Music by Anthony L. Sanchez (b. 1988)
Performed and recorded at the 2021 Concierto Jíbaro Navideño on December 11, 2021
Jeff Kust, Conductor
Score now available (along with solo piano version) on Patreon.
Program Notes (for Chamber Version):
Recuerdos y Reflexiones del Ayer is a postmodern composition that offers a brief glimpse into the Puerto Rican danza music of the nineteenth century for twenty-first century audiences. The title, which translates in English to Remembrances and Reflections of Yesterday, also commemorates the twenty-five years of the Chicago Cuatro Orchestra Project (founded by Orlando and David Rivera) and their efforts to promote Puerto Rican music culture through the cuatro stringed instrument. While working on this piece, I focused on two important goals. I sought to write a new danza in the Romantic style of past Puerto Rican composers like Juan Morel Campos (1857-1896), but without excessive modernization by straying too far from tonality and danza form. I also thought about the Puerto Rican diaspora in Chicago, as well as how the CCOP promotes inclusivity by allowing multiple generations and members outside the Puerto Rican community to participate in the group and perform instruments like the cuatro and tiple plucked string instruments. It is that sense of community that has helped the organization grow for the past quarter of a century, and it is my hope that the CCOP will be around for more decades to come to educate future generations about traditional Puerto Rican music.
Recuerdos y Reflexiones del Ayer was commissioned by the Chicago Cuatro Orchestra for the annual Concierto Jíbaro Navideño. The piece premiered on December 11, 2021 at Triton College in Chicago, Illinois and was performed by the Chicago Cuatro Orchestra, accompanied by the composer at the piano.
Performed and recorded at the 2021 Concierto Jíbaro Navideño on December 11, 2021
Jeff Kust, Conductor
Score now available (along with solo piano version) on Patreon.
Program Notes (for Chamber Version):
Recuerdos y Reflexiones del Ayer is a postmodern composition that offers a brief glimpse into the Puerto Rican danza music of the nineteenth century for twenty-first century audiences. The title, which translates in English to Remembrances and Reflections of Yesterday, also commemorates the twenty-five years of the Chicago Cuatro Orchestra Project (founded by Orlando and David Rivera) and their efforts to promote Puerto Rican music culture through the cuatro stringed instrument. While working on this piece, I focused on two important goals. I sought to write a new danza in the Romantic style of past Puerto Rican composers like Juan Morel Campos (1857-1896), but without excessive modernization by straying too far from tonality and danza form. I also thought about the Puerto Rican diaspora in Chicago, as well as how the CCOP promotes inclusivity by allowing multiple generations and members outside the Puerto Rican community to participate in the group and perform instruments like the cuatro and tiple plucked string instruments. It is that sense of community that has helped the organization grow for the past quarter of a century, and it is my hope that the CCOP will be around for more decades to come to educate future generations about traditional Puerto Rican music.
Recuerdos y Reflexiones del Ayer was commissioned by the Chicago Cuatro Orchestra for the annual Concierto Jíbaro Navideño. The piece premiered on December 11, 2021 at Triton College in Chicago, Illinois and was performed by the Chicago Cuatro Orchestra, accompanied by the composer at the piano.
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