Elisenda Fábregas

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Elisenda Fábregas

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“Fábregas is one gifted with a blue guitar. Her tunes are beyond us, yet ourselves.
Indeed they are tunes of things exactly as they are.”
–American Music Teacher Magazine
Spanish/American composer Elisenda Fábregas (b. in Terrassa, Barcelona) received doctorates from Columbia University Teachers College (Ed. D. Education) and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (DMA musical composition); as a Fulbright scholar, she also received a Masters in piano performance from The Juilliard School. Before going to the US, she completed the highest studies as a pianist in Barcelona.  During her early career as a pianist, Elisenda performed throughout Europe and the US, including a Carnegie Recital Hall debut in New York. Currently, Elisenda is a Visiting Professor at Kyung-Hee University, Humanitas College, in Seoul, where she lives since 2010. For three years, she was a Visiting professor at Chugye University for the Arts (2010-2013) and, prior to Seoul, she was a professor at the University of San Antonio in Texas.
Fábregas’s music has been performed around the world including The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; Merkin Concert Hall, New York; Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall; United Nations Conference, Beijing; La Salle Cortot, Paris; Ibero American Institute, Berlin; Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; Tapiola Symphony Concert Series, Finland; Sala Pau Casals de L’ Auditori de Barcelona; and Lansing Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series, Michigan. In 2016, The Bucheon Philharmonic commissioned and premiered Accents Catalans (2016) at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center during the SAC Orchestra Festival. The Wonju Philharmonic in South Korea, and the Santa Fe Orchestra have also commissioned and premiered symphonic works by Fábregas. In 2014, her Symphony No. 1 was premiered at the Sala Pau Casals of L’ Auditori in Barcelona, by the Barcelona Municipal Band, and recorded on Naxos. Elisenda has also written music for chamber ensemble, solo instruments, choir, and percussion ensemble.
Elisenda has been praised for writing with an “imaginatively colored… idiom” (The New York Times) and for possessing an “individuality [which] shows through in yearning dissonances, quirky juxtapositions of thematic material and a pervasive sensuality not unlike that of her native Barcelona” (San Antonio Express News). Fábregas’s music has been described as “complex and haunting” (Washington Post) with abundant “expressive long lines and gorgeous lyricism” (NATS Journal), and for having “an emotionally compelling aura” (New Mexican News) and a “marvelous sense of progression and development” (American Music Teacher Magazine).
Recordings of Elisenda’s compositions are available on Haenssler (Profil Edition), Albany Records, Centaur Records, Naxos, Mundo Arts, and NCA Classical Adventure Records; and her music is published by Hofmeister MusikVerlag (Leipzig, Germany), Alphonse Leduc & Cie. (Paris.), and Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Imitació del foc (Imitation of fire)

Year: 2018

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: imitacio_del_foc_sample_score_iv._pg._1-2_-_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: imitacio_del_foc_lyrics_wtranslation_engspanish-5.pdf

Description: Imitació del Foc (Imitation of fire) was commissioned by tenor, Isai Jess Munoz, to be premiered on March 19 at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in a program titled “Viva Catalunya.” Additional concerts will be presented throughout the Spring of 2018, and it will be recorded on CD in August of 2018, along other music by Catalonian composers.
Imitació del foc is a song cycle for tenor and piano based on four poems in Catalan by Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel (1913-1938), a Spanish Balearic poet, who wrote in Catalan. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. He has a brief oeuvre but dense. His mature work, Imitation of fire (1938) turns him into the first Mallorcan poet who fully belongs to the twentieth century. Once the influence of the Mallorcan School has been overcome, the poetics of this last book are influenced by the generation of 1927, as well as by the avant-garde and specifically surrealism. There are also echoes of his interest in Spanish Baroque literature, along with a neo-populism similar to that of García Lorca or Rafael Alberti.
In Rosselló-Pòrcel work is notable the presence of the symbol of fire, and related words, such as fire, flame, fire, ash, charcoal burning and bonfires. The use of this symbol is not purely ornamental, but it reveals a deeper sense. The fire for Roselló is purification, the struggle of opposites, light, life, rise, movement and perpetual change, immateriality and mystery. This vision of the fire connects Rosselló-Porcell directly with a pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus, who found in fire an overcoming of all processes of change that view reality.
The four poems selected in this song-cycle come from the collection Imitacio del foc and Quadern de sonets (an earlier work).
I. Inici de campana (Bells start tolling) from Quadern de sonets, written in 1934
This opening piece starts brilliantlly with tolling bell-like sounds calling for the parishioners. The spiritual symbol of church bells can be associated with the creative power, poetry and its followers. Rossello’s poem describes the poet in the evening hearing church bells and settlying at dusk into his home as a metaphor for internal search.
II. Escolto la secreta...(I listen to the secret...) from Imitacio del Foc, Arbre de Flames). In this poem the poet explores the relation between himself and death when he “listens attentively to the secret harmony of the air and the ardor that trembles from great free waters.” The music is intimate and personal evoking the inner life and reflections of the poet.
III. Pluja brodada (Embroidered rain) from Imitacio del foc, Fira encesa, written in 1938, is a poem in which the poet extols and personifies the rain, a natural element, in a precious manner, first reminding us of the sound of rain in a graphic manner. At the beginning of the poem the rain ‘dances’ joyously but little by little takes on a restless character. The music evokes the sound and moods of the rain; the tímbric sound on the rain is portrayed by sparkling arpeggios in the higher register of the piano.
IV. Ardent himne (Ardent hymn) from Imitacio del foc, Arbre de Flames, written in 1938. This poem states the dichotomy between the poet and the angel. The text is imbued with action and extraordinarily dynamic power, with fire contrasting with angels (‘homes alats’) and the night, portraying a vision of the world as a fight between contrary and opposite forces that need each other to exist.

Accents Catalans for Symphony Orchestra

Year: 2016

Duration (in minutes): 12'39; 30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: accents_catalans_sample_pg._1-3-5.pdf

Text PDF: accents_catalans_program_notesinstrumentation-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned by the Bucheon Philharmonic and Maestro Youngmin Park of South Korea
Premiered on April 10, 2016, at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center as part of the annual Orchestra Festival at SAC.
Accents Catalans (Catalan Accents) is a one-movement work with three overall sections fast, slow, fast. This work is an homage to my native Catalonia, an area in the North-East of Spain with its own language, music and dance, known for its fiercely independent culture. In Accents Catalans I represent symbolically some indigenous traits (or accents) of Catalonia: 1) ‘playfulness’, represented by the joyful and spirited national dance, sardana; 2) ‘magical innocence’ exemplified in the purity of their children’s songs; 3) ‘longing and sadness’ present in the haunting folk songs; and 4) ‘quick mood changes’ from major (happy) to minor (sad) mode in much of the Catalonian traditional music. Another characteristic that greatly appeals to me is the spirituality that transpires in some of the older Catalonian songs, imbued with the ancient sound of medieval Gregorian chant.
All the above traits (or accents) can be found in the more overtly ‘Catalonian’ moments present in Accents Catalans. These include the beginning mountain call in the piccolo and the flute, referencing the song titled ‘Mountain shepherds’ (Els pastors de les muntanyes), accompanied by the tambourine. Variations of this ‘pastoral call’ reappear throughout the work in the woodwinds, either in its entirety or partially, acting as a musical question, which is answered by a new contrasting section. This mountain call and its variations connect much of the music in this work.
After the initial mountain call section, a new tune, syncopated and in major mode is introduced. This tune is initially played by the French horns and later the whole orchestra, eventually developed and combined with a rhythmic motive from the final dance (Dance of Castellterçol), leading to the Giocoso section. ‘The dance of barley” (El ball de la civada) is the main protagonist in this Giocoso section, set in a joyous major mode first with the brass and then the whole orchestra in a festive mood. Two variations of this tune, each time faster, lead to an exciting climax. Eventually an abrupt mood change returns with the mountain call and leading to the Moderato Cantabile. This is the center of gravity of the work featuring the tune “The little boy” (El petit vailet). This tune is a popular Catalonian sardana appearing first on the bass clarinet (f# minor) solo accompanied by the sardana rhythm () on the Provençal tambourine. The tune reappears dramatically in e minor with the full orchestra (Con passione) followed by several variations in triple rhythm. A later majestic entrance of the same tune in F# major occurs in the last section (Maestoso con spirito) played by the whole orchestra.
Before the final fast section, a timeless Incantato (enchanted) section featuring a Catalan tune “Dolls crying” (Les ninetes ploren) send us to a magical world with soft colors of woodwinds, wind chimes, harp, horns and strings. This is a dream world where time stops. But soon enough, the assertive final dance in minor blurts in, with driving syncopated rhythms, strong brass and full orchestra colors. This is based on the (Dance of Castellterçol) Dansa de Castellterçol. A couple of Playful sections in major mode change for a moment the mood to a child’s play before returning to the overtly rhythmical dance.
The interval of perfect 4th (so prevalent in Catalonian music) is present in many of the selected tunes, including the initial introductory piccolo/flute call, unifying motivically this work. Rhythmic and melodic motives from all these Catalan folk songs above are used in its original form, as well as varied and developed, resulting in new material that connects the tightly knitted fabric.

Repartido en espacio y en tiempo

Year: 2016

Duration (in minutes): 4'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano, solo voice(s) with solo instruments

Instruments: any brass, trumpet

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: repartido_en_tiempo_y_en_espacio__sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: repartido_en_tiempo_y_en_espacio_poetry-5.pdf

Description: “Repartido en tiempo y en espacio” (Split between time and space) for soprano, trumpet and piano (2016)
Based on a poem in Spanish titled "A Osiris" by Juan Eduardo Cirlot
Commissioned by and dedicated to Antoni Solé.
Premiered at Sole Luthiers Concert Hall in 2016 by Margarita Natividade, soprano, Xavier Ribera, piano.

Homenatge a Pau Casals (Homage to Pau Casals)

Year: 2015

Duration (in minutes): 7'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo string instrument

Instruments: cello

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: homenatge_a_pau_casals_sample_score_pg._1-5.pdf

Text PDF: homenatge_a_pau_casals_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Homenatge à Pau Casals (Homage to Pau Casals) for cello, was commissioned by American cellist David James Kim, in occasion of its premiere at the ‘Mas i Mas Festival’ in Barcelona on August 7, 2015. In this solo cello work, I pay homage to Catalan cellist Pau Casals by using ‘El cant dels ocells’ (The song of the birds), an original traditional Catalan Christmas song popularized by Pau Casals himself that became internationally known as a symbol of peace and freedom. Throughout this homage, I use the beginning ascending scale of ‘Cant dels ocells’ as a recurring motive embedded in the melodic structure. The tune in its entirety does not appear until the end as a symbol of hope for the future!

Tiempo de amor for soprano, tenor and piano

Year: 2015

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: tiempo_de_amor_sample_score_duet-5.pdf

Text PDF: tiempo_de_amor_for_soprano_tenor_and__piano_full_notes_-_text_in_english-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned by the 2015 Barcelona Festival of Song and director/soprano Patricia Caicedo.
Premiered on June 27, 2015, by Patricia Caicedo, soprano, Lenine Santos, tenor, and Nikos Stavlas, piano.
Texts by Ibn Zaydun and Wallada.
Tiempo de amor (Time for Love) (2015) for soprano, tenor and piano is set to texts by Andalusi poet Ibn Zaydun (1003-1071) and princess Wallada (1011-1091). Both poets were born in Cordoba at the height of the Al-Andalous culture in Spain and were known as the lovers of Cordoba, due to their passionate love relationship. The text used in this work are fragments of the letters they wrote to each other, which have come to us through Wallada in the form of poems.
This song cycle includes six songs that are sung without a break. The tenor (Ibn Zaydun) and soprano (Wallada) sing alternate songs as if it were a dialogue, sometimes questioning each other or commenting on the state of their relationship. The text of the last song are the epitaphs written in a monument in Cordoba dedicated to them.

Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano

Year: 2014

Duration (in minutes): 30'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra, piano trio (vln, vc, pno)

Instruments: cello, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: triple_concerto_score_samples-5.pdf

Text PDF: triple_concerto_program_notes-instrumentation-5.pdf

Description: Triple Concerto for piano trio & orchestra (2015) was commissioned by Trio Nova Mundi.
World premiere by Trio Nova Mundi and The Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by Juan R. Ramírez.
February 8, 2015, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.

This concerto is a reflection on the state of coexistence among diverse populations of the world and an homage to the unique medieval culture of Al-Andalous in Spain, a culture in which three diverse populations - Arabs, Jews and Christians - coexisted harmoniously for almost eight centuries. Metaphorically, these three populations are represented by three soloists - sharing equally the limelight, interacting with each other, and dialoguing with the orchestra. There are three movements, each with a tripartite structure.
The first movement (Allegro moderato) features haunting harmonies and pleading melodic gestures evocative of flamenco, as well as an exciting cadenza-like passage for the three soloists in the center. The second movement starts and ends with a Pensaroso (Pensive) section that flanks an intense Appassionato and a triumphal section marked Con resoluzione. The third movement (Allegro deciso) is distinguished for its energy and rhythmic vitality, with an expressive and quasi-religious passage in the center played by the violin and the cello.

Symphony No. 1 for Symphonic Band

Year: 2013

Duration (in minutes): 25'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Instruments: alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, percussion, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, xylophone

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: symphony_no._1_mov_iv_sample_score-5.pdf

Description: Symphony No. 1 for Symphonic Band was commissioned by the Banda Municipal de Barcelona and is dedicated to its principal conductor Salvador Brotons, The premiere took take place at L'Auditori*, Sala 1, Pau Casals, in Barcelona on February 9, 2014. This concert included works by Sibelius (Finland) and Mussorgski (Pictures of an Exhibition) and was conducted by Maestro Youngmin Park.
This Symphony consists of four movements: movement I and IV are traditionally symphonic - dramatic, with extensive thematic and rhythmic development, textural contrasts and grand sonorities. The second movement, Canço, is intimate and has the melodic and expressive characteristics of a Catalonian song. The third movement, Scherzo, has an evocative melody in the central section framed with sections featuring playful ostinatos. The last movement, Tempo giusto is majestic and has the character of an epilogue, balancing the symphonic weight of the first movement and bringing back some of its thematic and rhythmic material. There is no program associated with this Symphony and is abstract in nature.

Wandering spirit

Year: 2013

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, piano, violin

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: wandering_spirit_fh_2330_score_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: wandering_spirit_fh_2330_notes-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned by Hungarian concert violinist Rodrigo Puskás.
Wandering spirit for violin and piano is a musical metaphor for the quest for truth, symbolized musically by moments of discovery, with longing and soaring solo lines in the violin, and moments of struggle marked by dissonant interaction between the violin and the piano. This work ends with a bright major harmony through which both the music resolves and the quest comes to an end.

Ancient walls

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo string instrument

Instruments: violin

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: fh3236_ancient-walls_pg._4-5.pdf

Text PDF: ancient-walls_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Ancient Walls for solo violin (2012) was commissioned by Hungarian concert violinist Rodrigo Puskás, living in South Korea.
Ancient Walls is a one-movement work for the violin that echoes the sounds of the ancient world. The title is a metaphor for the 'walls’ that, literally and figurative, sometimes separate cultures and people from each other; and also alludes to the common European heritage shared by Rodrigo Puskás and the composer, both natives of fiercely independent cultures that have struggled over time to retain their identity.

Caminos del duende

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 15

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: percussion ensemble

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Commissioned by the Seoul percussion ensemble 4Plus with Jae Hyun Yoon at the marimba. Premiered at the Seoul Arts Center Recital Hall, Korea, on July 21, 2012.
Performance at the International Percussion Music Festival of Seoul at KNUA (Korean National University for the Arts) on July 25, 2012
Caminos del 'duende' (The ways of 'duende')* for marimba, vibraphone and percussion explores aspects of the harmonic and expressionist worlds of Spanish and Catalonian music from a contemporary perspective. Consists of three movements:
I. Alma escorchada (Burning soul) - a dramatic dialogue between the marimba and the percussion.
II. Canco de desig (Song of desire) - a yearning vocal-type piece that evokes the lyricism of Catalan folk music.
III. Fiesta - a 'light character' piece with thicker texture and exciting rhythms.
*In Andalucia (Southern Spain) people say of certain toreros and flamenco artists that they have duende: "an inexplicable power of attraction, the ability, on rare occasions, to send waves of emotion through those watching and listening to them." Poet Garcia Lorca wrote extensively about duende extending its meaning to artists whose inspiration went beyond the concept of 'muse'. Lorca's duende is irrational, close to nature, has an acute awareness of death, and is a bit diabolical. Lorca's duende has also elements of the religious and a deep sense of internal struggle and pain.

Retorn a la terra for narrator and large chamber ensemble

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players

Instruments: any brass, any string, any woodwind, bassoon, clarinet, contrabass, percussion, trombone, trumpet, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: retorn_a_la_terra_sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: notestext-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned and Premiered by the Virtuoso Ensemble on May 26, 2012, under the direction of Unai Urrecho at the Hwaseong Arts Center (Ban Sook Concert Hall of the Dong Tan Art Center of Hwaseong), South-Korea.
This composition was inspired by two Catalan poems: Retorn a Catalunya by Josep Carner and La Sardana by Joan Maragall. The first poem is narrated in its entirety and certain parts repeated at certain points in the first and second movements. Carner's poem portrays the excitement of the poet returning to his native country describing the most characteristic attributes. In the first movement the music is inspired by the anticipation of the return, the excitement at seeing familiar landscapes and vegetation, as well as meeting the Catalan people; in the second movement, connected to the first without a stop, the music freely uses a melancolic Catalan melody that imbues a religious tone to the entire movement. The third movement uses the basic sardana rhythm as well as certain melodic turns typical of sardana's melodies.
Retorn a la terra uses the same instrumentation as L'Histoire du soldat by Stravinsky and both works will be performed at the same concert. Retorn a la terra consists of three movements (the first two are connected.)
I. La terra de foc (The land of fire)
II. Records (Memories)
III. Dansa (Dance)

Terra Mater for Symphony Orchestra

Year: 2011

Duration (in minutes): 14'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Instruments: bassoon, cello, clarinet, contrabass, English horn, flute, harp, horn, oboe, percussion, piccolo, timpani, trombone, trumpet, tuba, viola, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: terra_mater_sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: terra_mater_program_notes-instrumentation-5.pdf

Description: Terra Mater is a compact one movement dramatic work for symphony orchestra (approx. 10') that deals symbolically with the creative and destructive powers of nature.
Terra Mater follows the footsteps of Voices of the Rainforest (2007), another work dealing with nature. However the content and gestures of Terra Mater have a deeper sense of urgency. I have always felt that the earth is an organism just like we are, and as such it deserves our respect. If we fail to take care of the earth it may lead to our own destruction. Beneath the dramatic gestures of Terra Mater there is an underlying and compelling lament that surfaces at crucial points of the piece connecting the various strains and providing structure. I have wanted to write an orchestral work on this topic for long time and I welcome this opportunity with excitement. The recent weather events in all parts of the world make nature a 'hot' topic and I am eager to make a contribution in musical terms. I live now in Seoul and last summer I had the chance to experience the Asian monsoon season; it was apparently one of the hottest and rainiest summers on record in Seoul. This extreme Korean weather reminded me of the Texas summer storms at most violent. To me there is nothing more awesome and overwhelming than the power of nature. I can understand how ealier civilizations, much more connected with nature than we are, worshipped many elements of the physical world with its capacity to create and destroy.

Goyescas for flute, viola & piano (2009)

Year: 2009

Duration (in minutes): 19'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: mixed instrument ensemble, mixed instrument trio, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, flute, piano, viola

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: iv._el_sueno_from_goyescas_score_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: goyescas_goyas_illustrations-11.pdf

Description: Goyescas for fl, vla and piano is an arrangement of six short pieces originally commissioned and premiered by flutist Marina Piccinini and guitarist Emanuele Segre at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society on January 23, 2009. This arrangement was done for the Ensemble Gaudi.
I was inspired to write Goyescas to express musically my impressions of five paintings by Francisco Goya. Some pieces have a Spanish folk flavor imparted by mysterious harmonic and modal overtones while others have fiery dance rhythms and and infectious spirit that imbue this cycle with a special fire and vitality found in the music of the Spanish people. I especially enjoy spicing up my melodies with grace notes and the elaborate, intricate melismas (ornamental melodic embellishments) found in Flamenco music and other traditional folk music of Spain. I have blended these musical traditions with contemporary compositional techniques that meld these ancient forms into a poetic, lyrical and intimate personal musical language.
I. Pregón is a brilliant fanfare that echoes the brash trumpet calls (or pregones) that imperiously summoned villagers to important communal festivals. In this occasion they announce the arrival of the Royal family.
II. La familia de Carlos IV (the family of Charles IV) is inspired by a portrait of the majestic and noble royal family of Charles IV of Spain.
III. Las majas en el balcón (The maiden on the balcony) depicts two sultry ‘majas’ (maidens) flanked by two threatening ‘guadias civiles’ (Spanish police).
IV. El sueño (The dream) is Goya’s poetic, sensual and passionate depiction of a vulnerable and mysterious sleeping woman.
V. La Fragua (The foundry) is a grim, dark portrait of three men toiling at a blazing forge.
VI. Toque is a variation of the initial Pregón that announces the whimsical and playful ‘Gallina Ciega.’
VII. La gallina ciega (Blind men's bluff) is Goya’s humored, sunny depiction of a childhood game of “blind man’s bluff.”

Gacelas de amor (2009)

Year: 2009

Duration (in minutes): 9'39; 30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble

Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any voice, any woodwind, flute, mezzo soprano, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: i._gacela_amor_desesperado_pg._1-2_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: gacelas_de_amor_lyrics-5.pdf

Description: Gacelas de amor (2009) is based on three poems by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca including Gacela III: Del amor desesperado and Gacela IX: Del amor maravilloso, both from Diván del Tamarit (1931-1934) and Lucia Martinez, from Canciones 1921-1924.
In the Gacelas, the passionate and sensual voice of Lorca burns with maximum intensity. The Gacelas are amorous and erotic in nature and portray metaphorically both the suffering and ecstasy brought by love. Lorca was inspired by the original Persian ‘ghazal,’ a poetic form that traditionally dealt with illicit and unattainable love. Musically this work is set in an evocative but subtle Spanish musical atmosphere with modal overtones.
This work was commissioned by Christiane Meininger and it was written and premiered by male soprano Jörg Waschinski and Christiane Meininger at the Center for International Light Art in Unna (Germany) on June 18, 2009. The concert was sponsored by the American Embassy, the Zentrum for Information und Bildung in Unna, the Center for International Light Art in Unna, and a travel grant from the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University.
I. Gacela del amor desesperado (Gacela of desperate love) – this poem describes the desperate impatience and obstacles that two lovers face to see each other: ‘the night refuses to come so you can’t come and I can’t go (to see you)’ but there is always hope in overcoming the obstacles – ‘but I will go… and you will come…(regardless of the obstacles)’.
II. ‘Lucia Martinez’ is a passionate, sensual and erotic description of Lucia Martinez. The music is teasing, sinuous and mysterious but keeps a proud stance with a rocking rhythm - in a Spanish manner.
III. Gacela del amor maravilloso (Gacela of marvelous love) unravels the happy qualities of love and courtship. The music is joyful and hopeful in nature.

Solitary

Year: 2009

Duration (in minutes): 3'39;45'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any male voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, any woodwind, baritone voice, cello, clarinet, piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: solitary_score_sample_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Text PDF: solitarynotestext-5.pdf

Description: Solitary for baritone, clarinet, cello and piano, based on poetry by Hollis Robins, was commissioned by Andrew Talle and was premiered at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins in the fall of 2009.
According to Robins, the poem Solitary is part of a sonnet sequence called “Sonnets of Imprisonment,” which are all loosely about being bound either by the form or by real or psychological bars. The poet William Wordsworth considered the sonnet form both constraining and liberating; in this longer sequence Robins says that she explores the nature of formal and psychological constraints as they work together. The music attempts to capture the frame of mind of the narrator when faced by real or imaginary threats: the dreadful ‘waiting’ of the footsteps of the guards; the resistance to what one is “supposed to do’ and the violent consequences; the ‘remembrance’ of ‘normal’ life; the foreseeable dread and inevitability of an certain future.

Goyescas for flute and guitar

Year: 2008

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: mixed instrument ensemble, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, flute, guitar

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: goyescas_fl__gui_pg._5-7_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: goyescas_goyas_illustrations-9.pdf

Description: "Goyescas" is a cycle of six short pieces commissioned and premiered by flutist Marina Piccinini and guitarist Emanuele Segre at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society on January 23, 2009. I was inspired to write Goyescas to express musically my impressions of six exciting paintings by Francisco Goya. This work has a Spanish folk flavor imparted by mysterious harmonic and modal overtones. The fiery dance rhythms and the infectious spirit imbue this cycle with a special fire and vitality only found in the music of the Spanish people. I especially enjoy spicing up my melodies with grace notes and the elaborate, intricate melismas (ornamental melodic embellishments) found in Flamenco music and other traditional folk music of Spain. I have blended these beloved musical traditions with contemporary compositional techniques that meld these ancient forms into a poetic, lyrical and intimate personal musical language.
I. Pregón is a brilliant fanfare that echoes the brash trumpet calls (or pregones) that imperiously summoned villagers to important communal festivals.
II. La familia de Carlos IV is inspired by a portrait of the majestic and noble royal family of Charles IV of Spain.
III. Las majas en el balcón depicts two sultry 'majas' (maidens) flanked by two threatening 'guardias civiles' (Spanish police).
IV. El sueño (the dream) is Goya's poetic, sensual and passionate depiction of a vulnerable and mysterious sleeping woman.
V. La Fragua (the forge) is a grim, dark portrait of three men toiling at a blazing forge.
VI. La gallina ciega (Blind men's bluff), is a bright, festive work that captures the carnival atmosphere of an ancient Spanish tradition at which the purifying and regenerative forces of fire consume a sardine on Ash Wednesday, one of the holiest of religious holidays in Spain.

Homenatge a Mompou

Year: 2007

Duration (in minutes): 9'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: homenatge_a_mompou_pg._2-5.pdf

Text PDF: homenatge_a_mompou_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Homenatge a Mompou (Homage to Mompou) for piano, was commissioned by Dutch pianist Marcel Worms in occasion of the 25th Anniversary of Mompou’s death in 2006. The premiere took place on November 2007 in an all-Mompou music festival in Amsterdam. Being myself a native of Catalonia, this commission was very special for me since I played for Mompou in 1977 and his music has always been very dear to me.
This work consists of a set of three pieces that are connected to Mompou in a variety of ways: (I) through direct quotation of a rhythmic/melodic ‘motif’ Mompou’s music, (II) the use of Spanish folksongs, and (III) by celebrating the most playful musical personality of Mompou.
I. “Crits en el carrer” (Screams in the street)
II. “Tinc una nina vestida de blau” (I have a doll with a blue dress)
III. “Jocs en el carrer” (Street games)

Voices of the rainforest

Year: 2007

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: mixed instrument ensemble, mixed instrument trio, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: iv._voices_of_insight_night_from_voices_of_the_rainforest-5.pdf

Description: Voices of the rainforest for flute (alto flute), cello and piano (2007) was written for the Meininger-Trio, who performed the premiere at the Ibero American Institute in Berlin on March 14, 2008, followed by a live broadcasted performance at the WDR Radio Station in Cologne, Germany, on March 15, 2008.
Voices of the rainforest is a loose representation of a day in the life of the rainforest in Papua New Guinea. This work came about as a result of my life-long fascination and love for nature and a request from Christiane Meininger. A recording of actual sounds of insects, barking frogs, birds, and the singing of natives of the Papua New Guinea rainforest was the final inspiration for this work.
I. Awakening – At first a mix of darkness and light, then slowly the light filters through the tall trees taking over the darkness, and the stillness begins to move. Birdcalls and the incessant metallic buzzing of insects mark the beginning of a new day. The natives call this part of the day ‘from morning night’ to ‘real morning’. The flute starts with a birdcall that will be an important structural element in this work. This movement leads without interruption to the second movement.
II. Sago gatherers – During the ‘afternoon darkening’ human voices appear in the forest. The Kaluli women in Papua New Guinea cut and collect ‘sago’, an essential food plant in their diet. They sing haunting monotonous calls inflected with irregular accents while they work. First is one voice, and then other voices join in like a cacophonous choir.
III. Evening rainstorm – “wind arrives, sounds explode”. Cicada calls, barking frogs and the insistent metallic buzzing of pulsing insects brings “afternoon darkening” and the arrival of the daily downpour, the wild wind, the random crash of weak branches, the sonic boom of thunder … a cacophony of sounds.
IV. Voices of ‘inside’ night –The expressiveness of the ‘alto flute’ reflects on the mystery of the rainforest night and the quiet sorrow of the creatures within.
V. Night spirits is an abstract representation of a ceremonial night-dance by which natives drive their dead (spirits) away. Hundreds of dancers run wildly to the edge of a central fire while the chorus sings a song, the dancers then move wildly, doing a circling dance around the fire until dawn, driving the spirits of the dead away and leaving the tribe in peace.

Flaming rock

Year: 2007

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: choral

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: flamingrock_pg._1-5_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: flamingrock_text-5.pdf

Description: The Flaming Rock (La Roca Llameante) was commissioned by the Allegro Chorale and Orchestra Inc. (Nyela Basney as Artistic Director) and written for the Cassatt String Quartet. The world premiere took place in Midland and Odessa, Texas, on November 17 and 18, 2007. The text is both in English and Spanish.
The original seed of inspiration for this work came from an imaginative myth of the creation of the world from the oral tradition of the Omaha Nation. This myth contains a powerful central image of a rock exploding and rising through the water, bursting into flames and vaporizing into the air in clouds thus providing a home for all the spirits existing in the mind of Wakonda, the maker of all things.
The images that led to the “exploding rock” provided me with a clear structure for this work: the stillness and uncertainty of the beginning of the universe when nothing exists except in the mind of Wakonda; the sadness and disappointment of the spirits going about in space and floating through the air, searching for a place to call home and to become flesh and blood; an earthshaking climactic surprise when a great rock appears bursting into flames - rising through the vaporizing waters and becoming dry land; a sense of relief and resolution when the spirits become flesh and blood feeding on the seeds of the grasses and trees; the joy and gratitude of all beings to Wakonda, the maker of all things.
The most challenging aspect of this commission was to make the text understandable to both the English and Spanish audience for whom this work was written. To this end I included both the entire Spanish and English version of the text. To meet this challenge I used a variety of textural devices: dialogues between one voice in Spanish and the other in English, solos that sing in Spanish what the chorus has just sung in English, solos in Spanish sung between choir passages in English, echo and antiphonal effects, and narration. These textural devices also helped me balance the forces of a string quartet with a full chorus. I kept the texture as transparent as possible in order to avoid drowning the string quartet with the full choir and to preserve the intelligibility of the text by using vocal solos, duets, trios, a cappella, solo strings, and string interludes in addition to full choir with strings in climactic moments.

Colores Andaluces

Year: 2006

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo string with piano

Instruments: any string, cello, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: colores_andaluces_-_iii._nana_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: colores_andaluces_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Colores Andaluces for cello & piano is a work written in the Spanish idiom at the request of cellist Françoise Groben. Colores Andaluces is the product of intense and focused inspiration, a very spontaneous work written in a few days.
Recording of Colores Andaluces is available on "Der Seelenvogel - The Soulbird." Product ID: LC-12281. Available from: Amazon.com
www.naxosdirect.com

Hommage à Mozart

Year: 2005

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: hommage_a_mozart_score_sample_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Text PDF: hommage_a_mozart_analysis-5.pdf

Description: Hommage a Mozart was commissioned by concert pianist Eric Himy and performed in a worldwide concert tour in 2006 - the year of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.
In Hommage a Mozart I wanted to honor Mozart's gift for melody and his love for the vocal line, and the incredible feeling of spontaneity and improvisation of his music. This work is not a theme and variations: Mozart's themes are integrated within the music so they seem to grow out of the musical fabric. Two characteristics of the selected Mozart themes (a rhythmic motif and repeated notes) are an integral part of the work.
Hommage a Mozart has three distinct sections organized in a modified rondo form that flows without interruption. The main theme of this work is always varied every time it returns, sometimes with Mozart motifs embedded in it and undistinguishable. The contrasting sections are based on Mozart's themes.
Recorded by Eric Himy on Centaur Records (Homage a Mozart)

Miniatures for the Young

Year: 2004

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: Low (student/pedagogical)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Miniatures for the Young were commissioned by Dr. Charles Goodhue of San Antonio, TX, on the occasion of a recital of his piano students. It consists of three books: Bk. I (gr. 1,2); Bk. II (gr. 2,3); Bk. III (gr. 3-5).

Moments of change

Year: 2004

Duration (in minutes): 16'39;22'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: ii._habitation_sample_score_from_moments_of_change-5.pdf

Text PDF: moments_of_change_text_by_atwood-5.pdf

Description: Moments of change (2004) is based on five poems by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood: "The moment" from Morning in the Burned House; "Habitation, More and more, It is dangerous to read newspapers, and Late night" from Selected Poems 1965-1975. It was written for soprano Eileen Strempel and pianist Sylvie Beaudette. Partial support for this commission was provided by the Hanson Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.
I. The moment illustrates the false notion that makes us believe that we own land and other property in this world. Only to realize this is false when we die - we own them only temporarily. The music underscores the dramatic moments of the poem and the futile pursue of ownership: we work all our lives trying to acquire more property until we stop breathing and realize we were visitors in this world and we own nothing!
II. Habitation focuses on the moment when two people after many years of being married ask themselves what is marriage: “it is not a house, or even a tent, it is before that and colder”. The music is reflective, sparse and austere and it ends without an answer, the same way it started, just like the poem.
III. More and more is a very passionate poem about desire and its search to satisfy it not knowing why and not being able to stop it (“a starved dog’s logic about bones”). The music emphasizes intense and loaded words such as “burning”, “hunger”, “starved”, “consume, with dramatic shifts of mood and tempo.
IV. It is dangerous to read newspapers is the moment when we read a newspaper and realized the contrast between our safe daily lives in the cities and the violent acts of war being committed in other parts of the world. The music reflects these simultaneous realities, the safety of our daily lives and the horrors that take place in other places of the world.
V. Late night takes place on a night when a storm is attacking us like a “giant dog or wild boar with huge ears”, and when the powerful effect of the thunder on our windows and roof is terrifying… a moment later our thoughts anticipate the serene sky after the storm…then we realize that all that we want is our loved one (“screw poetry, it’s you that I want)”. The music reflects these extreme states of mind.

Voces de mi tierra for flute, cello & piano

Year: 2003

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: voces_de_mi_tierra_sample_score_pages-5.pdf

Voces de mi tierra for violin, cello & piano

Year: 2003

Duration (in minutes): 18'39; 25'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, cello, piano, violin

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Description: Arrangement of the original version of Voces de mi tierra for flute, cello & piano. Contact the composer for information on getting score.

Album for the Young (Book III)

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 9'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: vii.-homage-to-ginastera-5.pdf

Text PDF: album_for_the_young_vol._iii-5.pdf

Description: Album for the Young is collection of thirty-four short pieces ranging from early to late intermediate level organized in three books in order of difficulty. Book III is advanced level difficulty.
Album for the Young includes a wide range of styles: from Renaissance to contemporary in the first two books, and Spanish and Latin American idioms in the third book. Fingering, pedaling articulation marks and other performance indications are provided for each piece. The writing is melodic and non-polyphonic making it more accessible to the early intermediate student.
"Here is real piano music imaginately written with clever and interesting rhythms and beautiful harmonic coloring. It is a joy to have all three volumes of these pieces. Young students to adults will enjoy these eminently pianistic and delightful works that display a wide variety of styles." Professor Maurice Hinson.

Five Musings on the Past

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: iv._calor_pg._1-2_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: five_musings_on_the_past_for_soprano__piano_lyrics-5.pdf

Description: Five passionate and intense settings of poems written by the composer in 1992 (in Spanish) : El Deseo (Desire), Definición (Definition), El Pasado Perdido (The lost past), Calor (Heat), El Sol (The sun). Written for Rachel Rosales, soprano.
In 1992, the casual meeting of an old friend from the past in a busy city street prompted the revival of many memories, some going back to my teenage years. These intense feelings were translated to poetry in the span of 2 days in the form of eight poems. Five of these poems are set to music in this collection.

Album for the young (book I)

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: vii._elizabethan_dance-5.pdf

Text PDF: program_notes_vo._i-5.pdf

Description: Album for the Young is collection of thirty-four short pieces ranging from early to late intermediate level organized in three books in order of difficulty. Book I is early to intermediate level difficulty.
Album for the Young includes a wide range of styles: from Renaissance to contemporary in the first two books, and Spanish and Latin American idioms in the third book. Fingering, pedaling articulation marks and other performance indications are provided for each piece. The writing is melodic and non-polyphonic making it more accessible to the early intermediate student.
"Here is real piano music imaginately written with clever and interesting rhythms and beautiful harmonic coloring. It is a joy to have all three volumes of these pieces. Young students to adults will enjoy these eminently pianistic and delightful works that display a wide variety of styles." Professor Maurice Hinson.

Album for the Young (Book II)

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 11'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: viiviii._toccata_soldier-5.pdf

Text PDF: program_notes_vol_ii-5.pdf

Description: Album for the Young is collection of thirty-four short pieces ranging from early to late intermediate level organized in three books in order of difficulty. Book II is intermediate level difficulty.
Album for the Young includes a wide range of styles: from Renaissance to contemporary in the first two books, and Spanish and Latin American idioms in the third book. Fingering, pedaling articulation marks and other performance indications are provided for each piece. The writing is melodic and non-polyphonic making it more accessible to the early intermediate student.
"Here is real piano music imaginately written with clever and interesting rhythms and beautiful harmonic coloring. It is a joy to have all three volumes of these pieces. Young students to adults will enjoy these eminently pianistic and delightful works that display a wide variety of styles." Professor Maurice Hinson.

Bonna Domna

Year: 2001

Duration (in minutes): 8'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: One movement, lyrical work. Arrangement of the choral work of the same title for string orchestra. Choral version commissioned and read by Dale Warland Singers, 6/4/2001, Minneapolis.

Bonna Donna

Year: 2001

Duration (in minutes): 8'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: choral

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: One mov.lyrical work. Commissioned and read by Dale Warland Singers, 6/4/2001, Minneapolis. Lyrics by Provençal medieval writers trans. to English by composer; version for string ensemble available (without voices).

Winged Serpent

Year: 2001

Duration (in minutes): 10'39; 30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo woodwind with piano

Instruments: any woodwind, clarinet, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: winged_serpent_sample_score_pages-5.pdf

Text PDF: winged_serpent_notes-5.pdf

Description: One movement work based on a Native-American tale of origination of the Milky Way. Written and prem. by Kevin Schempf, cla, and composer, pn, at Bowling Green New Music Festival, 10/2001. Adv. Lev.

Lyric scenes for the young

Year: 2000

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Lyric Scenes for the Young was commissioned by Dr. Francis X. Kane of San Antonio, TX, on the occasion of his wife's Virginia C. Kane 75th birthdate. Six pieces: I. The little soldier; II. Andalusian landscape; III. Remembrance; IV. Children at play; V. A far away kingdom; VI. Catch me if you can.

Portraits I for piano

Year: 2000

Duration (in minutes): 19'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: portraits_i_score_sample_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Text PDF: portraits_i_for_piano_notes-5.pdf

Description: Portraits I was commissioned by the Texas Music Teachers Association and was premiered by Roger Wright at the Texas Music Teachers Association State Convention in Austin, Texas, on June 13, 2000. Portraits I was the winning work of the Music Teachers National Association Composition Competition and Elisenda was given the 2001 Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year Award. Portraits I includes five pieces representing a range of emotions: passion, lyricism and tenderness in Image; playfulness, verve and mischievousness in Capriccio; yearning and anguish in Lament; contemplation and reflection in Intermezzo; and vitality, endurance and decisiveness in the Toccata.

Cinco Soledades

Year: 1999

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: cinco_soledades_score_sample_mov._i_iii_v-5.pdf

Text PDF: cinco_soledades_text-5.pdf

Description: Five dramatic settings for lyric baritone and piano to poetry of Antonio Machado (Spanish); I. Desnuda esta la Tierra; II. Y era el Demonio; III. En Suenos; IV. Mi Hora; V. Anacreonte. Written for Timothy Jones.

Portraits II for Cl, Vln, Vlc, piano

Year: 1999

Duration (in minutes): 17'39;26'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, clarinet, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: portraits_ii_score_samples-5.pdf

Text PDF: portraits_ii_program_notes-9.pdf

Description: Four mov representing a range of emotions: passion and lyricism in "Image"; unpredictability and playfulness in "Capriccio"; tenderness and lightheartedness in "Cantilena and Dance"; and vitality and decisiviness in the "Finale". "Its tonal harmony, traditional forms and romantic sensibility mark 'Portraits II' as conservative, but the composer's individuality shows through in yearning dissonances, quirky juxtapositions of thematic material and a pervasive sensuality not unlike that of her native Barcelona." San Antonio Express News. Written for and prem. by SOLI Chamber Ensemble on 1/16/00, Ruth Taylor Hall, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX. Adv lev. CD avail. Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Portraits II for Fl, Vln, Vlc, Pno

Year: 1999

Duration (in minutes): 18'39;26'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: portraits_ii_flute_vln_vlc_pno_sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: portraits_ii_program_notes-11.pdf

Description: Arrangement of the work with the same title (originally for Cla, Vln, Vlc, Pno)

Mirage

Year: 1997

Duration (in minutes): 9'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: mirage_sample_score_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Description: One movement. Commissioned for the 1997 San Antonio International Piano Competition. Prem. Roger Wright, Ruth Taylor Hall, San Antonio TX, 10/25/97. New York premiere by Mi-Jung Im 5/1998. "...Mirage makes equal demands on a pianist's pyrotechnics, lyricism and sense of form. The style is rooted in the highly decorated tonal atmospherics of Scriabin, Ravel, and especially, Liszt." San Antonio News. CD on Eloquence (ABC Classics) avail. at www.rogerwright.net.

Andante Appassionato

Year: 1996

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;20'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo instrument other than piano, solo woodwind instrument

Instruments: any woodwind, flute

Publisher: Alphonse Leduc & Cie.

Score PDF: andante_appasionatto_sample_pg._1-5.pdf

Description: Dedicated to and comissioned in 1996 by the late Tallon Sterling Perkes, principal flutist of the San Antonio Symphony. Premiered by Perkes at the San Museum of Art in San Antonio on November 10, 1996.
"An unabashedly romantic work infused with dynamic rhythmic intensity and evocative melodies requiring a soulful and virtuosic temperament." T. Perkes.
"mood-swinging, and dramatic..." San Antonio Express News.

Sonata No. 2 For Violin & Piano

Year: 1995

Duration (in minutes): 14'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo string with piano

Instruments: any string, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Commissioned/Premiered by Ben Breen, vln, and composer, pn, New Music Festival, University of Texas at San Antonio. Four movements.

Sonata No. 1 for Flute and Piano

Year: 1995

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo woodwind with piano

Instruments: any woodwind, flute, piano

Publisher: Alphonse Leduc & Cie.

Score PDF: flute_sonata_sample_score_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Description: Very rhythmic work. Four movements. Commissioned by Tallon Perkes, princ fl San Antonio Symphony. Prem National Flute Convention, NYC, 8/96. Rec. Barbara Siesel and Composer. Adv lev. "A rhythmically dynamic work that fully exploits the technical and expressive resources of the flute. An exciting contest piece or recital showstopper" - T. Perkes. "[Fabregas] Flute Sonata [No.1] was notable in its sturdy and arresting generative themes." San Antonio Express-News. Pub.

Sonata No. 1 For Violin & Piano

Year: 1994

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo string with piano

Instruments: any string, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: sonata_no._1_for_violin__piano_score_samples-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned/Premiered Ben Breen, vln, and composer, pn, Mostly Women Composers Festival, Teachers College, CU, NYC. "Fabregas brand new Sonata for Violin and Piano has motoric, muscular, exciting fast movements flanking an intensely lrical, neo-romantic Elegy." Express News, San Antonio. Recorded by the Kobayashi/Gray Duo available on Albany records.

Five poems of Garcia Lorca

Year: 1992

Duration (in minutes): 12

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble

Instruments: clarinet

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: iv.__la_luna_asoma_pg._1_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: text_lyrics_five_poems_garcia_lorca-5.pdf

Description: Five Poems of García Lorca for soprano, cello, clarinet and piano was written for and premiered by the Gotham Ensemble on October 8, 1992, at the Greenwich House Music School in New York City, in commemoration of the 500 years of the discovery of America in 1492. The New York Times described the work written in "Imaginatively colored tonal idiom." - New York Times.
Five Poems of Garcia Lorca was inspired by five poems from Spanish poet Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), namely, “Casida del Llanto” from the collection El Diwan del Tamarit (1931-1935), “Un Punto Lejano,” “Ay!,” and “Fuera” from the collection El Poema del Cante Jondo (1921) and “La Luna Asoma” from the collection Canciones (1921-1924).
Casida del Llanto (Casida of the Lament) is characterized by the tritones of the melodic line. The long and unresolved ascending soprano lines reflect the anguish of the poem elicited by the incessant weeping that can be heard over and over through imaginary walls. The texture thickens towards the end and the piece ends with an unresolved crescendo that leads into the beginning of the second piece, Un Punto Lejano.
Un Punto Lejano (A Distant Point) has a transparent texture and the calm mood of the music evokes the naivety of children looking at a far and distant point. The abundance of quiet trills in the piano and clarinet, along with the hypnotic, repetitive bass line pattern in the piano, produce a dreamy impressionistic atmosphere.
Ay,! is the most Spanish sounding piece of the set. The expression “Ay!” is a typical poetic expression in "cante jondo." This movement is built around a syncopated melodic pattern in the soprano that is transformed into driven machine-like imitative and contrapuntal passages in the cello, piano and clarinet. Shifting key signatures create contrasting moods, especially in the C-flat minor middle section, where the bouncy quality of the piano accompaniment gives to the soprano melody the character of a waltz.
La Luna Asoma (When the Moon Appears) evokes the mysterious atmosphere and the symbolism of the poem by Lorca. To him, the moon is usually a female symbol with a double erotic and threatening meaning: she can be both the source of erotic pleasure and death-like pain. This symbol of the ambivalent dangerous female threat is evoked by the timeless impression given by the repetitive clock-like pattern in the piano, the gradual thickening of the texture and the slow and sustained drive to the final climax.
In Fuera (Out), the piano starts with a hurried and repetitive chromatic motif that introduces the dynamic and eerie first lines of the poetry ("abandoned screams float in the air, Andalusia stabber!"). Then the music continues in a calmer mood while the poet describes the Andalusian landscape. The end goes back to the hurried and repetitive chromatic motif of the beginning, bringing back the violent vision of the poet.

Five Songs For Soprano And Piano

Year: 1986

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Southern Music

Score PDF: i._el_silencio_pg._1_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: five_songs_lyrics-program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Five evocative and haunting settings of poems by F. Garcia Lorca (Spanish): "El silencio", "la mano imposible", "la luna negra", "las seis cuerdas", "clamor". Written for and prem. Rachel Rosales, sop., composer, pn. "Fabregas's idiom here [Five Songs] is a sinuous and erotic free tonality, influenced a bit by Ravel and by Schoenberg, but altogether fetching. "San Antonio Express News. "A well-crafted, impassioned scoring..." San Antonio Express News. CD avail. Leonarda Productions.

Reflexiones

Year: 1985

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Commissioned by the Maria Benitez Spanish Dance Com. Premiered by the composer and choreographed/danced by Maria Benitez at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., March 1986. One movement in three-parts: lyrical and slow sections flanking a fast a rhythmic section. The harmonies and rhythm have a subtle Spanish flavor.

Village scenes

Duration (in minutes): 6'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Instruments: mezzo soprano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Work inspired by memories of my childhood in the early 60s. In the summers I vacationed in Ullastrell, a very small village near Terrassa (Barcelona). The three poems that inspired the songs were written in early October of 2002, after returning from a trip to Spain. The poetry is in my native Catalonian language. Premiered by Anna Alás in Barcelona.

Mother Earth

This CD includes Mirage for piano solo. Mother Earth recording was envisioned by pianist Becky Billock and includes works inspired by nature by composers: Amy Beach, Marion Bauer, Henry Cowell, Edvard Grieg, Karen Tanaka, Bonnie McLarty, Elisenda Fabregas, Patrick Burke, Germaine Tailleferre, Robert Schultz, Katherine Hoover, Gwyneth Walker, and Kaja Bjørntvedt. Becky performed this program, including Mirage, in her 2018-19 Pacific Northwest tour.
“The subtitle of Mirage comes from a fragment of one of Elisenda Fábregas’ own poems, setting the mood for the shimmering beginning of the piece. “…I felt myself floating in a vast and magic space among tingling and shining stars…” The poem, in this context of the Mother Earth program, conjures up imagery of our planet as seen in its entirety from space. As Sally Ride noted after her first space mission, “The view of earth is absolutely spectacular… it makes you appreciate, actually, how fragile our existence is.” Becky Billock.
Mirage was commissioned for the San Antonio International Piano Competition in 1997. The premiere took place at the competition, performed by Silver Medalist Roger Wright. The New York premiere subsequently took place in 1998 and was performed by the competition’s Gold Medalist Mi-Jung Im. The San Antonio Express News wrote “…the piece makes equal demands on a pianist’s pyrotechnics, lyricism and sense of form…”

Composers: Elisenda Fabregas

Label's Website: elisendafabregas.com

Buy URL: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/beckybillock2

Buy URL 2: https://music.apple.com/us/album/mother-earth/1455818680

Catalan Wind Music, Naxos

It includes Symphony #1 by Elisenda Fabregas, performed by the Barcelona Symphonic Band conducted by Salvador Brotons. All works in the CD are world premiere recordings commissioned by the ensemble. " Elisenda Fábregas’ dramatic, and emotional First Symphony contrasts majestic grandeur with the expressiveness of Catalan song."

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas

Label: Naxos

Label's Website: elisendafabregas.com

Product ID: 8573915

Buy URL: https://naxosdirect.com/items/catalan-wind-music-vol.-2-490153

Buy URL 2: https://www.amazon.com/Catalan-Wind-Music-Jonathan-Camps/dp/B07NRKM2XZ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=catalan+wind+music+2&qid=1566872415&s=music&sr=1-1

Of Water and Clouds

This recording includes the Sonata for flute & piano by Elisenda Fábregas published by Alphonse Leduc & Cie. along with beautiful, melodic late 20th century pieces for Flute and Piano by some of the pioneers of the new tonal, accessible style in American music. The performers are Barbara Siesel, flute, and Fábregas herself as pianist/composer in this recording. Released in 2013. Available for download at CD Baby.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, Stefania de Kenessey, & others

Label: CDBaby.com

Buy URL: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/barbarasiesel

Amb veu de dona: Catalan Art Songs by Women Composers

Catalan Art Songs by women composers. Among the included composers are Carlota Garriga, Elisenda Fàbregas and Anna Cazurra. The CD includes 2 new song cycles that were written for the Barcelona Festival of Song. Tiempo de Amor by Elisenda Fàbregras, with poetry of Al andalusi poets Ibn Zaydun and Wallada and Tensho by Anna Cazurra with poetry of Carles Duarte i Montserrat. It also includes a cycle of Catalan traditional songs arranged by composer Carlota Garriga.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas

Label: Mundo Arts

Buy URL: https://www.amazon.com/Amb-Veu-Dona-Catalan-Composers/dp/B01MRNH0QR/ref=sr_1_1?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1538354994&sr=1-1-mp3-albums-bar-strip-0&keywords=Patricia+Caicedo%2C+Nikos+Stavlas+%26+Lenine+Santos

Buy URL 2: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/amb-veu-de-dona-catalan-art-songs-by-women-composers/1178752470

In Habitation

In Habitation: Musical Settings of Margaret Atwood Poetry by American Women Composers. Judith Cloud: Night Dreams; Elisenda Fabregas: Moments of Change; Amanda Harberg: Midnight Songs; Lori Laitman: Orange Afternoon Lover; Libby Larsen: Take; Tania Leon: Atwood Songs; Eileen Strempel, soprano; Sylvie Beaudette, piano

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, & others

Label: Centaur Records

Label's Website: www.efabregas.com

Product ID: CRC-3002

Buy URL: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=460842

Buy URL 2: http://www.amazon.com/Inhabitation-Musical-Settings-Margaret-Atwood/dp/B003A6X0V2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271466856&sr=1-1

Feminissimo!

Kobayashi/Gray Duo.
Laura Kobayashi, violin; Susan Keith Gray, piano
Includes Sonata #1 for violin and piano (1994) by Elisenda Fábregas and music by Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Emma Lou Diemmer, Meira Warshauer, Grazyna Bacewicz, Vitezlava Kapralova, Florence Price, Signe Lund and Anna Priscilla Risher.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, and others

Label: Albany Music Distributers (AMD)

Product ID: TROY 1081

Buy URL: http://www.albanyrecords.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=AR&Product_Code=TROY1081&Category_Code=WNR&Search=Feminissimo!&Offset=&filter_cat=&exclude_word=&the_fieldlist=g.SRCH_CODE|g.SRCH_NAME|g.SRCH_PRICE|g.SRCH_COMPOSER|g.SRCH_CONTENTS&range_low=&range_high=&dopowersearch=1&SRCH_CATEGORY_HF=&PowerSearch_Begin_Only=

Piano Masterpieces - Chopin, Debussy, Fabregas, et al / Roger Wright

Roger Wright, piano.
Includes Mirage by Elisenda Fábregas and works by Schumann, Debussy, Sculthorpe, Haydn, Liebermann, Chopin, and Rachmaninov

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, others.

Label: Available from the composer(s).

Product ID: ELO-461657

Homage to Mozart

Eric Himy, piano
Includes Hommage a Mozart by Elisenda Fábregas and music by Salieri, Ramette and Mozart.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, others.

Label: Centaur Records

Product ID: CRC-2849

Buy URL: http://www.amazon.com/Homage-to-Mozart/dp/B000M4RFD4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1233510588&sr=1-

Voices of the rainforest - I. Awakening

Composer: Elisenda Fábregas

Description: Voices of the Rainforest is a symbolic musical representation (not a literal description) of a day in the rain forest and the creatures that inhabit it. I. Awakening - From ‘morning night’ to ‘real morning.’ First a mix of darkness and light, then slowly the light filters through the tall trees taking over the darkness, and the stillness begins to move. Birdcalls and the incessant metallic buzzing of cicada calls and pulsing insects mark the beginning of a new day.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDLBCzC1rk

Homenatge a Pau Casals

Composer: Elisenda Fabregas

Description: An homage to Catalan cellist Pau Casals by using ‘El cant dels ocells’ (The song of the birds), an original traditional Catalan Christmas song that became internationally known as a symbol of peace and freedom. Performed by cellist Roger Morelló Ros.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB3WwJJoOZQ

Mirage - for solo piano

Composer: Elisenda Fábregas

Description: Performed here by Jinha Park. Mirage was commissioned for the San Antonio International Piano Competition in memory of Andrew Russell Gurwitz and was premiered at the San Antonio International Piano Competition by Silver Medalist Roger Wright. The NY premiere was performed by Gold Medalist Mi-Jung Im at Merkin Concert Hall.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6PJzQVQmH0

Colores Andaluces - for cello and piano

Composer: Elisenda Fábregas

Description: Colores Andaluces was written at the request of the late Françoise Groben, a cellist prizewinner of the Tchaikovsky Competition. Colores Andaluces is the product of intense and focused inspiration, a very spontaneous work written in a few days that is inspired by Spanish folk music, and especially Andalusian folk music. It consists of five short pieces.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMS9U6bupTg

BIOGRAPHY
“Fábregas is one gifted with a blue guitar. Her tunes are beyond us, yet ourselves.
Indeed they are tunes of things exactly as they are.”
--American Music Teacher Magazine
Spanish/American composer Elisenda Fábregas (b. in Terrassa, Barcelona) received doctorates from Columbia University Teachers College (Ed. D. Education) and the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (DMA musical composition); as a Fulbright scholar, she also received a Masters in piano performance from The Juilliard School. Before going to the US, she completed the highest studies as a pianist in Barcelona.  During her early career as a pianist, Elisenda performed throughout Europe and the US, including a Carnegie Recital Hall debut in New York. Currently, Elisenda is a Visiting Professor at Kyung-Hee University, Humanitas College, in Seoul, where she lives since 2010. For three years, she was a Visiting professor at Chugye University for the Arts (2010-2013) and, prior to Seoul, she was a professor at the University of San Antonio in Texas.
Fábregas’s music has been performed around the world including The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.; Merkin Concert Hall, New York; Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall; United Nations Conference, Beijing; La Salle Cortot, Paris; Ibero American Institute, Berlin; Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; Tapiola Symphony Concert Series, Finland; Sala Pau Casals de L’ Auditori de Barcelona; and Lansing Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series, Michigan. In 2016, The Bucheon Philharmonic commissioned and premiered Accents Catalans (2016) at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center during the SAC Orchestra Festival. The Wonju Philharmonic in South Korea, and the Santa Fe Orchestra have also commissioned and premiered symphonic works by Fábregas. In 2014, her Symphony No. 1 was premiered at the Sala Pau Casals of L’ Auditori in Barcelona, by the Barcelona Municipal Band, and recorded on Naxos. Elisenda has also written music for chamber ensemble, solo instruments, choir, and percussion ensemble.
Elisenda has been praised for writing with an “imaginatively colored... idiom” (The New York Times) and for possessing an “individuality [which] shows through in yearning dissonances, quirky juxtapositions of thematic material and a pervasive sensuality not unlike that of her native Barcelona” (San Antonio Express News). Fábregas’s music has been described as “complex and haunting” (Washington Post) with abundant “expressive long lines and gorgeous lyricism” (NATS Journal), and for having “an emotionally compelling aura” (New Mexican News) and a “marvelous sense of progression and development” (American Music Teacher Magazine).
Recordings of Elisenda’s compositions are available on Haenssler (Profil Edition), Albany Records, Centaur Records, Naxos, Mundo Arts, and NCA Classical Adventure Records; and her music is published by Hofmeister MusikVerlag (Leipzig, Germany), Alphonse Leduc & Cie. (Paris.), and Hidden Oaks Music Co.
COMPOSITIONS

Imitació del foc (Imitation of fire)

Year: 2018

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: imitacio_del_foc_sample_score_iv._pg._1-2_-_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: imitacio_del_foc_lyrics_wtranslation_engspanish-5.pdf

Description: Imitació del Foc (Imitation of fire) was commissioned by tenor, Isai Jess Munoz, to be premiered on March 19 at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania in a program titled “Viva Catalunya.” Additional concerts will be presented throughout the Spring of 2018, and it will be recorded on CD in August of 2018, along other music by Catalonian composers.
Imitació del foc is a song cycle for tenor and piano based on four poems in Catalan by Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel (1913-1938), a Spanish Balearic poet, who wrote in Catalan. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. He has a brief oeuvre but dense. His mature work, Imitation of fire (1938) turns him into the first Mallorcan poet who fully belongs to the twentieth century. Once the influence of the Mallorcan School has been overcome, the poetics of this last book are influenced by the generation of 1927, as well as by the avant-garde and specifically surrealism. There are also echoes of his interest in Spanish Baroque literature, along with a neo-populism similar to that of García Lorca or Rafael Alberti.
In Rosselló-Pòrcel work is notable the presence of the symbol of fire, and related words, such as fire, flame, fire, ash, charcoal burning and bonfires. The use of this symbol is not purely ornamental, but it reveals a deeper sense. The fire for Roselló is purification, the struggle of opposites, light, life, rise, movement and perpetual change, immateriality and mystery. This vision of the fire connects Rosselló-Porcell directly with a pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus, who found in fire an overcoming of all processes of change that view reality.
The four poems selected in this song-cycle come from the collection Imitacio del foc and Quadern de sonets (an earlier work).
I. Inici de campana (Bells start tolling) from Quadern de sonets, written in 1934
This opening piece starts brilliantlly with tolling bell-like sounds calling for the parishioners. The spiritual symbol of church bells can be associated with the creative power, poetry and its followers. Rossello’s poem describes the poet in the evening hearing church bells and settlying at dusk into his home as a metaphor for internal search.
II. Escolto la secreta...(I listen to the secret...) from Imitacio del Foc, Arbre de Flames). In this poem the poet explores the relation between himself and death when he “listens attentively to the secret harmony of the air and the ardor that trembles from great free waters.” The music is intimate and personal evoking the inner life and reflections of the poet.
III. Pluja brodada (Embroidered rain) from Imitacio del foc, Fira encesa, written in 1938, is a poem in which the poet extols and personifies the rain, a natural element, in a precious manner, first reminding us of the sound of rain in a graphic manner. At the beginning of the poem the rain ‘dances’ joyously but little by little takes on a restless character. The music evokes the sound and moods of the rain; the tímbric sound on the rain is portrayed by sparkling arpeggios in the higher register of the piano.
IV. Ardent himne (Ardent hymn) from Imitacio del foc, Arbre de Flames, written in 1938. This poem states the dichotomy between the poet and the angel. The text is imbued with action and extraordinarily dynamic power, with fire contrasting with angels (‘homes alats’) and the night, portraying a vision of the world as a fight between contrary and opposite forces that need each other to exist.

Accents Catalans for Symphony Orchestra

Year: 2016

Duration (in minutes): 12'39; 30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: accents_catalans_sample_pg._1-3-5.pdf

Text PDF: accents_catalans_program_notesinstrumentation-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned by the Bucheon Philharmonic and Maestro Youngmin Park of South Korea
Premiered on April 10, 2016, at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center as part of the annual Orchestra Festival at SAC.
Accents Catalans (Catalan Accents) is a one-movement work with three overall sections fast, slow, fast. This work is an homage to my native Catalonia, an area in the North-East of Spain with its own language, music and dance, known for its fiercely independent culture. In Accents Catalans I represent symbolically some indigenous traits (or accents) of Catalonia: 1) ‘playfulness’, represented by the joyful and spirited national dance, sardana; 2) ‘magical innocence’ exemplified in the purity of their children’s songs; 3) ‘longing and sadness’ present in the haunting folk songs; and 4) ‘quick mood changes’ from major (happy) to minor (sad) mode in much of the Catalonian traditional music. Another characteristic that greatly appeals to me is the spirituality that transpires in some of the older Catalonian songs, imbued with the ancient sound of medieval Gregorian chant.
All the above traits (or accents) can be found in the more overtly ‘Catalonian’ moments present in Accents Catalans. These include the beginning mountain call in the piccolo and the flute, referencing the song titled ‘Mountain shepherds’ (Els pastors de les muntanyes), accompanied by the tambourine. Variations of this ‘pastoral call’ reappear throughout the work in the woodwinds, either in its entirety or partially, acting as a musical question, which is answered by a new contrasting section. This mountain call and its variations connect much of the music in this work.
After the initial mountain call section, a new tune, syncopated and in major mode is introduced. This tune is initially played by the French horns and later the whole orchestra, eventually developed and combined with a rhythmic motive from the final dance (Dance of Castellterçol), leading to the Giocoso section. ‘The dance of barley” (El ball de la civada) is the main protagonist in this Giocoso section, set in a joyous major mode first with the brass and then the whole orchestra in a festive mood. Two variations of this tune, each time faster, lead to an exciting climax. Eventually an abrupt mood change returns with the mountain call and leading to the Moderato Cantabile. This is the center of gravity of the work featuring the tune “The little boy” (El petit vailet). This tune is a popular Catalonian sardana appearing first on the bass clarinet (f# minor) solo accompanied by the sardana rhythm () on the Provençal tambourine. The tune reappears dramatically in e minor with the full orchestra (Con passione) followed by several variations in triple rhythm. A later majestic entrance of the same tune in F# major occurs in the last section (Maestoso con spirito) played by the whole orchestra.
Before the final fast section, a timeless Incantato (enchanted) section featuring a Catalan tune “Dolls crying” (Les ninetes ploren) send us to a magical world with soft colors of woodwinds, wind chimes, harp, horns and strings. This is a dream world where time stops. But soon enough, the assertive final dance in minor blurts in, with driving syncopated rhythms, strong brass and full orchestra colors. This is based on the (Dance of Castellterçol) Dansa de Castellterçol. A couple of Playful sections in major mode change for a moment the mood to a child’s play before returning to the overtly rhythmical dance.
The interval of perfect 4th (so prevalent in Catalonian music) is present in many of the selected tunes, including the initial introductory piccolo/flute call, unifying motivically this work. Rhythmic and melodic motives from all these Catalan folk songs above are used in its original form, as well as varied and developed, resulting in new material that connects the tightly knitted fabric.

Repartido en espacio y en tiempo

Year: 2016

Duration (in minutes): 4'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano, solo voice(s) with solo instruments

Instruments: any brass, trumpet

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: repartido_en_tiempo_y_en_espacio__sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: repartido_en_tiempo_y_en_espacio_poetry-5.pdf

Description: “Repartido en tiempo y en espacio” (Split between time and space) for soprano, trumpet and piano (2016)
Based on a poem in Spanish titled "A Osiris" by Juan Eduardo Cirlot
Commissioned by and dedicated to Antoni Solé.
Premiered at Sole Luthiers Concert Hall in 2016 by Margarita Natividade, soprano, Xavier Ribera, piano.

Homenatge a Pau Casals (Homage to Pau Casals)

Year: 2015

Duration (in minutes): 7'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo string instrument

Instruments: cello

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: homenatge_a_pau_casals_sample_score_pg._1-5.pdf

Text PDF: homenatge_a_pau_casals_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Homenatge à Pau Casals (Homage to Pau Casals) for cello, was commissioned by American cellist David James Kim, in occasion of its premiere at the ‘Mas i Mas Festival’ in Barcelona on August 7, 2015. In this solo cello work, I pay homage to Catalan cellist Pau Casals by using ‘El cant dels ocells’ (The song of the birds), an original traditional Catalan Christmas song popularized by Pau Casals himself that became internationally known as a symbol of peace and freedom. Throughout this homage, I use the beginning ascending scale of ‘Cant dels ocells’ as a recurring motive embedded in the melodic structure. The tune in its entirety does not appear until the end as a symbol of hope for the future!

Tiempo de amor for soprano, tenor and piano

Year: 2015

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: tiempo_de_amor_sample_score_duet-5.pdf

Text PDF: tiempo_de_amor_for_soprano_tenor_and__piano_full_notes_-_text_in_english-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned by the 2015 Barcelona Festival of Song and director/soprano Patricia Caicedo.
Premiered on June 27, 2015, by Patricia Caicedo, soprano, Lenine Santos, tenor, and Nikos Stavlas, piano.
Texts by Ibn Zaydun and Wallada.
Tiempo de amor (Time for Love) (2015) for soprano, tenor and piano is set to texts by Andalusi poet Ibn Zaydun (1003-1071) and princess Wallada (1011-1091). Both poets were born in Cordoba at the height of the Al-Andalous culture in Spain and were known as the lovers of Cordoba, due to their passionate love relationship. The text used in this work are fragments of the letters they wrote to each other, which have come to us through Wallada in the form of poems.
This song cycle includes six songs that are sung without a break. The tenor (Ibn Zaydun) and soprano (Wallada) sing alternate songs as if it were a dialogue, sometimes questioning each other or commenting on the state of their relationship. The text of the last song are the epitaphs written in a monument in Cordoba dedicated to them.

Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano

Year: 2014

Duration (in minutes): 30'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra, piano trio (vln, vc, pno)

Instruments: cello, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: triple_concerto_score_samples-5.pdf

Text PDF: triple_concerto_program_notes-instrumentation-5.pdf

Description: Triple Concerto for piano trio & orchestra (2015) was commissioned by Trio Nova Mundi.
World premiere by Trio Nova Mundi and The Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by Juan R. Ramírez.
February 8, 2015, Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.

This concerto is a reflection on the state of coexistence among diverse populations of the world and an homage to the unique medieval culture of Al-Andalous in Spain, a culture in which three diverse populations - Arabs, Jews and Christians - coexisted harmoniously for almost eight centuries. Metaphorically, these three populations are represented by three soloists - sharing equally the limelight, interacting with each other, and dialoguing with the orchestra. There are three movements, each with a tripartite structure.
The first movement (Allegro moderato) features haunting harmonies and pleading melodic gestures evocative of flamenco, as well as an exciting cadenza-like passage for the three soloists in the center. The second movement starts and ends with a Pensaroso (Pensive) section that flanks an intense Appassionato and a triumphal section marked Con resoluzione. The third movement (Allegro deciso) is distinguished for its energy and rhythmic vitality, with an expressive and quasi-religious passage in the center played by the violin and the cello.

Symphony No. 1 for Symphonic Band

Year: 2013

Duration (in minutes): 25'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Instruments: alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, percussion, soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone, xylophone

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: symphony_no._1_mov_iv_sample_score-5.pdf

Description: Symphony No. 1 for Symphonic Band was commissioned by the Banda Municipal de Barcelona and is dedicated to its principal conductor Salvador Brotons, The premiere took take place at L'Auditori*, Sala 1, Pau Casals, in Barcelona on February 9, 2014. This concert included works by Sibelius (Finland) and Mussorgski (Pictures of an Exhibition) and was conducted by Maestro Youngmin Park.
This Symphony consists of four movements: movement I and IV are traditionally symphonic - dramatic, with extensive thematic and rhythmic development, textural contrasts and grand sonorities. The second movement, Canço, is intimate and has the melodic and expressive characteristics of a Catalonian song. The third movement, Scherzo, has an evocative melody in the central section framed with sections featuring playful ostinatos. The last movement, Tempo giusto is majestic and has the character of an epilogue, balancing the symphonic weight of the first movement and bringing back some of its thematic and rhythmic material. There is no program associated with this Symphony and is abstract in nature.

Wandering spirit

Year: 2013

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, piano, violin

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: wandering_spirit_fh_2330_score_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: wandering_spirit_fh_2330_notes-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned by Hungarian concert violinist Rodrigo Puskás.
Wandering spirit for violin and piano is a musical metaphor for the quest for truth, symbolized musically by moments of discovery, with longing and soaring solo lines in the violin, and moments of struggle marked by dissonant interaction between the violin and the piano. This work ends with a bright major harmony through which both the music resolves and the quest comes to an end.

Ancient walls

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo string instrument

Instruments: violin

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: fh3236_ancient-walls_pg._4-5.pdf

Text PDF: ancient-walls_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Ancient Walls for solo violin (2012) was commissioned by Hungarian concert violinist Rodrigo Puskás, living in South Korea.
Ancient Walls is a one-movement work for the violin that echoes the sounds of the ancient world. The title is a metaphor for the 'walls’ that, literally and figurative, sometimes separate cultures and people from each other; and also alludes to the common European heritage shared by Rodrigo Puskás and the composer, both natives of fiercely independent cultures that have struggled over time to retain their identity.

Caminos del duende

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 15

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: percussion ensemble

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Commissioned by the Seoul percussion ensemble 4Plus with Jae Hyun Yoon at the marimba. Premiered at the Seoul Arts Center Recital Hall, Korea, on July 21, 2012.
Performance at the International Percussion Music Festival of Seoul at KNUA (Korean National University for the Arts) on July 25, 2012
Caminos del 'duende' (The ways of 'duende')* for marimba, vibraphone and percussion explores aspects of the harmonic and expressionist worlds of Spanish and Catalonian music from a contemporary perspective. Consists of three movements:
I. Alma escorchada (Burning soul) - a dramatic dialogue between the marimba and the percussion.
II. Canco de desig (Song of desire) - a yearning vocal-type piece that evokes the lyricism of Catalan folk music.
III. Fiesta - a 'light character' piece with thicker texture and exciting rhythms.
*In Andalucia (Southern Spain) people say of certain toreros and flamenco artists that they have duende: "an inexplicable power of attraction, the ability, on rare occasions, to send waves of emotion through those watching and listening to them." Poet Garcia Lorca wrote extensively about duende extending its meaning to artists whose inspiration went beyond the concept of 'muse'. Lorca's duende is irrational, close to nature, has an acute awareness of death, and is a bit diabolical. Lorca's duende has also elements of the religious and a deep sense of internal struggle and pain.

Retorn a la terra for narrator and large chamber ensemble

Year: 2012

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: larger chamber ensembles - more than 4 players

Instruments: any brass, any string, any woodwind, bassoon, clarinet, contrabass, percussion, trombone, trumpet, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: retorn_a_la_terra_sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: notestext-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned and Premiered by the Virtuoso Ensemble on May 26, 2012, under the direction of Unai Urrecho at the Hwaseong Arts Center (Ban Sook Concert Hall of the Dong Tan Art Center of Hwaseong), South-Korea.
This composition was inspired by two Catalan poems: Retorn a Catalunya by Josep Carner and La Sardana by Joan Maragall. The first poem is narrated in its entirety and certain parts repeated at certain points in the first and second movements. Carner's poem portrays the excitement of the poet returning to his native country describing the most characteristic attributes. In the first movement the music is inspired by the anticipation of the return, the excitement at seeing familiar landscapes and vegetation, as well as meeting the Catalan people; in the second movement, connected to the first without a stop, the music freely uses a melancolic Catalan melody that imbues a religious tone to the entire movement. The third movement uses the basic sardana rhythm as well as certain melodic turns typical of sardana's melodies.
Retorn a la terra uses the same instrumentation as L'Histoire du soldat by Stravinsky and both works will be performed at the same concert. Retorn a la terra consists of three movements (the first two are connected.)
I. La terra de foc (The land of fire)
II. Records (Memories)
III. Dansa (Dance)

Terra Mater for Symphony Orchestra

Year: 2011

Duration (in minutes): 14'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Instruments: bassoon, cello, clarinet, contrabass, English horn, flute, harp, horn, oboe, percussion, piccolo, timpani, trombone, trumpet, tuba, viola, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: terra_mater_sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: terra_mater_program_notes-instrumentation-5.pdf

Description: Terra Mater is a compact one movement dramatic work for symphony orchestra (approx. 10') that deals symbolically with the creative and destructive powers of nature.
Terra Mater follows the footsteps of Voices of the Rainforest (2007), another work dealing with nature. However the content and gestures of Terra Mater have a deeper sense of urgency. I have always felt that the earth is an organism just like we are, and as such it deserves our respect. If we fail to take care of the earth it may lead to our own destruction. Beneath the dramatic gestures of Terra Mater there is an underlying and compelling lament that surfaces at crucial points of the piece connecting the various strains and providing structure. I have wanted to write an orchestral work on this topic for long time and I welcome this opportunity with excitement. The recent weather events in all parts of the world make nature a 'hot' topic and I am eager to make a contribution in musical terms. I live now in Seoul and last summer I had the chance to experience the Asian monsoon season; it was apparently one of the hottest and rainiest summers on record in Seoul. This extreme Korean weather reminded me of the Texas summer storms at most violent. To me there is nothing more awesome and overwhelming than the power of nature. I can understand how ealier civilizations, much more connected with nature than we are, worshipped many elements of the physical world with its capacity to create and destroy.

Goyescas for flute, viola & piano (2009)

Year: 2009

Duration (in minutes): 19'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: mixed instrument ensemble, mixed instrument trio, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, flute, piano, viola

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: iv._el_sueno_from_goyescas_score_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: goyescas_goyas_illustrations-11.pdf

Description: Goyescas for fl, vla and piano is an arrangement of six short pieces originally commissioned and premiered by flutist Marina Piccinini and guitarist Emanuele Segre at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society on January 23, 2009. This arrangement was done for the Ensemble Gaudi.
I was inspired to write Goyescas to express musically my impressions of five paintings by Francisco Goya. Some pieces have a Spanish folk flavor imparted by mysterious harmonic and modal overtones while others have fiery dance rhythms and and infectious spirit that imbue this cycle with a special fire and vitality found in the music of the Spanish people. I especially enjoy spicing up my melodies with grace notes and the elaborate, intricate melismas (ornamental melodic embellishments) found in Flamenco music and other traditional folk music of Spain. I have blended these musical traditions with contemporary compositional techniques that meld these ancient forms into a poetic, lyrical and intimate personal musical language.
I. Pregón is a brilliant fanfare that echoes the brash trumpet calls (or pregones) that imperiously summoned villagers to important communal festivals. In this occasion they announce the arrival of the Royal family.
II. La familia de Carlos IV (the family of Charles IV) is inspired by a portrait of the majestic and noble royal family of Charles IV of Spain.
III. Las majas en el balcón (The maiden on the balcony) depicts two sultry ‘majas’ (maidens) flanked by two threatening ‘guadias civiles’ (Spanish police).
IV. El sueño (The dream) is Goya’s poetic, sensual and passionate depiction of a vulnerable and mysterious sleeping woman.
V. La Fragua (The foundry) is a grim, dark portrait of three men toiling at a blazing forge.
VI. Toque is a variation of the initial Pregón that announces the whimsical and playful ‘Gallina Ciega.’
VII. La gallina ciega (Blind men's bluff) is Goya’s humored, sunny depiction of a childhood game of “blind man’s bluff.”

Gacelas de amor (2009)

Year: 2009

Duration (in minutes): 9'39; 30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble

Instruments: any female voice, any medium voice, any voice, any woodwind, flute, mezzo soprano, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: i._gacela_amor_desesperado_pg._1-2_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: gacelas_de_amor_lyrics-5.pdf

Description: Gacelas de amor (2009) is based on three poems by Spanish poet Federico García Lorca including Gacela III: Del amor desesperado and Gacela IX: Del amor maravilloso, both from Diván del Tamarit (1931-1934) and Lucia Martinez, from Canciones 1921-1924.
In the Gacelas, the passionate and sensual voice of Lorca burns with maximum intensity. The Gacelas are amorous and erotic in nature and portray metaphorically both the suffering and ecstasy brought by love. Lorca was inspired by the original Persian ‘ghazal,’ a poetic form that traditionally dealt with illicit and unattainable love. Musically this work is set in an evocative but subtle Spanish musical atmosphere with modal overtones.
This work was commissioned by Christiane Meininger and it was written and premiered by male soprano Jörg Waschinski and Christiane Meininger at the Center for International Light Art in Unna (Germany) on June 18, 2009. The concert was sponsored by the American Embassy, the Zentrum for Information und Bildung in Unna, the Center for International Light Art in Unna, and a travel grant from the Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University.
I. Gacela del amor desesperado (Gacela of desperate love) – this poem describes the desperate impatience and obstacles that two lovers face to see each other: ‘the night refuses to come so you can’t come and I can’t go (to see you)’ but there is always hope in overcoming the obstacles – ‘but I will go… and you will come…(regardless of the obstacles)’.
II. ‘Lucia Martinez’ is a passionate, sensual and erotic description of Lucia Martinez. The music is teasing, sinuous and mysterious but keeps a proud stance with a rocking rhythm - in a Spanish manner.
III. Gacela del amor maravilloso (Gacela of marvelous love) unravels the happy qualities of love and courtship. The music is joyful and hopeful in nature.

Solitary

Year: 2009

Duration (in minutes): 3'39;45'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any male voice, any medium voice, any string, any voice, any woodwind, baritone voice, cello, clarinet, piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: solitary_score_sample_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Text PDF: solitarynotestext-5.pdf

Description: Solitary for baritone, clarinet, cello and piano, based on poetry by Hollis Robins, was commissioned by Andrew Talle and was premiered at Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins in the fall of 2009.
According to Robins, the poem Solitary is part of a sonnet sequence called “Sonnets of Imprisonment,” which are all loosely about being bound either by the form or by real or psychological bars. The poet William Wordsworth considered the sonnet form both constraining and liberating; in this longer sequence Robins says that she explores the nature of formal and psychological constraints as they work together. The music attempts to capture the frame of mind of the narrator when faced by real or imaginary threats: the dreadful ‘waiting’ of the footsteps of the guards; the resistance to what one is “supposed to do’ and the violent consequences; the ‘remembrance’ of ‘normal’ life; the foreseeable dread and inevitability of an certain future.

Goyescas for flute and guitar

Year: 2008

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: mixed instrument ensemble, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, flute, guitar

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: goyescas_fl__gui_pg._5-7_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: goyescas_goyas_illustrations-9.pdf

Description: "Goyescas" is a cycle of six short pieces commissioned and premiered by flutist Marina Piccinini and guitarist Emanuele Segre at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society on January 23, 2009. I was inspired to write Goyescas to express musically my impressions of six exciting paintings by Francisco Goya. This work has a Spanish folk flavor imparted by mysterious harmonic and modal overtones. The fiery dance rhythms and the infectious spirit imbue this cycle with a special fire and vitality only found in the music of the Spanish people. I especially enjoy spicing up my melodies with grace notes and the elaborate, intricate melismas (ornamental melodic embellishments) found in Flamenco music and other traditional folk music of Spain. I have blended these beloved musical traditions with contemporary compositional techniques that meld these ancient forms into a poetic, lyrical and intimate personal musical language.
I. Pregón is a brilliant fanfare that echoes the brash trumpet calls (or pregones) that imperiously summoned villagers to important communal festivals.
II. La familia de Carlos IV is inspired by a portrait of the majestic and noble royal family of Charles IV of Spain.
III. Las majas en el balcón depicts two sultry 'majas' (maidens) flanked by two threatening 'guardias civiles' (Spanish police).
IV. El sueño (the dream) is Goya's poetic, sensual and passionate depiction of a vulnerable and mysterious sleeping woman.
V. La Fragua (the forge) is a grim, dark portrait of three men toiling at a blazing forge.
VI. La gallina ciega (Blind men's bluff), is a bright, festive work that captures the carnival atmosphere of an ancient Spanish tradition at which the purifying and regenerative forces of fire consume a sardine on Ash Wednesday, one of the holiest of religious holidays in Spain.

Homenatge a Mompou

Year: 2007

Duration (in minutes): 9'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: homenatge_a_mompou_pg._2-5.pdf

Text PDF: homenatge_a_mompou_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Homenatge a Mompou (Homage to Mompou) for piano, was commissioned by Dutch pianist Marcel Worms in occasion of the 25th Anniversary of Mompou’s death in 2006. The premiere took place on November 2007 in an all-Mompou music festival in Amsterdam. Being myself a native of Catalonia, this commission was very special for me since I played for Mompou in 1977 and his music has always been very dear to me.
This work consists of a set of three pieces that are connected to Mompou in a variety of ways: (I) through direct quotation of a rhythmic/melodic ‘motif’ Mompou’s music, (II) the use of Spanish folksongs, and (III) by celebrating the most playful musical personality of Mompou.
I. “Crits en el carrer” (Screams in the street)
II. “Tinc una nina vestida de blau” (I have a doll with a blue dress)
III. “Jocs en el carrer” (Street games)

Voices of the rainforest

Year: 2007

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: mixed instrument ensemble, mixed instrument trio, small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: iv._voices_of_insight_night_from_voices_of_the_rainforest-5.pdf

Description: Voices of the rainforest for flute (alto flute), cello and piano (2007) was written for the Meininger-Trio, who performed the premiere at the Ibero American Institute in Berlin on March 14, 2008, followed by a live broadcasted performance at the WDR Radio Station in Cologne, Germany, on March 15, 2008.
Voices of the rainforest is a loose representation of a day in the life of the rainforest in Papua New Guinea. This work came about as a result of my life-long fascination and love for nature and a request from Christiane Meininger. A recording of actual sounds of insects, barking frogs, birds, and the singing of natives of the Papua New Guinea rainforest was the final inspiration for this work.
I. Awakening – At first a mix of darkness and light, then slowly the light filters through the tall trees taking over the darkness, and the stillness begins to move. Birdcalls and the incessant metallic buzzing of insects mark the beginning of a new day. The natives call this part of the day ‘from morning night’ to ‘real morning’. The flute starts with a birdcall that will be an important structural element in this work. This movement leads without interruption to the second movement.
II. Sago gatherers – During the ‘afternoon darkening’ human voices appear in the forest. The Kaluli women in Papua New Guinea cut and collect ‘sago’, an essential food plant in their diet. They sing haunting monotonous calls inflected with irregular accents while they work. First is one voice, and then other voices join in like a cacophonous choir.
III. Evening rainstorm – “wind arrives, sounds explode”. Cicada calls, barking frogs and the insistent metallic buzzing of pulsing insects brings “afternoon darkening” and the arrival of the daily downpour, the wild wind, the random crash of weak branches, the sonic boom of thunder … a cacophony of sounds.
IV. Voices of ‘inside’ night –The expressiveness of the ‘alto flute’ reflects on the mystery of the rainforest night and the quiet sorrow of the creatures within.
V. Night spirits is an abstract representation of a ceremonial night-dance by which natives drive their dead (spirits) away. Hundreds of dancers run wildly to the edge of a central fire while the chorus sings a song, the dancers then move wildly, doing a circling dance around the fire until dawn, driving the spirits of the dead away and leaving the tribe in peace.

Flaming rock

Year: 2007

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: choral

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: flamingrock_pg._1-5_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: flamingrock_text-5.pdf

Description: The Flaming Rock (La Roca Llameante) was commissioned by the Allegro Chorale and Orchestra Inc. (Nyela Basney as Artistic Director) and written for the Cassatt String Quartet. The world premiere took place in Midland and Odessa, Texas, on November 17 and 18, 2007. The text is both in English and Spanish.
The original seed of inspiration for this work came from an imaginative myth of the creation of the world from the oral tradition of the Omaha Nation. This myth contains a powerful central image of a rock exploding and rising through the water, bursting into flames and vaporizing into the air in clouds thus providing a home for all the spirits existing in the mind of Wakonda, the maker of all things.
The images that led to the “exploding rock” provided me with a clear structure for this work: the stillness and uncertainty of the beginning of the universe when nothing exists except in the mind of Wakonda; the sadness and disappointment of the spirits going about in space and floating through the air, searching for a place to call home and to become flesh and blood; an earthshaking climactic surprise when a great rock appears bursting into flames - rising through the vaporizing waters and becoming dry land; a sense of relief and resolution when the spirits become flesh and blood feeding on the seeds of the grasses and trees; the joy and gratitude of all beings to Wakonda, the maker of all things.
The most challenging aspect of this commission was to make the text understandable to both the English and Spanish audience for whom this work was written. To this end I included both the entire Spanish and English version of the text. To meet this challenge I used a variety of textural devices: dialogues between one voice in Spanish and the other in English, solos that sing in Spanish what the chorus has just sung in English, solos in Spanish sung between choir passages in English, echo and antiphonal effects, and narration. These textural devices also helped me balance the forces of a string quartet with a full chorus. I kept the texture as transparent as possible in order to avoid drowning the string quartet with the full choir and to preserve the intelligibility of the text by using vocal solos, duets, trios, a cappella, solo strings, and string interludes in addition to full choir with strings in climactic moments.

Colores Andaluces

Year: 2006

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo string with piano

Instruments: any string, cello, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: colores_andaluces_-_iii._nana_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: colores_andaluces_program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Colores Andaluces for cello & piano is a work written in the Spanish idiom at the request of cellist Françoise Groben. Colores Andaluces is the product of intense and focused inspiration, a very spontaneous work written in a few days.
Recording of Colores Andaluces is available on "Der Seelenvogel - The Soulbird." Product ID: LC-12281. Available from: Amazon.com
www.naxosdirect.com

Hommage à Mozart

Year: 2005

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: hommage_a_mozart_score_sample_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Text PDF: hommage_a_mozart_analysis-5.pdf

Description: Hommage a Mozart was commissioned by concert pianist Eric Himy and performed in a worldwide concert tour in 2006 - the year of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.
In Hommage a Mozart I wanted to honor Mozart's gift for melody and his love for the vocal line, and the incredible feeling of spontaneity and improvisation of his music. This work is not a theme and variations: Mozart's themes are integrated within the music so they seem to grow out of the musical fabric. Two characteristics of the selected Mozart themes (a rhythmic motif and repeated notes) are an integral part of the work.
Hommage a Mozart has three distinct sections organized in a modified rondo form that flows without interruption. The main theme of this work is always varied every time it returns, sometimes with Mozart motifs embedded in it and undistinguishable. The contrasting sections are based on Mozart's themes.
Recorded by Eric Himy on Centaur Records (Homage a Mozart)

Miniatures for the Young

Year: 2004

Duration (in minutes): 20'39;

Difficulty: Low (student/pedagogical)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Miniatures for the Young were commissioned by Dr. Charles Goodhue of San Antonio, TX, on the occasion of a recital of his piano students. It consists of three books: Bk. I (gr. 1,2); Bk. II (gr. 2,3); Bk. III (gr. 3-5).

Moments of change

Year: 2004

Duration (in minutes): 16'39;22'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: ii._habitation_sample_score_from_moments_of_change-5.pdf

Text PDF: moments_of_change_text_by_atwood-5.pdf

Description: Moments of change (2004) is based on five poems by Canadian writer Margaret Atwood: "The moment" from Morning in the Burned House; "Habitation, More and more, It is dangerous to read newspapers, and Late night" from Selected Poems 1965-1975. It was written for soprano Eileen Strempel and pianist Sylvie Beaudette. Partial support for this commission was provided by the Hanson Institute for American Music of the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester.
I. The moment illustrates the false notion that makes us believe that we own land and other property in this world. Only to realize this is false when we die - we own them only temporarily. The music underscores the dramatic moments of the poem and the futile pursue of ownership: we work all our lives trying to acquire more property until we stop breathing and realize we were visitors in this world and we own nothing!
II. Habitation focuses on the moment when two people after many years of being married ask themselves what is marriage: “it is not a house, or even a tent, it is before that and colder”. The music is reflective, sparse and austere and it ends without an answer, the same way it started, just like the poem.
III. More and more is a very passionate poem about desire and its search to satisfy it not knowing why and not being able to stop it (“a starved dog’s logic about bones”). The music emphasizes intense and loaded words such as “burning”, “hunger”, “starved”, “consume, with dramatic shifts of mood and tempo.
IV. It is dangerous to read newspapers is the moment when we read a newspaper and realized the contrast between our safe daily lives in the cities and the violent acts of war being committed in other parts of the world. The music reflects these simultaneous realities, the safety of our daily lives and the horrors that take place in other places of the world.
V. Late night takes place on a night when a storm is attacking us like a “giant dog or wild boar with huge ears”, and when the powerful effect of the thunder on our windows and roof is terrifying… a moment later our thoughts anticipate the serene sky after the storm…then we realize that all that we want is our loved one (“screw poetry, it’s you that I want)”. The music reflects these extreme states of mind.

Voces de mi tierra for flute, cello & piano

Year: 2003

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: voces_de_mi_tierra_sample_score_pages-5.pdf

Voces de mi tierra for violin, cello & piano

Year: 2003

Duration (in minutes): 18'39; 25'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, cello, piano, violin

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Description: Arrangement of the original version of Voces de mi tierra for flute, cello & piano. Contact the composer for information on getting score.

Album for the Young (Book III)

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 9'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: vii.-homage-to-ginastera-5.pdf

Text PDF: album_for_the_young_vol._iii-5.pdf

Description: Album for the Young is collection of thirty-four short pieces ranging from early to late intermediate level organized in three books in order of difficulty. Book III is advanced level difficulty.
Album for the Young includes a wide range of styles: from Renaissance to contemporary in the first two books, and Spanish and Latin American idioms in the third book. Fingering, pedaling articulation marks and other performance indications are provided for each piece. The writing is melodic and non-polyphonic making it more accessible to the early intermediate student.
"Here is real piano music imaginately written with clever and interesting rhythms and beautiful harmonic coloring. It is a joy to have all three volumes of these pieces. Young students to adults will enjoy these eminently pianistic and delightful works that display a wide variety of styles." Professor Maurice Hinson.

Five Musings on the Past

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: iv._calor_pg._1-2_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: five_musings_on_the_past_for_soprano__piano_lyrics-5.pdf

Description: Five passionate and intense settings of poems written by the composer in 1992 (in Spanish) : El Deseo (Desire), Definición (Definition), El Pasado Perdido (The lost past), Calor (Heat), El Sol (The sun). Written for Rachel Rosales, soprano.
In 1992, the casual meeting of an old friend from the past in a busy city street prompted the revival of many memories, some going back to my teenage years. These intense feelings were translated to poetry in the span of 2 days in the form of eight poems. Five of these poems are set to music in this collection.

Album for the young (book I)

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 12'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: vii._elizabethan_dance-5.pdf

Text PDF: program_notes_vo._i-5.pdf

Description: Album for the Young is collection of thirty-four short pieces ranging from early to late intermediate level organized in three books in order of difficulty. Book I is early to intermediate level difficulty.
Album for the Young includes a wide range of styles: from Renaissance to contemporary in the first two books, and Spanish and Latin American idioms in the third book. Fingering, pedaling articulation marks and other performance indications are provided for each piece. The writing is melodic and non-polyphonic making it more accessible to the early intermediate student.
"Here is real piano music imaginately written with clever and interesting rhythms and beautiful harmonic coloring. It is a joy to have all three volumes of these pieces. Young students to adults will enjoy these eminently pianistic and delightful works that display a wide variety of styles." Professor Maurice Hinson.

Album for the Young (Book II)

Year: 2002

Duration (in minutes): 11'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: viiviii._toccata_soldier-5.pdf

Text PDF: program_notes_vol_ii-5.pdf

Description: Album for the Young is collection of thirty-four short pieces ranging from early to late intermediate level organized in three books in order of difficulty. Book II is intermediate level difficulty.
Album for the Young includes a wide range of styles: from Renaissance to contemporary in the first two books, and Spanish and Latin American idioms in the third book. Fingering, pedaling articulation marks and other performance indications are provided for each piece. The writing is melodic and non-polyphonic making it more accessible to the early intermediate student.
"Here is real piano music imaginately written with clever and interesting rhythms and beautiful harmonic coloring. It is a joy to have all three volumes of these pieces. Young students to adults will enjoy these eminently pianistic and delightful works that display a wide variety of styles." Professor Maurice Hinson.

Bonna Domna

Year: 2001

Duration (in minutes): 8'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: orchestra and chamber orchestra

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: One movement, lyrical work. Arrangement of the choral work of the same title for string orchestra. Choral version commissioned and read by Dale Warland Singers, 6/4/2001, Minneapolis.

Bonna Donna

Year: 2001

Duration (in minutes): 8'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: choral

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: One mov.lyrical work. Commissioned and read by Dale Warland Singers, 6/4/2001, Minneapolis. Lyrics by Provençal medieval writers trans. to English by composer; version for string ensemble available (without voices).

Winged Serpent

Year: 2001

Duration (in minutes): 10'39; 30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo woodwind with piano

Instruments: any woodwind, clarinet, piano

Publisher: Hofmeister Musikverlag

Score PDF: winged_serpent_sample_score_pages-5.pdf

Text PDF: winged_serpent_notes-5.pdf

Description: One movement work based on a Native-American tale of origination of the Milky Way. Written and prem. by Kevin Schempf, cla, and composer, pn, at Bowling Green New Music Festival, 10/2001. Adv. Lev.

Lyric scenes for the young

Year: 2000

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Lyric Scenes for the Young was commissioned by Dr. Francis X. Kane of San Antonio, TX, on the occasion of his wife's Virginia C. Kane 75th birthdate. Six pieces: I. The little soldier; II. Andalusian landscape; III. Remembrance; IV. Children at play; V. A far away kingdom; VI. Catch me if you can.

Portraits I for piano

Year: 2000

Duration (in minutes): 19'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: portraits_i_score_sample_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Text PDF: portraits_i_for_piano_notes-5.pdf

Description: Portraits I was commissioned by the Texas Music Teachers Association and was premiered by Roger Wright at the Texas Music Teachers Association State Convention in Austin, Texas, on June 13, 2000. Portraits I was the winning work of the Music Teachers National Association Composition Competition and Elisenda was given the 2001 Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year Award. Portraits I includes five pieces representing a range of emotions: passion, lyricism and tenderness in Image; playfulness, verve and mischievousness in Capriccio; yearning and anguish in Lament; contemplation and reflection in Intermezzo; and vitality, endurance and decisiveness in the Toccata.

Cinco Soledades

Year: 1999

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: cinco_soledades_score_sample_mov._i_iii_v-5.pdf

Text PDF: cinco_soledades_text-5.pdf

Description: Five dramatic settings for lyric baritone and piano to poetry of Antonio Machado (Spanish); I. Desnuda esta la Tierra; II. Y era el Demonio; III. En Suenos; IV. Mi Hora; V. Anacreonte. Written for Timothy Jones.

Portraits II for Cl, Vln, Vlc, piano

Year: 1999

Duration (in minutes): 17'39;26'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, clarinet, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: portraits_ii_score_samples-5.pdf

Text PDF: portraits_ii_program_notes-9.pdf

Description: Four mov representing a range of emotions: passion and lyricism in "Image"; unpredictability and playfulness in "Capriccio"; tenderness and lightheartedness in "Cantilena and Dance"; and vitality and decisiviness in the "Finale". "Its tonal harmony, traditional forms and romantic sensibility mark 'Portraits II' as conservative, but the composer's individuality shows through in yearning dissonances, quirky juxtapositions of thematic material and a pervasive sensuality not unlike that of her native Barcelona." San Antonio Express News. Written for and prem. by SOLI Chamber Ensemble on 1/16/00, Ruth Taylor Hall, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX. Adv lev. CD avail. Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Portraits II for Fl, Vln, Vlc, Pno

Year: 1999

Duration (in minutes): 18'39;26'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players

Instruments: any string, any woodwind, cello, flute, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: portraits_ii_flute_vln_vlc_pno_sample_score-5.pdf

Text PDF: portraits_ii_program_notes-11.pdf

Description: Arrangement of the work with the same title (originally for Cla, Vln, Vlc, Pno)

Mirage

Year: 1997

Duration (in minutes): 9'39;30'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: mirage_sample_score_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Description: One movement. Commissioned for the 1997 San Antonio International Piano Competition. Prem. Roger Wright, Ruth Taylor Hall, San Antonio TX, 10/25/97. New York premiere by Mi-Jung Im 5/1998. "...Mirage makes equal demands on a pianist's pyrotechnics, lyricism and sense of form. The style is rooted in the highly decorated tonal atmospherics of Scriabin, Ravel, and especially, Liszt." San Antonio News. CD on Eloquence (ABC Classics) avail. at www.rogerwright.net.

Andante Appassionato

Year: 1996

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;20'34;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo instrument other than piano, solo woodwind instrument

Instruments: any woodwind, flute

Publisher: Alphonse Leduc & Cie.

Score PDF: andante_appasionatto_sample_pg._1-5.pdf

Description: Dedicated to and comissioned in 1996 by the late Tallon Sterling Perkes, principal flutist of the San Antonio Symphony. Premiered by Perkes at the San Museum of Art in San Antonio on November 10, 1996.
"An unabashedly romantic work infused with dynamic rhythmic intensity and evocative melodies requiring a soulful and virtuosic temperament." T. Perkes.
"mood-swinging, and dramatic..." San Antonio Express News.

Sonata No. 2 For Violin & Piano

Year: 1995

Duration (in minutes): 14'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo string with piano

Instruments: any string, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Commissioned/Premiered by Ben Breen, vln, and composer, pn, New Music Festival, University of Texas at San Antonio. Four movements.

Sonata No. 1 for Flute and Piano

Year: 1995

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo woodwind with piano

Instruments: any woodwind, flute, piano

Publisher: Alphonse Leduc & Cie.

Score PDF: flute_sonata_sample_score_pg._1-2-5.pdf

Description: Very rhythmic work. Four movements. Commissioned by Tallon Perkes, princ fl San Antonio Symphony. Prem National Flute Convention, NYC, 8/96. Rec. Barbara Siesel and Composer. Adv lev. "A rhythmically dynamic work that fully exploits the technical and expressive resources of the flute. An exciting contest piece or recital showstopper" - T. Perkes. "[Fabregas] Flute Sonata [No.1] was notable in its sturdy and arresting generative themes." San Antonio Express-News. Pub.

Sonata No. 1 For Violin & Piano

Year: 1994

Duration (in minutes): 10'39;

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: small chamber ensembles - 2 to 4 players, solo instrument with piano, solo string with piano

Instruments: any string, piano, violin

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: sonata_no._1_for_violin__piano_score_samples-5.pdf

Description: Commissioned/Premiered Ben Breen, vln, and composer, pn, Mostly Women Composers Festival, Teachers College, CU, NYC. "Fabregas brand new Sonata for Violin and Piano has motoric, muscular, exciting fast movements flanking an intensely lrical, neo-romantic Elegy." Express News, San Antonio. Recorded by the Kobayashi/Gray Duo available on Albany records.

Five poems of Garcia Lorca

Year: 1992

Duration (in minutes): 12

Difficulty: High (professional)

Category: solo voice(s) with chamber ensemble

Instruments: clarinet

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Score PDF: iv.__la_luna_asoma_pg._1_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: text_lyrics_five_poems_garcia_lorca-5.pdf

Description: Five Poems of García Lorca for soprano, cello, clarinet and piano was written for and premiered by the Gotham Ensemble on October 8, 1992, at the Greenwich House Music School in New York City, in commemoration of the 500 years of the discovery of America in 1492. The New York Times described the work written in "Imaginatively colored tonal idiom." - New York Times.
Five Poems of Garcia Lorca was inspired by five poems from Spanish poet Federico García Lorca (1898-1936), namely, “Casida del Llanto” from the collection El Diwan del Tamarit (1931-1935), “Un Punto Lejano,” “Ay!,” and “Fuera” from the collection El Poema del Cante Jondo (1921) and “La Luna Asoma” from the collection Canciones (1921-1924).
Casida del Llanto (Casida of the Lament) is characterized by the tritones of the melodic line. The long and unresolved ascending soprano lines reflect the anguish of the poem elicited by the incessant weeping that can be heard over and over through imaginary walls. The texture thickens towards the end and the piece ends with an unresolved crescendo that leads into the beginning of the second piece, Un Punto Lejano.
Un Punto Lejano (A Distant Point) has a transparent texture and the calm mood of the music evokes the naivety of children looking at a far and distant point. The abundance of quiet trills in the piano and clarinet, along with the hypnotic, repetitive bass line pattern in the piano, produce a dreamy impressionistic atmosphere.
Ay,! is the most Spanish sounding piece of the set. The expression “Ay!” is a typical poetic expression in "cante jondo." This movement is built around a syncopated melodic pattern in the soprano that is transformed into driven machine-like imitative and contrapuntal passages in the cello, piano and clarinet. Shifting key signatures create contrasting moods, especially in the C-flat minor middle section, where the bouncy quality of the piano accompaniment gives to the soprano melody the character of a waltz.
La Luna Asoma (When the Moon Appears) evokes the mysterious atmosphere and the symbolism of the poem by Lorca. To him, the moon is usually a female symbol with a double erotic and threatening meaning: she can be both the source of erotic pleasure and death-like pain. This symbol of the ambivalent dangerous female threat is evoked by the timeless impression given by the repetitive clock-like pattern in the piano, the gradual thickening of the texture and the slow and sustained drive to the final climax.
In Fuera (Out), the piano starts with a hurried and repetitive chromatic motif that introduces the dynamic and eerie first lines of the poetry ("abandoned screams float in the air, Andalusia stabber!"). Then the music continues in a calmer mood while the poet describes the Andalusian landscape. The end goes back to the hurried and repetitive chromatic motif of the beginning, bringing back the violent vision of the poet.

Five Songs For Soprano And Piano

Year: 1986

Duration (in minutes): 15'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Publisher: Southern Music

Score PDF: i._el_silencio_pg._1_sample-5.pdf

Text PDF: five_songs_lyrics-program_notes-5.pdf

Description: Five evocative and haunting settings of poems by F. Garcia Lorca (Spanish): "El silencio", "la mano imposible", "la luna negra", "las seis cuerdas", "clamor". Written for and prem. Rachel Rosales, sop., composer, pn. "Fabregas's idiom here [Five Songs] is a sinuous and erotic free tonality, influenced a bit by Ravel and by Schoenberg, but altogether fetching. "San Antonio Express News. "A well-crafted, impassioned scoring..." San Antonio Express News. CD avail. Leonarda Productions.

Reflexiones

Year: 1985

Duration (in minutes): 5'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: piano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Commissioned by the Maria Benitez Spanish Dance Com. Premiered by the composer and choreographed/danced by Maria Benitez at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., March 1986. One movement in three-parts: lyrical and slow sections flanking a fast a rhythmic section. The harmonies and rhythm have a subtle Spanish flavor.

Village scenes

Duration (in minutes): 6'39;

Difficulty: Medium (college/community)

Category: solo voice(s) with piano

Instruments: mezzo soprano

Publisher: Hidden Oaks Music Co.

Description: Work inspired by memories of my childhood in the early 60s. In the summers I vacationed in Ullastrell, a very small village near Terrassa (Barcelona). The three poems that inspired the songs were written in early October of 2002, after returning from a trip to Spain. The poetry is in my native Catalonian language. Premiered by Anna Alás in Barcelona.

CDs

Mother Earth

This CD includes Mirage for piano solo. Mother Earth recording was envisioned by pianist Becky Billock and includes works inspired by nature by composers: Amy Beach, Marion Bauer, Henry Cowell, Edvard Grieg, Karen Tanaka, Bonnie McLarty, Elisenda Fabregas, Patrick Burke, Germaine Tailleferre, Robert Schultz, Katherine Hoover, Gwyneth Walker, and Kaja Bjørntvedt. Becky performed this program, including Mirage, in her 2018-19 Pacific Northwest tour.
“The subtitle of Mirage comes from a fragment of one of Elisenda Fábregas’ own poems, setting the mood for the shimmering beginning of the piece. “…I felt myself floating in a vast and magic space among tingling and shining stars…” The poem, in this context of the Mother Earth program, conjures up imagery of our planet as seen in its entirety from space. As Sally Ride noted after her first space mission, “The view of earth is absolutely spectacular… it makes you appreciate, actually, how fragile our existence is.” Becky Billock.
Mirage was commissioned for the San Antonio International Piano Competition in 1997. The premiere took place at the competition, performed by Silver Medalist Roger Wright. The New York premiere subsequently took place in 1998 and was performed by the competition’s Gold Medalist Mi-Jung Im. The San Antonio Express News wrote “…the piece makes equal demands on a pianist’s pyrotechnics, lyricism and sense of form…”

Composers: Elisenda Fabregas

Label's Website: elisendafabregas.com

Buy URL 2: https://music.apple.com/us/album/mother-earth/1455818680

Catalan Wind Music, Naxos

It includes Symphony #1 by Elisenda Fabregas, performed by the Barcelona Symphonic Band conducted by Salvador Brotons. All works in the CD are world premiere recordings commissioned by the ensemble. " Elisenda Fábregas’ dramatic, and emotional First Symphony contrasts majestic grandeur with the expressiveness of Catalan song."

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas

Label: Naxos

Label's Website: elisendafabregas.com

Product ID: 8573915

Buy URL 2: https://www.amazon.com/Catalan-Wind-Music-Jonathan-Camps/dp/B07NRKM2XZ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=catalan+wind+music+2&qid=1566872415&s=music&sr=1-1

Of Water and Clouds

This recording includes the Sonata for flute & piano by Elisenda Fábregas published by Alphonse Leduc & Cie. along with beautiful, melodic late 20th century pieces for Flute and Piano by some of the pioneers of the new tonal, accessible style in American music. The performers are Barbara Siesel, flute, and Fábregas herself as pianist/composer in this recording. Released in 2013. Available for download at CD Baby.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, Stefania de Kenessey, & others

Label: CDBaby.com

Amb veu de dona: Catalan Art Songs by Women Composers

Catalan Art Songs by women composers. Among the included composers are Carlota Garriga, Elisenda Fàbregas and Anna Cazurra. The CD includes 2 new song cycles that were written for the Barcelona Festival of Song. Tiempo de Amor by Elisenda Fàbregras, with poetry of Al andalusi poets Ibn Zaydun and Wallada and Tensho by Anna Cazurra with poetry of Carles Duarte i Montserrat. It also includes a cycle of Catalan traditional songs arranged by composer Carlota Garriga.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas

Label: Mundo Arts

Buy URL 2: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/amb-veu-de-dona-catalan-art-songs-by-women-composers/1178752470

Der Seelenvogel - The Soulbird

'Colores Andaluces' for cello, and piano

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, and others

Label's Website: www.efabregas.com

Product ID: LC-12281

Buy URL 2: http://www.naxosdirect.com/SPITZNAGEL-FABREGAS-MCDOWALL---SOULBIRD/title/60247/

In Habitation

In Habitation: Musical Settings of Margaret Atwood Poetry by American Women Composers. Judith Cloud: Night Dreams; Elisenda Fabregas: Moments of Change; Amanda Harberg: Midnight Songs; Lori Laitman: Orange Afternoon Lover; Libby Larsen: Take; Tania Leon: Atwood Songs; Eileen Strempel, soprano; Sylvie Beaudette, piano

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, & others

Label: Centaur Records

Label's Website: www.efabregas.com

Product ID: CRC-3002

Buy URL 2: http://www.amazon.com/Inhabitation-Musical-Settings-Margaret-Atwood/dp/B003A6X0V2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271466856&sr=1-1

Feminissimo!

Kobayashi/Gray Duo.
Laura Kobayashi, violin; Susan Keith Gray, piano
Includes Sonata #1 for violin and piano (1994) by Elisenda Fábregas and music by Pauline Viardot-Garcia, Emma Lou Diemmer, Meira Warshauer, Grazyna Bacewicz, Vitezlava Kapralova, Florence Price, Signe Lund and Anna Priscilla Risher.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, and others

Label: Albany Music Distributers (AMD)

Product ID: TROY 1081

Piano Masterpieces - Chopin, Debussy, Fabregas, et al / Roger Wright

Roger Wright, piano.
Includes Mirage by Elisenda Fábregas and works by Schumann, Debussy, Sculthorpe, Haydn, Liebermann, Chopin, and Rachmaninov

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, others.

Label: Available from the composer(s).

Product ID: ELO-461657

Homage to Mozart

Eric Himy, piano
Includes Hommage a Mozart by Elisenda Fábregas and music by Salieri, Ramette and Mozart.

Composers: Elisenda Fábregas, others.

Label: Centaur Records

Product ID: CRC-2849

VIDEOS

Voices of the rainforest - I. Awakening

Composer: Elisenda Fábregas

Description: Voices of the Rainforest is a symbolic musical representation (not a literal description) of a day in the rain forest and the creatures that inhabit it. I. Awakening - From ‘morning night’ to ‘real morning.’ First a mix of darkness and light, then slowly the light filters through the tall trees taking over the darkness, and the stillness begins to move. Birdcalls and the incessant metallic buzzing of cicada calls and pulsing insects mark the beginning of a new day.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dDLBCzC1rk

Homenatge a Pau Casals

Composer: Elisenda Fabregas

Description: An homage to Catalan cellist Pau Casals by using ‘El cant dels ocells’ (The song of the birds), an original traditional Catalan Christmas song that became internationally known as a symbol of peace and freedom. Performed by cellist Roger Morelló Ros.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB3WwJJoOZQ

Mirage - for solo piano

Composer: Elisenda Fábregas

Description: Performed here by Jinha Park. Mirage was commissioned for the San Antonio International Piano Competition in memory of Andrew Russell Gurwitz and was premiered at the San Antonio International Piano Competition by Silver Medalist Roger Wright. The NY premiere was performed by Gold Medalist Mi-Jung Im at Merkin Concert Hall.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6PJzQVQmH0

Colores Andaluces - for cello and piano

Composer: Elisenda Fábregas

Description: Colores Andaluces was written at the request of the late Françoise Groben, a cellist prizewinner of the Tchaikovsky Competition. Colores Andaluces is the product of intense and focused inspiration, a very spontaneous work written in a few days that is inspired by Spanish folk music, and especially Andalusian folk music. It consists of five short pieces.

Video URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMS9U6bupTg

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