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Gabriela Ortiz
Altar de Muertos
string quartet (1997)| Duration | 37' |
|---|---|
| Movements | I. Ofrenda II. Mictlan (place of dead) III. Danza Macabra IV. La Calaca |
| Commission | Kronos Quartet and Inroads, a program of arts international with funds from the Ford Foundation, the multi-arts production fund of the Rockefeller Foundation, and Festival Internacional Cervantino |
| Premiere | April, 1997; Theater Artaud, San Francisco, CA; Kronos Quartet |
| Publisher | PSNY |
Media
Program Note
The tradition of the Day of the Dead festivities in Mexico is the source of inspiration for the creation of Altar de Muertos, for string quartet, whose ideas could reflect the internal search between the real and the magic, a duality always present in Mexican culture, from the past to the present.
Altar de Muertos is divided into four parts, each of these describes diverse moods, traditions, and the spiritual worlds which shape the concept of death in Mexico, plus my own personal concept of death.
I. Ofrenda
This music describes the visit of four spirits to the altar, each one singing his/her own ofrenda (offering). Towards the end of this movement, the four spirits converge in a single chant as to the end of a funeral procession.
II. Mictlan
Pre-Hispanic Culture conceived death as a cycle in constant movement; a cycle where life is extended towards death and vice versa when death becomes the essence of life itself. The passage of death, and the eternal struggle between night and day, recreate an obsessive ritual music, always in continuous movement, with starting and ending points that are always bonded.
III. Danza Macabra
"Human life is like a shadow"
The advent of European culture in Mexico and Mesoamerica brought an image of death which is static and motionless, where there is only place for a constant alternative between glory and hell. This music is nourished from fantastic images taking place one after another. Phantasmagoria and magic are always present.
IV. La Calaca
Syncretism and the concept of death in modern Mexico, chaos and the richness of multiple symbols, where the duality of life is always present: sacred and profane; good and evil; night and day; joy and sorrow.
This movement reflects a musical world full of joy, vitality and a great expressive force.
At the end of "La Calaca" I decided to quote a melody of Huichol origin, which attracted me when I first heard it. That melody was sung by Familia de la Cruz. The Huichol culture lives in the State of Nayarit, Mexico. Their musical art is always found in ceremonial and ritual life.
Optional: Each musician can put a Mexican mask on.