Tres Versiones Sinfonicas

Description

At the outset of this mature period, Orbón wrote one of his best works, the Tres versiones sinfónicas (Three symphonic versions) in 1953. In each of its three parts, Orbón explores a distinct musical element and gives ample proof of his knowledge of the music from other eras. The first part, Pavana, is evidence of Orbón's respect for Spanish music of the sixteenth century. However, the orchestration is not an attempt at archaism; on the contrary, it offers many modern touches that now and then resemble the orchestral writing of Aaron Copland (1900-1990), who was Orbón's composition teacher at Tanglewood in 1946. The second movement, Conductus, alludes to the Medieval practice of adding voice-parts to an existing secular melody and proposes an interesting series of melismatic variations, of which the composer was especially proud. In Xylophone, the work's concluding movement, Orbón's main reference is the sound of the Afro-Caribbean world, with special emphasis on orchestral colour and rhythmic drive. It is true that Xylophone is much shorter than Pavana and Conductus, but this is due to the fact that the material was developed to its full potential, and Orbón saw no need to extend the piece artificially. With Tres versiones sinfónicas, Orbón launched a period of musical maturity which would reach a high point in 1960 with the Tres cantigas del Rey. In 1954, Tres versiones sinfónicas won for Orbón the Juan José Landaeta Prize at the First Latin American Music Festival, held in Caracas, Venezuela. From then on, Orbón's name was heard on the international scene, and his music emerged, at least partially, from the regional obscurity it had endured until then. --Juan Arturo Brennan