Arturo Márquez

Espejos en la Arena (Mirrors in the Sand)

Mexican composer Arturo Márquez is receiving some long-overdue and well-deserved attention from audiences and orchestras outside his home country, where he has long been revered as one of the most significant living Mexican composers working today. Márquez is best known for his series of danzóns, works based on a Cuban dance that migrated to Veracruz, Mexico. Márquez’ Danzón No. 2, in particular, is one of the most popular and frequently performed concert pieces written after 1950 from Latin America, and is often affectionately referred to as Mexico’s second national anthem.

Cellist Carlos Prieto, considered the foremost living interpreter of cello music from Latin America, has long admired Márquez’s music, particularly its emphasis on melody and rhythm. In an interview, Prieto explained the genesis of Espejos en la Arena. “I have premiered a lot of abstract pieces … what struck me about Arturo Márquez’s music is … I had the impression of continually hearing the cello. Thus, I thought, ‘This is a man whose sense of melody will lead him to write a work for cello that is quite adequate to the instrument’s characteristics.’ … It came out exactly as I had envisioned: it is a work that is stupendously conceived for the cello. The first movement is a virtuoso kind of son [a song and/or dance form originating in Cuba] while the second is well-conceived for the cantabile qualities of the instrument. The third is a very ironic movement, based on the steps of the polka, the title of which [Polka derecha izquierda, or Polka Right Left] can be variously interpreted.”

“The mirrors in the title have to do with autobiographical, very personal reflections. Somehow I am returning to my land, which is a dry, sandy land,” Márquez adds. The closing Polka, which Márquez calls “a very sarcastic moment in the music,” pays homage to the well-known European dance first brought to northwestern Mexico and Texas by Germans who emigrated to the region in the second half of the 19th century. Márquez also reveals his tongue-in-cheek sense of humor in a remark he made about the Polka’s title, which Márquez claimed was also partially inspired by Mexico’s then-President, Vicente Fox, who claimed to hold “some leftist ideas and principles.”

In another humorous moment, Prieto told Márquez that tuba, trumpets and trombones were “enemies of the cello.” Márquez’s orchestra for Espejos obligingly omits Prieto’s “enemies” from the orchestra roster, so as not to overshadow (or simply drown out) the solo cello.

Espejos demands both virtuosity and top-notch musicianship from soloist and orchestra alike. The constantly shifting time signatures move with lightning speed between ¾ to 5/8, with occasional forays into other meters. The two outer movements require a kind of concentrated ferocity from the soloist, while the sharp contrast with the central section, Lluvia (Rain), calls for expressive phrases and exquisite nuances of timbre and mood.

The Modesto Symphony Orchestra's performance tonight will be the U.S. Premiere of this piece.

© Elizabeth Schwartz

NOTE: These program notes are published here by the Modesto Symphony Orchestra for its patrons and other interested readers. Any other use is forbidden without specific permission from the author, who may be contacted at www.classicalmusicprogramnotes.com