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Fragmentos de Altazor

Fragments of Altazor
Written in:
2010
Duration:
15'
Instrumentation:
2 sopranos, contralto, tenor (sings also countertenor), baritone and bass soli
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Commisioned by

Commissioned by Musik der Jahrhunderte in 2010.

Premiere

Premiered on 11th December 2010 at the Theaterhaus, Stuttgart by the
 Neue vocalsolisten.

Programme Note

First published in 1931, Altazor the book-length epic poem by the Chilean poet Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948). For Fragmentos de Altazor I have chosen excerpts of this poem which gave a wide range of possibilities to explore the adventurous vocal virtuosity of Neue Vocalsolisten, for whom it is dedicated.  The poem describes an existential  fall in a parachute.

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I have shaped the chosen excerpts of the different cantos into a dramatic musical shape, which begins with a call for Altazor and ends with existential questions, having gone through the fall.