La más Remota Prehistoria

Text: Darío Carrillo

 Orchestration: tenor solo – fl, ob, cl, bsn, hn – 2vln, vla, vc, cb

Year composed: 2012

Duration: 10’

Premiere: June 5, 2012. Christ & St. Stephen’s Church; New York, United States. North/South Chamber Orchestra; Juan Pablo Contreras, tenor; Max Lifchitz, conductor.

Recording: Albany Records TROY 1561. Claremont Avenue Chamber Orchestra; Juan Pablo Contreras, tenor; Kyle Ritenauer, conductor.

Score

Program Note

La más Remota Prehistoria (The Most Remote Prehistory) is a song cycle, with poetry by Darío Carrillo, that deals with emotional rupture. The narrator in the poems makes a pilgrimage to a canyon where he had spent time with his lost love. Each of the four songs represents a different stage in his grieving process. The narrator compares the river that flows at the bottom of the canyon to the stream of love that emanated in the relationship. The erupting volcano embodies the outburst of rage caused by its dissolution. His passionate feelings slowly fossilize, making the relationship feel as if it belongs to a prehistoric time.

—Juan Pablo Contreras

Performances

September 19, 2015. Teatro Degollado; Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Jalisco Chamber Orchestra; Juan Pablo Contreras, tenor; Leonardo Gasparini, conductor.

 June 5, 2012. Christ & St. Stephen’s Church; New York, United States. North/South Chamber Orchestra; Juan Pablo Contreras, tenor; Max Lifchitz, conductor.

Reviews

“La más Remota Prehistoria is a touching work that is artfully composed and orchestrated.”
Paul Muller
Sequenza 21
“La más Remota Prehistoria is a song cycle comprised of four short songs. Its musical language is more abstract, austere, and dramatic than in Contreras’ Silencio en Juárez. The chamber orchestra textures are delicate and transparent, which enhance the clarity of the text. On the other hand, the orchestral timbres beautifully complement the meaning of the poems.”
Juan Arturo Brennan
Pauta
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