0.0.2.0-4.2.1.1-timp.perc(3):SD/4tplbl/tam-t(lg)/gong(lg)/susp.cym/güiro/whip/2congas/crot/Mark tree/glsp/vib/xyl/tgl/claves/tom-t/susp.cym/2bongos/crot/maracas/gong/BD/tgl/t.bells/SD-harp-solo flute-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
Boosey & Hawkes (Hendon Music)
A couple of years ago, I had the good fortune to begin collaborating with the talented Mexican flutist Alejandro Escuer on works in various formats where the flute plays a leading role. This close collaboration has given rise to pieces such as Códigos secretos for flute and electroacoustic media, Luz de lava for flute, soprano choir, and orchestra, and Tres haikus for flute, voice, and cello. Naturally, what remained was to add to this list a concerto for flute and orchestra.
From the title Altar de Viento (Altar of Wind), several poetic ideas emerge—images, reflections, and metaphors that serve as a point of departure for the musical elaboration of this concerto.
Wind is air in motion. The flutist, by blowing, causes the air column to vibrate inside the body of the flute to produce sound. Like sound, wind can be heard and felt, but not seen. Both are vessels of mystery, invisible power, and hidden metaphor. In them resides the force of sound and the absence of light and sight. Wind, an ancestral sound, is intimately connected to the flute, one of the oldest musical instruments. For Alejandro, his true instrument is not the flute, but the wind. For me, the altar—a raised place—pays tribute to wind and sound. By listening before seeing, we arrive at a space of deepest intimacy.
The concerto is composed of four movements. Two of them—the first, Luz eólica (Aeolic Light), and the third, Viento nocturno (Nocturnal Wind)—are inspired by two haiku by the Japanese poet Matsuo Basho (1644–1694). The remaining two movements—Geometría del aire (Geometry of Air), the second, and Tornado, the fourth—are based on more concrete musical ideas, whose primary function is not only to contrast with the preceding movements, but also to explore a musical dialogue of greater virtuosity and rhythmic force, both in the orchestral and solo parts.
The two haiku used for the first and third movements are:
1
Out in the open
the wind seeps in slowly
into my soul
2
it has hidden
in the bamboo forest—
the winter wind
This concerto is dedicated to Alejandro Escuer, to whom I am deeply grateful for his valuable technical input and immense artistic talent—a source of inspiration in composing and developing the musical material.
Gabriela Ortiz