Piano - Grade 7-8
SKU:
ST.C463
Composed by
Federico Ruiz. Edited by
Clara Rodriguez. Piano
and keyboard music.
Collection. Clifton
Edition #C463. Published
by Clifton Edition
(ST.C463).
ISBN
9790570814633.
This
volume contains
contrasting works by
Federico Ruiz spanning
quite a large and rich
period of his
compositional output that
goes from his early
Micro-Suite (1971), to
lilting, sweet and
rhythmic Venezuelan
waltzes passing by the
mysterious, intimate, and
intense Nocturno (1994)
plus pieces originally
composed for film, and
theatre. Real eclecticism
in styles, moods and
atmospheres that show
Ruizâ??s talents and
scope.
The
Nocturno is a deep,
intriguing, substantial
piece presenting a
satisfying length which
moves from different
paths of the mind and the
heart written in an
abstract, chromatic
idiom, that does not
dissociate itself from
the Venezuelan waltz and
the joropo. One could
perhaps say that there is
a deconstruction of the
latter. For the
interpretation, the
composer has suggested to
me that it is allowed to
have some flexibility in
the tempo. Ruiz kindly
dedicated it to me, and I
have had the pleasure of
performing it in many
concerts.
Although
all highly expressive,
the Three Venezuelan
Waltzes present in this
collection as well as the
piece titled Aliseo, are
works that are close to
the colourful Venezuelan
folk tradition. Federico
Ruiz had given me two of
them when we first met:
â??Tu Presenciaâ??
(1981) and
â??EloÃsaâ?? (1989)
and then I attended a
performance of the play
â??Office Number Oneâ??
by Miguel Otero Silva
with a fantastic actor,
Elba Escobar in the role
of Carmen Rosa and, I
just fell in love and was
very moved by the
incidental music that I
later discovered, by
reading the programme,
had been written by
Federico Ruiz. Later that
evening, I called him and
asked to please make a
piano score of the
composition, so I could
have the desired piece in
my hands. That is how
â??Carmen Rosaâ?
waltz (1987) came to
exist in a piano
version.
â??Elois
aâ?? is another
Venezuelan waltz with
more jazzy harmonies
where precision in the
rhythm and elegant
playing is also
essential, as it is in
most of his
pieces.
â??Tu
Presenciaâ?? was
dedicated to his mother,
Margarita. It is written
with the structure of the
Venezuelan waltz, which
consists of a nostalgic
subject that leads to a
faster, happier middle
section where the typical
graceful rhythm is given
by the left-hand
accompaniment figure of a
dotted crotchet followed
by a quaver and a
crotchet.
The
craft and magic found in
the five movements of the
Micro-Suite is based on a
dodecaphonic row by Ernst
Krenek. They remind us of
the idiom of the Second
Viennese School. These
real miniatures seem to
tell short stories. The
â??Preludioâ?? is full
of humour. I imagine
dancing figures given by
the jumps all over the
keyboard and extreme
dynamics; the phrases
give the impression of a
conversation with many
questions and answers.
The â??Invenciónâ??
is a kaleidoscopic piece
where the hands mirror
each other. The
â??Passacagliaâ?? is
the longest movement, at
just over a minute where
the prime motif is
repeated three times on
the bass line. For its
construction Federico
Ruiz uses as well the
retrograde and the
retrograde inversion of
the twelve-tone series.
It must be played
expressively with dynamic
contrasts between
pianissimo and louder
events. The
â??Scherzoâ?? has
repetitive motifs of a
minor third in both hands
and the â??Finalâ??
displays virtuosic
passages for the
pianist.
Aliseo
was originally written
for the film â??Aire
libreâ? (1995), by
Luis Armando Roche. It
contains elements of
diverse types of
Venezuelan joropo. In the
film, the character of
Aliseo Carvallo is played
by the composer himself
who performs this piece
on a harpsichord to
welcome scientists
Alexander von Humboldt
and Aimé Bonpland one
day at the turn of the
1800â??s, as a sample of
the new music from the
South American land. It
presents the refinement
of the late European
classical era in fusion
with Venezuelan folk
music.
