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Two World Premieres for Mauricio Sotelo

Nov. 29, 2011

Two World Premieres for Mauricio Sotelo

This month, Spain is the destination for two world premiere performances by Spanish composer Mauricio Sotelo. Mapas Celestes...I,for ensemble and live-electronics, a commission by the Sociedad Filarmónica de Badajoz/NAEM, is premiered by Ensemble NeoArs Sonora in Badajoz on December 1. Sotelo writes:

This work...is a sketch, a kind of imaginary map of the heavens. The music on the page is greatly simplified, requiring imaginative, creative interpretation from the players. Electronics add a turbulent, harrowing aspect of the “dark material” of outer space.

Luz sobre lienzo, for violin, flamenco dancer, percussion and live electronics, sees its premiere in Madrid on December 3. The piece was commissioned by Acción Cultural Española for the 200th anniversary of the 1812 Spanish Constitution and Sotelo will conduct the performance, which features violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, dancer Fuensanta La Moneta, percussionist Augustín Diassera, and Fernando Villanueva controlling the electronics.

Lasting 40 minutes, the piece is based on an allegorical oil painting by Francisco de Goya, La Verdad, el Tiempo y la Historia. These three figures are represented by violin (la Verdad), dance (la Historia) and percussion (el Tiempo), and projected via a live electronic system as vibrant light in a new, spatial-temporal dimension.

A protégé of Luigi Nono, Sotelo’s music is concerned with rugged sonorities and oral memory. His aesthetic has often been referred to as “spectral flamenco”, illuminating the extraordinary juxtapositions inherent in his work. Mauricio Sotelo’s scores find the contemporary within the artifact. He is fascinated with the constant reinvention and perpetual novelty of flamenco which he believes to be innate to its form.

More on the music of Mauricio Sotelo can be found at www.universaledition.com and www.mauriciosotelo.com

Mauricio Sotelo
Mapas celestas…I (2011)
for ensemble and live electronics
for flute, clarinet, horn, percussion, piano, vn, vc
12’

Luz sobre lienzo(2011)
for violin, flamenco dancer, percussion and live electronics
40’

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