"Retrato III" for Bassoon Quartet and Harpsichord by Eddie Mora (Costa Rica) *English Version

mayo 26, 2021

"Retrato III" for Bassoon Quartet and Harpsichord by Eddie Mora (Costa Rica) *English Version

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Hi everyone! Today we have arrived at a tropical paradise called Costa Rica, the Calypso and the beautiful natural reserves dazzle us, but there is something enigmatic about this place and it's the "Retrato III" for Bassoon Quartet and Harpsichord by Eddie Mora.

"Retrato III" begins with a small theme in the voice of a bassoon and the harpsichord, the other voices of the quartet are quickly integrated into a kind of choral and rhythmic conjunction that delicately draws timbral nuances that together with the harpsichord create an atmosphere of mystery with a particular approaching to the baroque style that will be present throughout the piece, at the same time the composer plays with new technical resources such as frullato and beautiful cadences that allow us to admire his compositional proposal between modern and ancient.

As the piece progresses we hear a dense rhythmic development with dissonances and cadences that play with each other; we are reaching the conclusion of "Retratos", and we hear a surprising intervention of the harpsichord with a small cadence, to end with the main theme as it began and with a perfect chord the piece is finished.

In conclusion, "Retrato III" is a wonderful piece with many contrasts that, although it presents us with work baroque influences, at the same time we can appreciate the variety of dissonances and modern technical resources used in it, as well as the presence of minimalism exposed in the main theme. The whole work as a melodic cell that we will listen to constantly, the continuity of the musical discourse from "Retratos" II to III with a perfect musical connection is also notable.

The piece was written in 2005 together with the series of works "Retratos" I to V, Retratos III is a work commissioned by the Phoenix Quartet and it was premiered and recorded live at the University of Texas (USA) 2005, with the participation of professor María Clara Vargas on the Harpsichord; The Phoenix Quartet included this piece in their album "Aires Latinoamericanos" Published in 2007, as well as this work, is part of the album "Premières" by composer Eddie Mora published in 2010.

Eddie Mora

Composer

Maestro Eddie Mora is graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory; currently, he works as artistic director of the Heredia Symphony Orchestra, Winner of the Latin Grammy Award 2017, as director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica in the category "Best Classical Music Album", He has been nominated on several occasions as a composer and director for the Latin Grammy Awards (2014-2016, 2018 and 2020).

As a composer and director, he has recorded a significant number of albums throughout his career produced in the United States, England, and Spain. Due to his great experience as both director and composer, he is a highly prestigious musician inside and outside of Costa Rica.

Phoenix Quartet

The quartet was founded in 1993 by her director, Maestra Isabel Jeremías, in its beginnings, the group was formed so that its bassoon students had an academic space that complements their studies, little by little the quartet began to leave the university environment to become an artistic group of great importance in the music scene since then the quartet has always been integrated by students and graduates from the School of Musical Arts of the UCR under the direction of Maestra Isabel Jeremías.

The quartet has three record productions: "Latin American Music" (2001), "Baroque Landscape" (2003), and "Latin American Aires" (2007). They have participated in different festivals and congresses, including the prestigious International Double Reed Society (IDRS) in the years (2000, 2005, 2007, and 2010).

Due to the great trajectory of the group and its consolidation through the years and the great leadership of Maestra Isabel Jeremías, they make the Phoenix Quartet one of the most important in the American continent.

Thank you very much for joining me on this musical trip where we discovered a wonderful piece and we were able to admire the magnificent work of professor Isabel Jeremías and her Phoenix Quartet!

See you next week in Peru!