Elogio de la Danza, part 4

I have met Leo Brouwer a few times and played for him in a master class on two occasions. On one of them, I am pretty sure I played the Elogio. At this point in time, I barely recall anything that he said, except we did talk about my somewhat eccentric sitting position where I leaned into the guitar a lot. That is one thing I have modified over the years. In any case, here is a photo of me with Leo in a master class in Toronto in, I think, 1978:

Having established my bona fides (Heh!) let's get right into the rest of the Obstinato. The movement is basically a three-part form: ABA. We have covered the A section. The next page acts as a contrasting B section. After the "stacking" motif and a repetition of the motif with the tapping on the bridge, a new motif is introduced:

If this looks familiar, that is because it is using the intervals of the "stacking" motif: 4ths rising to 5ths, but with the addition of a minor 3rd. Interspersed with variations on this basic idea is a new idea, a rasgueado chord:

This too is not new as the chord is mostly the same as the one arpeggiated at the beginning of the movement:

Same notes, but with an added C. How to execute the rasgueado is indicated in the score. I suggest that you strum across the strings away from the bridge where there is less resistance--over the soundhole at least. No indication is given for how to do the golpe. I suggest that you do the eighth rest by touching the left hand side of your thumb to the strings to cut the sound, then do the i strum. Then slap the strings and body with the flat of your hand before coming back with the i again. It works for me. This kind of chord-plus-golpe is very common in popular Latin American music. These two ideas, the rising motif and the rasgueado, alternate with rhythmic variations then a final idea is introduced:

This sounds like a new idea, with a lot of chromatic decoration, ending with a tritone. After one last statement of the rasgueado chord, the motif is extended and varied, ending again with the tritone. And that's it for the B section. The last page simply repeats the beginning, ending with a chord built of 4ths and 5ths.

The Elogio de la Danza is quite a perfect piece in its way. It is brilliantly and creatively written for the guitar, nearly everything falling easily under the fingers. It has a number of unique textures and ideas. It is solidly founded on the folk music of Latin America and draws upon a number of traditional techniques. Finally, it has a harmonic palette that is quite original and gives the piece a unique sound. Except for the fact that this piece is fairly short, it corresponds to the place of the Rite of Spring in the output of Igor Stravinsky. Brouwer has even characterized the piece as a homage to Stravinsky's "ballets russes," that is, the ballets written by the young Stravinsky for Diaghilev's company and premiered in Paris that included The Firebird, Petrushka and the Rite. Immediately after this piece, Brouwer moved into a quite different idiom with his Espiral eterna, a piece inspired by tape loops, Stockhausen and Ligeti. If I get ambitious, I might do some posts on that piece as well.

Let's hear one final performance of the Elogio. This is a very clean and accurate performance by the Czech guitarist Vladimir Mikulka:

There is just one surprising omission: he does not do the second golpe together with the 6th string open that is one of the characteristic motifs in the Obstinato movement.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Mikulka does the staccato motif really well.