Composed 2024; 13 minutes
Along with five works for symphony orchestra, Chicago-based composer and violinist Jorge Amado lists six for string orchestra in his catalog. Marabuzal, which received its première at Carnegie Hall, is scored for the same group as the Rodrigo on tonight’s program – strings (4.4.3.2.1), plus single flute, oboe, bassoon and trumpet. Amado, who grew up and graduated in Cuba, is currently pursuing a master’s degree in composition at DePaul University, Chicago. Jorge Amado writes:
Marabuzal evokes a place where the marabou weed thrives. This is an invasive species that has transformed Cuba's landscape. With its twisted trunks and thorny branches forming dense and menacing thickets, the plant arrived from Africa in the 19th century. Although its arrival in Cuba is unclear, it has left a profound mark on the island's economic and ecological environment. The impact is not only measured in environmental terms but also in human experience: the pain caused by a marabou spine is proverbial.
These emotions, from suffering to struggle, are translated in Marabuzal into dissonances and tense sound textures. The work symbolizes the resilience and conflicts of the marabou through the entire orchestra. Each instrument represents the thorny ramifications of the plant, with individual voices operating independently yet intertwined by the polyrhythms and Afro-Cuban melodies underlying its structure.
Blows from the machete, for years the only method to combat this resilient plant, are represented through strong blows and extended techniques on the strings, marking a symbolic climax that encapsulates the eternal struggle against this relentless presence. At certain moments in the work, the brief inclusion of the traditional Gregorian chant Dies Irae (‘Day of Wrath’), serves as a somber echo that amplifies the sense of conflict and desperation, underscoring the gravity of confronting the marabou. Marabuzal is an allegory of human resistance and adaptation in the face of challenges, expressed through a universal musical language.