Quebrada / Horizonte (2015) - Luis Naón / compositeur

for Orchestra

Commissioned by the Orchestre Philharmonique of Radio France for the Festival Présences 2015.

The title of the work could be translated as Break/Horizon. The meaning of Quebrada is literally « Break » but also fault, rift (the Quebrada is a typical landscape of the Andes, commonly translated by Canyon).

The work could also be resumed as the typography \ __., which means a slightly inclined verticality and a flat horizon.

The reference to these two states are a recurrent image for me when I apprehend the landscapes of my continent. The Americas are, by the way, the second and strongest reference lead the composition of the entire piece. This is reflected in the three mouvements of the work (South, Center, North).

The opposition between « the break » of the verticality and its consequences are clearly exposed from the beginning of the very initial stage of the musical gesture. We can find the force of the very south (Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia) until the limits of Alaska. Nevertheless the work is not narrative neither programmatic.

In fact there are a few « musical metaphors » of the large landscapes and their rare inhabitants.

I’m not trying to give an image of the landscapes of America, I prefer to let the audience construct their own imaginarium.

Among the images hunting me during the composition I focused on the Force, the Clemency and the Intensity, which are my deepest feelings regarding the Americas.

There are also some musical references to birds, my imaginary sound of a glacier and some strong rhythmical fragments, which could be assimilated to some popular music.

For me, music is another register other than literature or philosophy, I do not believe in the « transmission » of a coded message with music. However, I think music is the only place of liberty, where deep comprehension and empathy can happen.

Luis Naon

Quebrada/Horizonte – Publiée chez Babelscores