Waltz from the Incidental Music to Lermontov's Play “Masquerade”

SKU: ST.C463

ISBN 9790570814633.

This volume contains contrasting works by Federico Ruiz spanning quite a large and rich period of his compositional output that goes from his early Micro-Suite (1971), to lilting, sweet and rhythmic Venezuelan waltzes passing by the mysterious, intimate, and intense Nocturno (1994) plus pieces originally composed for film, and theatre. Real eclecticism in styles, moods and atmospheres that show Ruiz�??s talents and scope.

The Nocturno is a deep, intriguing, substantial piece presenting a satisfying length which moves from different paths of the mind and the heart written in an abstract, chromatic idiom, that does not dissociate itself from the Venezuelan waltz and the joropo. One could perhaps say that there is a deconstruction of the latter. For the interpretation, the composer has suggested to me that it is allowed to have some flexibility in the tempo. Ruiz kindly dedicated it to me, and I have had the pleasure of performing it in many concerts.

Although all highly expressive, the Three Venezuelan Waltzes present in this collection as well as the piece titled Aliseo, are works that are close to the colourful Venezuelan folk tradition. Federico Ruiz had given me two of them when we first met: �??Tu Presencia�?? (1981) and �??Eloísa�?? (1989) and then I attended a performance of the play �??Office Number One�?? by Miguel Otero Silva with a fantastic actor, Elba Escobar in the role of Carmen Rosa and, I just fell in love and was very moved by the incidental music that I later discovered, by reading the programme, had been written by Federico Ruiz. Later that evening, I called him and asked to please make a piano score of the composition, so I could have the desired piece in my hands. That is how �??Carmen Rosa�?� waltz (1987) came to exist in a piano version.

�??Eloisa�?? is another Venezuelan waltz with more jazzy harmonies where precision in the rhythm and elegant playing is also essential, as it is in most of his pieces.

�??Tu Presencia�?? was dedicated to his mother, Margarita. It is written with the structure of the Venezuelan waltz, which consists of a nostalgic subject that leads to a faster, happier middle section where the typical graceful rhythm is given by the left-hand accompaniment figure of a dotted crotchet followed by a quaver and a crotchet.

The craft and magic found in the five movements of the Micro-Suite is based on a dodecaphonic row by Ernst Krenek. They remind us of the idiom of the Second Viennese School. These real miniatures seem to tell short stories. The �??Preludio�?? is full of humour. I imagine dancing figures given by the jumps all over the keyboard and extreme dynamics; the phrases give the impression of a conversation with many questions and answers. The �??Invención�?? is a kaleidoscopic piece where the hands mirror each other. The �??Passacaglia�?? is the longest movement, at just over a minute where the prime motif is repeated three times on the bass line. For its construction Federico Ruiz uses as well the retrograde and the retrograde inversion of the twelve-tone series. It must be played expressively with dynamic contrasts between pianissimo and louder events. The �??Scherzo�?? has repetitive motifs of a minor third in both hands and the �??Final�?? displays virtuosic passages for the pianist.

Aliseo was originally written for the film �??Aire libre�?� (1995), by Luis Armando Roche. It contains elements of diverse types of Venezuelan joropo. In the film, the character of Aliseo Carvallo is played by the composer himself who performs this piece on a harpsichord to welcome scientists Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland one day at the turn of the 1800�??s, as a sample of the new music from the South American land. It presents the refinement of the late European classical era in fusion with Venezuelan folk music.

SKU: FH.VC7

ISBN 978-1-55440-543-5.

This inaugural edition of the Cello Series offers a sound and progressive collection of Repertoire, Recordings, Etudes, Technique, and Orchestral Excerpts for the aspiring cellist. With an expansive representation of musical styles from all eras, this series addresses the need for a single collection of quality educational materials to foster musical development and instill appreciation of the richness and diversity of music written for cello. Supporting a balanced course of study, this series organizes repertoire into nine volumes from the Preparatory Level through Level 8. Each level offers music from a range of styles and compositional eras, including standard literature, new arrangements of familiar tunes, and music written for cellists, by cellists. These selections provide the flexibility to choose pedagogically appropriate material suited to each individual, and to motivate students to fully develop their musicianship and technique.
Level 7:
Il barbiere di Siviglia: Overture - Rossini, Gioachino
Carmen: Prelude to act 1 - Bizet, Georges
Coriolan Overture, op. 62 - Beethoven, Ludwig van
Symphony No. 94 (Surprise), Hob. I:94: I,IV - Haydn, Franz Joseph
Ruslan and Ludmilla: Overture - Glinka, Mikhail
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, op. 46: I,III,IV - Grieg, Edvard
Level 8:
Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream, op. 61: I - Mendelssohn, Felix
Symphony No. 8, op. 88: I,IV - Dvorak, Antonin
The Nutcracker, op. 71: Russian Dance, Waltz of the Flowers, Pas de deux - Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich
Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished), D 759: I,II - Schubert, Franz
Die Zauberfloete, K 620: Overture - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Symphony No. 40, K 550: I,IV - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Level 9:
Symphony No. 9, op. 125: II,IV - Beethoven, Ludwig van
Symphony No. 8, op. 93: III - Beethoven, Ludwig van
Serenade for Strings, op. 22: III,IV,V - Dvorak, Antonin
Piano Concerto No. 2, op. 83: III - Brahms, Johannes
Serenade for Strings, op. 48: I,II,III,IV - Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich
Symphony No. 4 (Italian), op. 90: I,IV - Mendelssohn, Felix
Symphony No. 3, op. 90: III,IV - Brahms, Johannes
Symphony No. 35 (Haffner), K 385: I,IV - Mozart, Wolfgang
Le nozze di Figaro, K 492: Overture - Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Level 10:
Group 1:
Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma), op. 36: Variation 12 - Elgar, Edvard
Dichter und Bauer: Overture - Suppe, Franz von
Messa da Requiem: III - Verdi, Giuseppe
Guillame Tell: Overture - Rossini, Gioachino
Group 2:
Symphonie fantastique: II,III,V - Berlioz, Hector
Symphony No. 4, op. 36: I,II,IV - Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich
Symphony No. 5, op. 67: I,II,III - Beethoven, Ludwig van
Symphony No. 4, op. 98: I,II,III,IV - Brahms, Johannes
Symphony No. 6 (Pathetique), op. 74: I,II - Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Il'yich
Symphony No. 2, op. 73: I,II,IV - Brahms, Johannes
Associate:
Group 1:
Symphony No. 5, op. 100: I,II,III,IV - Prokofiev, Sergei
La mer: I,II - Debussy, Claude
The Bartered Bride: Overture - Smetana, Bed_ich
Symphony No. 5, op. 47: I,II,III - Shostakovich, Dmitri
Group 2:
Matthaus-Passion, BWV: Komm, suesses Kreutz - Bach, Johann Sebastian
Don Juan, op. 20 - Strauss, Richard
Ein Heldenleben, op. 40 - Strauss, Richard
Verklaerte Nach1, op. 4 - Schoenberg, Arnold.