunt Marta, Gabriela and Doña Laura, entitled ‘Things a Girl Should Know’.

In both cases, the Trova Yucateca style is perfect to put across what we learn about these characters through these songs, in furthering the dramatic line in the narrative.  I am looking forward to writing them.

More soon about my forthcoming trip to Toronto!

Take care,
Kevin

I post this picture of Chris Scallan because his audio mix of the new song (yes, the much awaited, long overdue, previously promised on a number of occasions – never to materialize – mythical entity of a song) is simply amazing and wonderful!

Equally wonderful is the vocal by Sam Rabbone, who, once again; as he did on the track ‘Home Sweet Home’, has delivered a performance that perfectly captures the ‘heart and soul’ of our young protagonist, Diego Clemente.

It would be utterly remiss of me not to mention the extraordinary contributions of orchestrator, Mark Buys, who laboured tirelessly, and over many months, to perfect the instrumental backing for this rumba-flamenco tune.

So have a listen.  All you have to do is click on the Listen to audio tracks now! button to the right of this post, and that will take you to the ‘Songs’ audio page.  If you are new to the site, take a few minutes to listen to ‘Home Sweet Home’ and ‘When He Looked at Me’ as well.  This grouping of three songs make up the rumba-flamenco styled tunes in this show.

So where and when does this song take place in the show?  Well, again, the best answer to this question is to go and read the novel – and then you would know anyway!  But for those of you still to discover the beauty of the remarkable novel that is The Mapmaker’s Opera by Béa Gonzalez, the action takes place in Act II, scene iii., (beginning p. 148 in the Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, hardback edition of the novel.).  In this scene, Very Useful chides our young Spaniard for his ‘bruto’ earlier in meeting Sophia Duarte for the first time in her father’s (Roberto) bookstore in Mérida.  Diego sings: much to the inward amusement of Very Useful, of how he would rectify his “shoddy behaviour” toward the girl that has captured his heart, if only he had another opportunity.

We hope you like it?  As usual send us your feedback.  We find your responses to the work increasingly invaluable in shaping the work for the Stage.

Take care and more soon.

Kevin

Amongst a number of other discoveries; through talking with curators and librarians in various institutions and libraries across the US and in México, Diana got a recommendation to approach the Society of Ethnomusicology (SEM) and, in particular, the Latin American Caribbean (LAC) section of that professional organisation.  So this is where I enter the picture.

Having made initial contact with Jane Florine, Professor of Ethnomusicology at Chicago State University, and Chair of SEM, Prof. Florine put out a call to her LACSEM colleagues to ask whether they might assist with my enquiries.  Well…..I’m still working my way through corresponding with all the very kind replies that I received, and all of which have expanded my knowledge of music in the Yucatán Peninsula enormously.

So far thanks to Ms. Paraiso (doctorate pending), Dr. Galván and Prof. Sturman (University of Arizona).  In fact, Janet Sturman has been very kind in giving me permission to redact a small amount of information from Chapter 6 (‘Sound Formation for Independence’) from a forthcoming book she is authoring on Mexican Music, to pass along to the increasing readership of this web site.

Firstly: I was unaware that 1847 saw the beginning of The Caste War of the Yucatán (remaining unresolved until 1901).  Basically, as I understand it, this war, or revolt, coming after the wars of independence and in the early years of the new republic, faced the extreme challenge of creating a nation of out of disparate people of unequal status (Sturman, p. 65).  Whites and Mestizos exerted control of the Indians (a poorer social class) in nearly all respects, and the persisting discrimination brought  the native Maya people to rebel against those of European descent (well, you can understand their unhappiness!).  This fact is adroitly underscored in the novel, The Mapmaker’s Opera by Béa Gonzalez in the treatment of the natives being used as slave labour in the Henequen plantations.  Within the Musical adaptation, this is reflected in the song, ‘Madness’ (still incomplete).

Prof. Sturman also cites that the “Mayas adopted the European violin and dance music of the Andalusian fandango, making both their own.” (ibid., 66).  This is very useful to know, as the fandango shares an Andulusian connection, in flamenco terms, to the  malagueña, granadina, murciana, rondeña and some rhythmic similarities to accented stresses in the Siguiriya.

Lastly I am interested to learn that other instruments associated with Mayapax music include iron bells, turtle-shell percussion and harmonica!  Hmm, now where will I find a sample library of turtle-shell percussion I wonder?

More soon, I promise!

Kevin

Getting to understand the primitive folk music, and especially the oldest surviving tribal music and dances of México is important to me for this project but, alas, not easy to attain.  The Library of Congress did release an album under sponsorship of the old Inter-American Indian Institute by Henrietta Yurchenko and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature did begin a systematic collection of the many types of songs and dances, but currently I can’t find out any further information about their collections.  Regrettable, but nonetheless here are some insights gleaned so far from other sources:

Let’s begin with the Corrido.  Historically, this song form is a narrative folk-popular ballad telling of the exploits of national or local heroes, the latest crime, flood, or any other outstanding event.  Whereas the melodic phrase is repeated for each stanza, instrumental interludes of equal or varying length are common.

The Huapango, conversely, is a dance with fast and complicated steps for two people, or groups of pairs.  The cross-rhythms are important: one instrument plays in 2/4 meter, another in 3/4 meter, and a third in 6/8 meter – a pretty dazzling combination really!

[Sidebar] This is all very well, but typesetting music using commonly employed computer music programs, incorporating multi-time signature music, is not a happy place to find oneself!  It’s completely possible, but time-consuming and laborious in the extreme.

As pointed out in the previous post on this subject, composers like Manuel M. Ponce (1882-1948) and Carlos Chávez (1899-1978) both made concerted efforts to incorporate native folk-song elements; including in the case of Chávez, the use of ancient instruments in the score of Xochipili-Macuilxochitl as an evocation of the sound of a pre-Columbian orchestra.

Méxican composers such as Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940) whose untimely death was one of the great losses to music in the 20th-Century, wrote music in sharp contrast to the rigorous and stylized of Chavéz.  Reveueltas’s best-known music are the symphonic essays: Cuauhnáhuac, Colorines, Janitzio, and Ventanas, Camino y Esquinas.  Add to this his String Quart No. 2, Magueyes (how many of you know this?); the score for the film, Redes (an unknown gem); Homage to García Lorca; and the Seven Songs for voice and piano.

Later still,  composers such as Luis Sandi, Miguel Bernal Jiménez (he wrote the opera Tata Vasco), Salvador Contreras, Eduardo H. Moncada, J. Pablo Moncayo and Blas Galindo all studied under the tutelage and encouragement of Chávez.

One of the most-loved composers of popular Mexican music is Augustín Lara.  More about Sen. Lara in a forthcoming post.

So, now you have lots of music to go and find more about from these composers.  Get to it, and I’ll get back to work on MMO.  Cue 10 is recorded on Monday next.  Stay tuned!

Muchos Saludos,

Kevin

On another note: our much admired and respected Web Design Master for this  web site, Chris Stevens, has implemented a new Audio button on the top right of each page on this site, so that at any time you can just jump to a separate page and listen to the songs that we have posted.  Brilliant idea.

And so, the big news!  We are back in the studio on February 20, 2012 to record ‘Under Her Spell’ (Cue 10, Act I).  The orchestration for this song, completed by Mark Buys, is just fabulous and we’re really excited about how it is going to sound.  We will post the song within a day or two after the vocal session.  Hang tight, we know it’s been a long time coming.  All good things are worth the wait!

I’ll return to themes and ideas started on the History of Mexican Music and also the use of Aztec music instruments in MMO shortly.  Right now, I have to go back to work on Cue 30.

By the way, the image used for this post is the extraordinary Flamenco dancer, Carmen Amaya, as photographed in 1963.

Take care,

Kevin

What is fascinating about the work, beyond the incredible guitar playing, is the way in which the orchestral accompaniment has been thought through by Amargós to accompany the solo contributions by both Tomatito and his daughter, Mari Ángeles Fernández Torres (Vocals).

Ultimately the work loses ground under the inertia created by the sometimes overly dense orchestral texture – as stylish as it is on occasion – rather than setting out to simply underpin and support the musical framework outlined by the soloists.  Here, however, is the rub.  This CD is a great accomplishment, because getting an orchestra to work seamlessly with a solo guitar remains one of the monumental challenges for any composer and/or orchestrator.  I don’t think it matters whether the guitar playing is classical in style or, as it is here, flamenco-based.  There is nothing more or less complicated about adapting the compás in flamenco to an orchestral setting than there is in setting an idiomatic Jazz work within an orchestral framework.

The real problem is that we don’t have many, or nearly enough, examples of this type of work at this point of time to compare, dissect and examine.  What I do believe is that orchestrating in the style of de Falla, Ravel and other fin-de-siecle orchestral colourists is not the way forward in writing music for flamenco guitar and large ensembles in the 21st-Century.

As an aside, I did, much to my own surprise last year, see another score of a ‘flamenco’ guitar concerto in Los Angeles by the flamenco guitar pedagogue, Oscar Herrero, but I didn’t get to look at it long enough to see what it was really like – and I can’t remember the title of the work either!  Note to self: must follow that up!

Oh, and welcome back!  It’s 2012.  Work resumes on The Mapmaker’s Opera on Jan. 25.  I know I have said this before, but I promise we’ll have a new track up on the web site soon.

Best to you all,

Kevin

Oh, the picture?  It’s just a bit of seasonal silliness that we thought everyone might find humorous.  No offence intended!

Victor, Mark and me will be taking a short break between Christmas and Jan. 24,  2012 whilst we head off in different directions for our respective Summer vacations.  My wife and I are off to France and Spain to explore some towns and villages that we have never previously visited.  Also, I need to get some guitar practice done, so I’ll be taking my new concert guitar that I am picking up tomorrow from the wonderful British guitar-maker, Robert Russell.

Rob’s artisan guitars are breathtaking and heart stoppingly beautiful sounding.  Not numbered, but individually named in the great tradition of European Luthiers, my guitar is one of a pair (as is often the case) named the ‘White Hart’.  The other is known as ‘The Black Pearl’.  Any association with a certain certain pirate sailing ship is, I’m sure, coincidental!

Apropos, the location of Rob’s workshop in North Wraxall, Wilts. easily vies for one of the most beautiful places on God’s green earth, and is close to one of the best B & Bs in the UK – Ridley’s Cheer – run by the delightful Sue and Antony Young.  For the garden lovers amongst you who regularly read this blog, this would have to be one of the 100 places to see before you die, or better still, get Antony to landscape your garden.  Not to be outdone, Sue is a Le Cordon Bleu trained chef whom you definitely want to enveigle to prepare some culinary masterpiece to enjoy.  Ah, the memories of wonderful food stay with you forever (and “the added girth around the waistline” I can my wife saying!)

Take care and see you back here in 2012.

Kevin

There are, in actual fact, very few decent, informative or useful web sites devoted to the creative impetus behind writing new works for the musical stage.  In this instance, the creator of Make Musicals is Brisa Trinchero (pictured, and before you ask, “No I don’t know her”).  The following short bio. excerpt is taken from her ‘About’ page:

“Brisa founded Make Musicals and the Running Deer Musical Theater Lab in order to support new musicals at all phases of development. Through Make Musicals, Brisa hosts numerous writing teams at the Lab, maintains a blog addressing the art and business of new musicals and serves as a consultant to new musical festivals/developers around the country.”

I like this a lot.  It’s worth reading.

Take care,

Kevin