Dos danzas sinfónicas / Two symphonic dances

Orchestral version of Two dances (6th and 18th scenes) of The stripe on the water


Commentary
Description and recording of each movement
Recording of the original version for chamber ensemble
Videos
Reviews
Download score

Commentary

Dedicated to Elisa Roche and initially written for a chamber group, the origin of these Two Symphonic Dances dates back to the period between 1994 and 1996, when they were composed together with 17 other pieces of a very diverse nature -music, dance, theater and poetry- for actors, soloists, choir and chamber group, all brought together through light, color and the magical invocation of the stage, as part of a show entitled The Stripe on the Water, integrated by music and the performing arts without thereby constituting an opera, or a zarzuela, or anything to which the usual names can be given.
The Stripe on the Water was commissioned by the Circle of Fine Arts in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Culture of the Community of Madrid, for the reopening of the "Fernando de Rojas" Hall of the Circle of Fine Arts in Madrid, taking place its premiere on September 29, 1996.

Cover of the premiere program

Program

The fact that the 19 numbers that made up the show were totally independent has allowed some -the most autonomous ones- to have had a life of their own beyond the premiere, as is the case of the two pieces included in the Two symphonic dances, in which scenes VI and XVIII of the original show take place -respectively titled Klangfarbenpas de deux and Pas de deux (Waltz) -, whose orchestral version was released at the end of 1996 as a result of a commission by the Galician Symphony Orchestra, which premiered it on March 26, 1998 at the Palacio de la Ópera in La Coruña, under the direction of Gilbert Varga.

In 2005 they were recorded by the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by José Luis Temes, and included, along with four other orchestral works, on a monographic CD in the "Contemporary Composers" collection.

Description and recording of each movement

I. Klangfarbenpas de deux

The title alludes to the "Klangfarbenmelodie", a characteristic procedure of the Second Viennese School based on a timbre concept of melody: each note or groups of notes in the series is entrusted to a different instrument, thereby producing a single melodic sensation realized through an ever-changing timbre.
In this piece, the music, based on a continuous melody without harmonizing, only interrupted in the clauses -each time in a different note until totaling twelve sounds, completing the twelve-tone series of Waltz op. 23 by Schoenberg-, in which the long note on which it stops is superimposed by a very rapid succession, each time wider, of notes in the remaining instruments. The melody is divided into small gestures entrusted to different instruments, whose timbres merge with the instrument that precedes them and with the one that follows them.
The A of the oboe marks the beginning of this first dance. In its choreography, the dancers must appear one by one, and the dance, always very contained and conceptual, must meet the following criteria, in relation to the music:
- The dancers must be grouped in male/female pairs, systematically alternating to perform the different movements, and without movements in two or more pairs at any time. Therefore, it must be a collective dance and, at the same time, individual.
- In the melodic fragments, each gesture must be danced alternately by each of the members of the couple to which the fragment corresponds, ensuring absolute continuity from one to the other.
- In the cadential fragments (long notes on very fast notes), the dancers completely stop the movement, which must be resumed with the next melodic fragment.

Premiere recording (low quality): Galicia Symphonic Orchestra. Dir.: Gilbert Varga (La Coruña, March 26, 1998)

II. Pas de deux (Vals)

This second piece of the Two Symphonic Dances aims to recreate an exchange of aesthetic language -classical and contemporary- between two ideas that intersect, with a waltz as the central point of confluence. The music -and the choreography to which, in its case, it would serve as support- is adjusted to the following plot approach:
The ballerina (musically personified by the flute and the violin) begins her dance alone, in a fully academic style. Her movements are followed by a very concentrated light. As the other instruments enter, another light claims interest on a body, covered with a black cloth. Freeing himself from it, the dancer appears, who dances together with the ballerina, but in a fully contemporary style that makes a full encounter between the two impossible. As the music begins to evolve into the central waltz of the piece, the dancer's movements become progressively more academic. The arrival of the waltz marks the only point where the movements of both come together in a common aesthetic idea.
At the end of the waltz there is an acceleration in the music. The ballerina goes into a frenzy that the dancer can not follow, dragged by the inertia of the waltz. Her movements are increasingly contemporary, while his are already, until their end, fully classic.
The dancer ceases (dies) at the same time as the orchestral music does, the light that illuminates him disappearing and the ballerina remaining alone on stage until the end -always in a very contemporary style-, to similarly extinguish her movements, along with music and light.

Premiere recording (low quality): Galicia Symphonic Orchestra -Claudia Walker, flute; Massimo Spadano, violin-. Dir.: Gilbert Varga (La Coruña, March 26, 1998)

Recording of the original version for chamber ensemble

Recording: Gerhard Project. Dir.: José Luis Temes (Madrid, Chamber Hall of the National Auditorium, February 25, 1999)
I. Klangfarbenpas de deux
II. Pas de deux (Vals)

Videos

Spanish Radio Television Orchestra (Dir.: Aziz Shokhakimov)

Madrid, Monumental Theater, February 1, 2013

I. Klangfarben pas de deux

II. Pas de deux (Vals)

Reviews

Pedagogical concert
By Gonzalo Figueroa
(Review published in Diario de Cádiz. Cádiz, November 23, 2007)

For those of us trained in classicism, the concert at the Falla by the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra and its chamber group was not easy to digest. Intended as a tribute to the late Francisco Guerrero -a master of contemporary music whose influence permeates several composers connected to his academic chair- it posed quite a challenge. Because, to the dismay of critics, we must acknowledge that popular appreciation of artistic creation has been evolving at an ever-increasing pace. Thus, Béla Bartók and Schönberg, who once caused many to tear their garments in outrage, are now untouchable classics. And this must have been on the mind of the enthusiastic José Luis Temes, who took the time to explain each of the pieces he was about to conduct.
[...]
The concert concluded with [...] two dances from La raya en el agua by José Luis Turina (1952), both closely linked to Guerrero. […] And in Turina, I found a semi-hidden sense of somewhat bucolic sentimentality, not without a touch of unease -very much in keeping with the theme: love between dancers.
When I recall that James Joyce began his career with a poetic work, Chamber Music (1907) -aesthetically striking at the time, yet he is now a cult writer- I wonder if the compositions discussed here, which I find experimental and difficult, might one day enjoy a splendid future.


Spanish music exported
By José Luis García del Busto
(Review published in the newspaper ABC. Madrid, January 12, 2001)

I have just attended in Munich the premiere of «Two symphonic dances» by José Luis Turina, a -masterful, by the way- orchestration of pieces for an instrumental ensemble included in his show «La raya en el agua». The composition was presented in the annual symphonic concert promoted and conducted by the Madrid-born Carlos Domínguez-Nieto, who leads an orchestra of young and outstanding musicians under the name «Concierto München». Turina's «Dances» were magnificently performed and warmly applauded by the large Munich audience in attendance. The same had happened the previous year with a premiere by Jesús Rueda.
In recent years, I have witnessed and reported in these pages great successes by Rueda himself in Amsterdam, Palomo in Berlin, Luis de Pablo in Brussels and Strasbourg, López López also in Strasbourg, Halffter in Dresden... Naturally, the brilliant results achieved by our music in its European journeys have not surprised me. I have often said that for music to appeal to an open-minded audience, it simply needs to be good and well-performed. Nothing less, but also nothing more: let us note that many performers, orchestra managers, and concert promoters believe it is also necessary for a piece to follow a certain aesthetic direction. They decide what the audience can or should like, and even, if necessary, blame the poor audience for forcing them to always program the same repertoire. Perhaps, before programming, they conduct a scientific referendum, and I just don't hear about it.
For my part, I have no intention of ceasing to sing the praises of Albéniz, Turina, Falla, and Rodrigo, but I aspire for our musical embassies abroad -especially our orchestras' tours- not to insist that Spanish music «is»that of these composers, as if it had both begun and ended with them. It would be worth seriously considering the idea of naturally, thoughtfully, rigorously, and convincingly presenting the other Spanish music -the music of today's Spain, which is ours. And if the issue is that current Spanish music does not appeal to those who program concerts, let them say so. But, please, let them finally abandon their convoluted justifications and leave the audience alone -do not project their own ghosts onto it. The audience, first of all, is not stupid, and secondly, it knows how to fend for itself.

Download pdfs

(Complete score and parts without watermarks available at www.asesores-musicales.com )

Score of Two symphonic dances (orchestral version)

Score of Two dances (from "The stripe on the water") (version for chamber ensemble)