Nicaraguan Symphonies

2021 is the centenary of the first performance of Luis Abraham Delgadillo’s Sinfonía Centroamericana, sixty years since the death of the composer, and sixty years since the birth of Geoffrey Álvarez who, as son of a Nicaraguan – inspired by the culture of this vibrant, colourful land – continues developing the country’s symphonic tradition with his Sinfonía Nicaragüense, it is envisioned that both these symphonies be presented both on CD and in concert.

 

download excerpt of score • request full score • digital realisation • duration 34′ 23″

INSTRUMENTATION

Flute, Oboe, Oboe II/Cor Anglais, 2 Clarinets in B flat, 2 Bassoons,
2 Horns in F, 2 Cornets in B flat, 2 Trombones, Tuba,
Timpani, Percussion: Atabal (double-headed drum), Panderetos (tambourine), Cymbals, Strings.

First performance, Sept. 14, 1921, Guatemala City,
Guatemala Orchestra, Composer conducting.  

New edition by Geoffrey Álvarez.
This work was provided by the Edwin A. Fleisher Collection of Orchestral Music
at the Free Library of Philadelphia

Luis Abraham Delgadillo remains one of the most distinguished Nicaraguan musicians, composing a variety of works, some four hundred in total, from symphonies to the national anthem as well as founding Nicaragua’s National School of Music and a symphony orchestra.

Some works, like Sinfonía Centroamericana draw on colourful folk traditions whilst others, such as Obertura Schoenbergiana draw on the European Second Viennese school.

The portrait photograph of Delgadillo is by Phortus - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27559

download score • digital realisation • duration 47′ 13″

Instrumentation

 

Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in B flat, 2 Bassoons,
2 Horns in F, 2 Trumpets in B flat, 2 Trombones, Tuba,
Percussion (two players) (Clashed Cymbals, Tubular Bells,
Large Gong, Snare Drum, Bass Drum) Timpani,  Harp,
Soprano, Bass, Double Choir, Strings

Composerʼs note

My ninth symphony is a setting of parts of Ernesto Cardenal’s epic poem Cántico Cósmico. Cardenal is one of Nicaragua’s most distinctive voices – this is my second work to drawn on Nicaraguan poetry, the first – Triptico Nicaragüense – setting Ruben Darío – an exploration of my father’s cultural heritage.

I have chosen to focus on five aspects of Cardenal’s monumental vision: creation as coitus, a fervent social consciousness, a quiet meditation on the beauty of his home in Solentiname (illustrated above), the grim political realities of Nicaraguan history,
and a burning revolutionary spirit.

Musically, the five movements of the work form an arc, beginning with an extended tone-poem dealing with creation, followed by a short ʻscherzoʼ dealing with a tragic accident with a sugar press, the central ʻAdagioʼ, another ʻscherzoʼ dealing with political torture, concluding with Beethovenian call to revolution.

Recent recordings featuring the work of Geoffrey Álvarez have received awards or distinugished comments, for instance his CD Hölderlinfenster received the accolade What a Performance Winner 2020 from The Art Music Lounge as well as receiving five stars in the review in Musical Opinion, his Draco was included on the CD Bóreas Ventus II under the auspices of UNESCO conducted in Granada, Spain by Pablo Rojas, a publically available example of an ealier collaboration is Hiperbórea.

A current major project, Jubal’s Viola, a recording of Jewish music with virtuoso Austrian viola player Wolfgang Wölfer-Roth and legendary pianist Julia Goldstein is destined for similar acclaim. A further projected venture with Mro Wölfer-Roth will be Sex Carmina; Linguis Sex, including a setting of Terremoto, by internationally reknowned Nicaraguan poet Ruben Darío.

Geoffrey Álvarez conducting the Brass Ensemble of the Maltese Philharmonic Orchestra with Russian virtuoso organist Daniel Zaretzky in the premiere of his St Paul’s Shipwreck and Serpent in St Paul’s Pro-Cathedral, Malta.



Biographical Notes

My father, Francisco José Álvarez Matus, was born in La Concepción, Nicaragua and pursued a career as a university lecturer in Mathematics. In the late 50’s he left his country to live in the UK where he worked with a Hungarian refugee in a technical translation company and met my mother. They married in 1960.

 

This shows the post wedding party with the Nicaraguan ambassador, bottom far left, with my father to his right and my mother, to his right.

My parents subsequently moved back to Nicaragua but returned the England at the end of 1961 where I was born, having been conceived on the Panama canal. I recall, at around the age of two, being fêted at the Nicaraguan consulate in London for being the first son born to an expatriate father in London, money being slipped into the breast pocket of my knitted suit by the dignitaries present, and receiving Nicaraguan nationality.


Geoffrey Álvarez at the Polish Embassy in London with Lady Panufnik (middle) and
Polish harpist Elżbieta Baklarz during rehearsals of a premier by Polish composer
Bogusław Schäffer and The Jewish Cemetary of Łódź and Fantasia on a Theme by Tansman by Geoffrey Álvarez with the Álvarez Chamber Orchestra

 

Enquires regarding this project and contributions may be made using Paypal,
under the auspices of the Álvarez Chamber Orchestra
The Álvarez Chamber Orchestra
An International Voice for Contemporary Music
Founder President: Sir Colin Davis CH, CBE
Honorary Vice President: Maestro Zygmunt Krauze
Conductor: Dr Geoffrey Álvarez

The Álvarez Chamber Orchestra is a Registered Charity
No. 1120668 and a Company Limited by Guarantee No. 6227728.
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Registered Office: 5 Rensburg Road London E17 7HL