A rich palette of styles and emotions. Popular and worth discovering. Two rising stars perform “their” music from the New World – highly energetic, sensitive and delicate, expressive. Pavel Efremov from Chișinău and the Spaniard Luis González Garrido present their favorite pieces by composers from the USA and Argentina, alongside works by Eastern European composers inspired by the music of the Americas: new worlds in music. Music for the world.
As full of cruelty and horror as America’s history of colonization and immigration may be, the cultural diversity that emerged and continues to grow from the mix of peoples is fascinating. Isn’t this the true wealth of the “New World”? The name was a promise: of adventure and gold, desires and fame, a life free from hunger and poverty, freedom and social mobility. The English dominated the north of the New World, the Iberians established colonies in the south, and the continent split culturally in two. In Latin America, the folk music of immigrants from Southern Europe blended with each other, with the music of Indigenous people and African slaves: Latin styles emerged along with South American-tinged Baroque music. In the USA, European music fused with that of People of Color, giving birth to Jazz, Soul, and Rock’n’Roll. These musical styles could never have emerged in Europe, yet they would not exist without the classical and folk influences of the Old World: new worlds.
Thus, Pavel Efremov and Luis González Garrido perform American music: Gershwin’s original mix of classical, blues, and jazz, the jazz standard “Spain” by Chick Corea, which quotes and plays up the Adagio from Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez.” Hypnotic and meditative are the subtle changes in melody and harmony in Philip Glass’s “crazy rush,” and enchanting is the Mazurka, a waltz form originating from Poland, by Amy Beach. The crossing: the “Coffin Ship” by the Pole Sweresz evokes the ships of European immigrants to the New World. From Argentina: Milonga and Tango, classically processed by Ginastera from Buenos Aires and by the Russian emigrants Schnittke and Stravinsky. And Tango Nuevo by Piazzolla, the son of Italian-Argentine immigrants who moved to New York and returned to Buenos Aires twelve years later. Piazzolla revolutionized traditional tango into Tango Nuevo in Paris by fusing it with classical music and jazz. Something entirely new in between by Alex Nante from Argentina, a world citizen trained there, in Paris, and in London. “Incontri” are encounters – organic, abstract, spiritual – a new world, in a world premiere.