"Concertino a Moquegua" for Bassoon and Orchestra by Alejandro Nuñez Allauca (Peru) *English Version

mayo 06, 2021

"Concertino a Moquegua" for Bassoon and Orchestra by Alejandro Nuñez Allauca (Peru) *English Version

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Hi everyone! Today we are in Moquegua a beautiful city from Peru, visiting the Peruvian costs and discovering the "Concertino a Moquegua" for Bassoon and Orchestra by Alejandro Nuñez Allauca

"The Concertino a Moquegua" is a work inspired by traditional music from Peru, it's divided into three movements, the first movement begins with an introduction of the strings that will be the main theme of the piece, with a subtle sound and a beautiful Andean melody is sung by the voice of the bassoon with great influences from the "Peruvian Yaraví" (it is a mestizo musical genre that fuses elements of the Inca "Harawi" and the "troubadour poetry" from the times of the conquest), this melancholic melody advances slowly developing small variations in the voice of the bassoon until the end with a beautiful cadence that develops in the tonal harmony of the piece with a beautiful melody without losing the "Yaraví" style.

The second movement connects with the first, preserving the "Yaraví" style (a melancholic song) and with the same harmony as the first movement, these subtle details allow us to feel that it is the continuation of the musical narration of the work, the strings with more nobility than the first movement accompany the melancholic melody of the bassoon, the second movement of this piece is very short and gives the feeling that it is written as a small connector of the introductory movement of the work and the end, in this piece we can subtly hear the influence of the composer by the music of the maestro Alberto Ginastera, who was his professor.

The third energetic and rhythmic movement marks the contrast of the work, this piece is inspired by the traditional Andean rhythm "Kashwa" (indigenous dance typical of the countries of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru), the work has a marked character and constant staccato, we can appreciate in the strings the repetition of a small rhythmic cell throughout the movement, this motif will be developed by the bassoon several times until quickly concluding with a small final cadence.

In conclusion, the "Concertino a Moquegua" is a magnificent work that represents the Peruvian culture in its traditional rhythms, which transport you to the typical Andean music found along the Andes Mountains, this work was dedicated and premiered by maestro Toma Mihaylov at the IDRS Conference in Melbourne Australia in July 2004.

On this occasion we listened to the live recording of Melbourne Radio in the "Robert Blackwood" Room; as an annotation by the interpreter "El Concertino de Moquegua is the first Peruvian work for bassoon and orchestra presented at an international event". This work is also part of the album by maestro Tomas Mihaylov Petrov, together with the Sofia Soloists and the director Plamen Djouroff.

Alejandro Nuñez Allauca

Composer

He was born in 1943 in the city of Moquegua (Peru). He is a composer and accordionist; Maestro Alejandro Nuñez began his accordion studies at an early age and then studied music theory and Cello at the National Conservatory of Music from Lima, he obtained the Olivetti Argentina scholarship (1969-1970) to carry out postgraduate studies in contemporary and electronic music at the CLAEM directed by the composer Alberto Ginastera, after finishing his studies, maestro Nuñez alternated his profession as a soloist accordionist and composer in the United States and Peru; Maestro Nuñez, in 1987 he moved to Milan (Italy), where he began a new period of intense activity as a composer, his music was spread around the world.

Toma Mihaylov

Bassoonist

Maestro Mihaylov was born in Bulgaria, he is a doctor of music who graduated from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory (Russia), he has extensive experience as a professor, soloist, and conductor, cultural manager, music promoter, and editor, he was an exhibitor at Columbus State University in Georgia (United States) 2016, and Monash University of Melbourne Australia 2004; He currently works as a professor at the National University of Music from Lima; the teacher Mihaylov works hard in the diffusion of Peruvian music, because of his artistic work, he is a prominent musician in the Peruvian music scene.

If you wish, you can purchase the album by maestro Mihaylov with works by Peruvian composers at the following link http://www.filarmonia.org/post/CD-Toma-Mihaylov-Sofia-Soloists-en-Filarmonia.aspx

Thank you very much for joining me on this musical trip where we discovered a piece that tells us about Peruvian culture through the magnificent work of maestro A. Nuñez Allauca and the great interpretation of maestro Toma Mihaylov!

See you next week in Uruguay!