CORDATUM - JAVIER BRAVO (GUITAR) ARGENTINE MUSIC COLLECTION VOL. II THE CONTEMPORARY GUITAR    This disc is part of a research project about avant-garde guitar music in Argentina and it includes works composed between 1974 and 2011. Many of these guitar works are recorded for the first time on CD and some of them remain unpublished .They are pieces of great artistic value and despite the great the development of classical guitar world, are not yet known or broadcast. We hope that this album contribute to the diffusion and promotion of contemporary Argentine art, its excellent works and creators. The twentieth century was the scene of great changes in all spheres; many new movements have arisen in politics, science and art. Notably, the second half of the century is a turning point in the emergence of new concepts in music: the appearance of indeterminacy in various musical parameters, the development of serialism and other highly refined organizational systems, the enrichment of timbre through new instrumental techniques and electronics and, finally the coexistence of the styles of all times and all countries.    In Argentina we can find a turning point in the creation of the Instituto Di Tella and its Latin American Center for Advanced Musical Studies. Despite its relatively brief period of activity (1962-1971) it exerted a decisive influence on Latin American music and other arts of the time, stimulating the creation, communication and exchange between composers of our continent and the rest of the world.    The guitar, instrument of long tradition and popularity in Argentina in all musical genres, had its repertoire enriched with many creations that incorporate new expressive possibilities through timbral innovation, an unprecedented evolution of musical notation, and experiments with new ways of structuring musical material.    This creative impulse remains over time and reaches the XXI century, where all these trends converge, develop and manifest according to the personality of each composer, resulting in a wide range of artistic expressions. JORGE TSILICAS (Buenos Aires 1930 - Buenos Aires 1995) Monologues (1974) Jorge Tsilicas studied composition with Jacobo Ficher, Francisco Kröpfl and Enrique Belloc in Argentina. Later he studied with Boris Porena and Franco Donatoni in Italy. He devoted much of their production to the guitar, including works for solo guitar, duets and quartets. His works are written in an atonal style, exploring the timbral possibilities of the guitar and experimenting with different degrees of formal indeterminacy (Spiral, Perikiklosis). Dedicated to argentine guitarist Irma Costanzo, Monologues is a piece organised in three movements: The first have a fragmentary and energetic character. This movement is structured in series of short gestures consisting of chords, note sets and percussive effects. A sense of agitation is achieved through continuous dynamic contrast and permutation of elements, evolving over a harmonic texture based mainly in minor second and augmented fourth intervals. The second movement, Moderato, based on the same harmonic elements, conveys a more contemplative, lyrical mood, with a greater sense of continuity of the elements. Its third movement, Presto, shares sound gestures with other movements but it is characterized by the use of fast passages in a toccata or cadenza style in most of the movement. JAVIER BRAVO (Buenos Aires * 1972) Distance (2006)-Toccata(2004) Javier Bravo studied composition with Rodolfo Daluisio and wrote works for various instrumental ensembles ranging from solo instruments to symphonic and electroacoustic music. His musical language is inspired by popular Argentine music and jazz, together with sound resources and procedures of contemporary music. Distance explores the harmonic and resonance possibilities of guitar through a twelve-tone based structure. Written on a lyrical and contemplative style, this piece refers to rhythmic gestures of zamba, a very traditional Argentine folk dance. In contrast to Distance, Toccata expresses a climate of agitation: it begins with short chord sequences in fortissimo, which alternate with extensive passages based on the idea of continuous motion. The work, of great virtuosity, grows in tension through numerous meter changes, polymetric passages, multiple string tremolos and strumming chords. Based on a twelve-tone structure, this work is built over concepts of free atonality. FERNANDO ROVETTA (* 1968) "Two Pieces for Guitar" (1994) Graduated from IUNA with a Musical Arts degree, Fernando Rovetta studied composition with Juan Carlos Figueras, Pablo Cetta and Fernando Maglia. Awarded as composer on several ocassions, he gives seminars on contemporary music and participates as jury of guitar competitions. On “Two pieces for guitar " the author says: "The "Two Pieces for Guitar "(1994) are rooted on tango music, exploring its gestures, procedures and sound within a musical language lying between extended tonality and free atonalism. The first one, "Transition", is developed through the interaction of a harmonic component (with the chord as support) and another melodic (a chromatic gesture linked to bandoneonist Anibal Troilo style). In the second piece, "Recycling", motivic elements contrast themselves and cohere in the rhythmic aspect (supported in various stylistic resources). This work includes the phrasing and dynamic fluctuations of the tempo, typical of the genre.J avier Bravo's performing deeply understood the implications that have these formal aspects, resulting in an intense version, very rich in detail. " SALVADOR RANIERI (Arena, Italy 1930 - Buenos Aires 2012) Cordatum (2005) Salvador Ranieri, was a prolific composer, with a catalog of more than 180 works, including symphonic and chamber music . He studied composition with Juan Francisco Giacobbe in Argentina and later with Goffredo Petrassi in Italy. He studied electronic music at the Institute di Tella through a scholarship, and then he continued working in that field at the Academy of Santa Cecilia (Rome). His style was defined several times as deeply expressive, driven by an intense inner dramatism. Cordatum is written in the manner of a fantasy, in a style full of passion and metric vitality. Chromatism, rhythmic insistence and percussive effects are characteristic of the author's style. The work, composed in 2005, was premiered by Javier Bravo in 2011. CECILIA FIORENTINO (Buenos Aires * 1962) Petite Suite (2011). I. Prelude II. Dance III. Aria IV. Final Cecilia Fiorentino graduated as Profesora Superior de Piano (1982) and Composition (1986) at the National Music Conservatory "Carlos López Buchardo". Noteworthy among her teachers are Fermina Casanova, Virtu Maragno, Alicia Terzián, Delia Castro, Isabel von Basenheim, Amalia Cascarini and Perla Brúgola. She is the author of some fifty works, most of them for chamber ensambles. As a composer, she has been awarded several times and she actively participates in composers' associations from Argentina. She teaches counterpoint and composition at several Buenos Aires' Conservatoires and has participated as jury in various composition competitions . On Petite Suite, the author tells us: "Written in a free tonal style, this work- as almost every movement- express on its titles, formal models that inspired its composition: the single motive based structure in the first movement -resembling the style of many Baroque preludes-, the rhythmic and formal symmetry in the second movement -Dance-, and the characteristic accompanied melody texture in third movement titled Aria. The final movement consists of two parts: a free introduction in a fantasia style, and a "fugatto" section to conclude. While it is not the first time I have included the guitar in one of my works, it is certainly the first time that I write a solo guitar piece. This has been for me, a unique challenge, that I hope to have withstood thanks to the valuable contribution of Javier Bravo' s interpretation ". EVA IRENE LOPSZYC (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Lakshmi (2012) "From the visible into the invisible .... From the ethereal in her presence .... From the sonorous, it come up and transforms itself …” (E.I.L.) Eva Lopszyc's music is characterized by its deep spirituality; through its diaphanous texture and ethereal sounds, Lakshmi (2012-dedicated to argentine guitarist Omar Cyrulnik) lead us to a magical and transcendental dimension connected with ancient cultures and knowledge. Composer and conductor, she was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, coming from a family of musicians. Graduated with gold medals from the Conservatorio Superior "Manuel de Falla" (Buenos Aires), in piano, composition and orchestra conducting (1984 -1985), her works have been played worldwide and had received numerous awards at national and international festivals and competitions. Eva also develops an important teaching work at the composition area of Conservatorio Manuel de Falla, as coordinator of conferences, workshops, jury of competitions, and as president of the Foro Argentino de Compositoras. ALBERTO GINASTERA (Buenos Aires 1916 - Geneva 1983) Sonata op. 47 (1976) I.Esordio II.Scherzo III.Canto IV.Final He is perhaps the best acknowledged Argentine composer, considered one of the most important in South America. Alberto Ginastera employed both national idioms of his native Argentina and a variety of avant-garde techniques in developing a unique style. Much of the literature that analyzes its creation is based on the division into the three periods Ginastera himself proposed in the 60s: objective nationalism, subjective nationalism and neo-expressionism. These periods expressed different stages in the relationship between musical elements. In 1981 in a new interview, Ginastera updates its opinion stating that he believed that periods are mainly two: the first stage related to tonality and polytonality and a second stage marked by the use of organizational resources of atonal music. COLOCAR AL PIE "I think there are not three but two [musical periods]. The first I would call tonal and polytonal. Then a second period where I used atonality. But at the moment i am evolving. . . . " TAN, Lillian. An interview with Alberto Ginastera. The American Music Teacher v. 33, n. 3 (1984), p. 6-8. Sonata for Guitar (1976) is the only work he composed for guitar and is one of the most performed and recorded work of the guitar repertoire from the late 20 s. We can consider this work as a synthesis of the Ginastera's style, as the composer himself describes it in the score: "The first movement, Esordio, is a solemn prelude, followed by a song which was inspired by Kecua music and which finds its conclusion in an abbreviated repetition of these two elements. The second movement, Scherzo, which has to be played 'il più presto possibile', is an interplay of shadow and light, of nocturnal and magical ambience, of dynamic contrasts, distant dances, of surrealistic impressions, such as I had used in earlier works. Right through to the end the theme of the lute of Sixtus Beckmesser appears as a phantasmagoria. The third movement, Canto, is lyrical and rhapsodic, expressive and breathless like a love poem. It is connected with the last movement, Finale, a quick spirited rondeau which recalls the strong, bold rhythms of the music of the pampas. Combinations of 'rasgueados' and 'tamboras' percussion effects, varied by other elements of metallic colour or the resounding of strings, gives a special tonality to this rapid, violent movement which thereby gains the overall aspect of a 'toccata'. (Preface to Sonata for Guitar, Op. 47, Boosey & Hawkes 1978) ". GERARDO GANDINI (Buenos Aires * 1936) Six Tientos (1977) Gerardo Gandini was one of the pioneers at the Instituto Di Tella (Buenos Aires). He became through his compositions one of the most important figures in argentine contemporary music in the second half of twentieth century. The 6 Tientos where written and dedicated to argentine guitarist Irma Costanzo in 1977. They were composed as a previous study for his Night Music IV for guitar and string quartet. In the preface to the piece, the composer tell us: "... The Tiento I consists of two parts: the first is agitated and changing, while the second one have a static and airy feeling, based on natural harmonics of the instrument. In Tiento II , I used note groups derivated from fixed positions of the left hand. Scholars will find in this resource and its notation, an implicit tribute to Leo Brouwer. The III is a song, surrounded by six note chords that take advantage of open strings and transform itself changing one note at a time. The IV uses natural harmonics again while in the Tiento V, multitimbrical possibilities are exploited, using normal playing together with microtonal alteration and different kinds of percussion on guitar body. The VI finally is a study on the B note. In the first section it is focused on the open 2nd string and in the second section over a B harmonic two octaves higher that is progressively diluted by the actions on tuning pegs of the instrument”.