557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

de un conjunto de composiciones creadas por Balada durante su estilo étnico-vanguardista. La obra se desarrolla en un solo movimiento, y dentro de su exuberancia instrumental encontramos citas folklóricas suizas. La Lausanne Chamber Orchestra encargó la composición con motivo del 50 aniversario de su fundación y la estrenó en 1992 dirigida por Jesús LópezCobos, a quien está dedicada. El estreno americano lo realizó la Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra dirigida por Keith Lockhart. Balada colaboró con su compatriota el pintor surrealista Salvador Dalí en Nueva York en 1960 y ello tuvo un inconsciente efecto en el compositor en aquellos años formativos. Esta influencia se evidenció varios años después, sobretodo en la composición de la ópera Zapata. Zapata: Imágenes para Orquesta (1987) está basada en esta ópera. En las Imágenes la influencia del surrealismo es especialmente evidente en el Vals. Esta danza atraviesa una serie de transformaciones que la llevan desde un pulso imperceptible al comienzo, a un vals vienés auténtico; a esto le sigue la superposición de

Page 8

dos valses distintos, de velocidad diferente. Finalmente esta tensión se ve culminada por la sugerencia de un tiroteo revolucionario. En el Vals, todos los temas son originales. Este no es el caso en la Marcha, la cual presenta una marcha militar. Aquí la melodía popular La Cucaracha es presentada gradualmente, pero tres himnos revolucionarios internacionales - la Marsellesa, la Internacional y el Himno de Riego - entran en juego constituyéndose en un gigantesco collage. La Elegía presenta un fragmento de la popular melodía mejicana Adelita en forma de ostinato con trompetas y trombones con sordina. Este movimiento está sacado directamente de la ópera trasfiriendo la línea cantada por Zapata al violoncelo solista y la de su moribundo hermano a las violas con sordina. El Baile de Bodas mezcla el popular Jarabe Tapatio con melodías originales. Una vez más, el fantasma surrealista es aparente en la forma en que el jarabe es distorsionado, quebrantado y yuxtapuesto. El estreno absoluto de esta composición fue a cargo de la Orquesta Nacional de España y el estreno americano por la Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Leonardo Balada Nacido en Barcelona (22 septiembre 1933), Balada hizo sus estudios musicales en el Conservatorio del Liceu de Barcelona y la Juiliard School de Nueva York. Entre sus maestro de composición contamos a Vincent Percichetti y Aaron Copland. Desde 1970 es catedrático de composición en la universidad Carnegie Mellon en Pittsburg, EE.UU. En cuanto a su estilo se le considera pionero en la combinación de ideas folklóricas con técnicas de vanguardia, práctica muy frecuente en compositores actuales. Sus obras son interpretadas regularmente por las principales orquestas de América y Europa por solistas y directores de la más alto distinción. También ha recibido encargos de importantes instituciones de ambos lados del Atlántico. Ha compuesto en todos los géneros sinfónicos y líricos. Entre sus óperas figura Cristóbal Colón estrenada en el Gran Teatre del Liceu en Barcelona con José Carreras y Montserrat Caballé, atrayendo aclamación crítica internacional. En la actualidad está colaborando con el dramaturgo Fernando Arrabal en una ópera encargo del Teatro Real de Madrid. También ha recibido varios premios internacionales.

8.557342

8

Leonardo

BALADA Guernica Symphony No. 4 • Zapata Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra Salvador Mas Conde

557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

Page 2

Leonardo Balada (b. 1933) Guernica • Symphony No. 4 • Homages to Casals and Sarasate In the personality of an individual nothing has more influence than experiences as a child. Another important influence is an artist’s masterpiece which translates into an ideal stimulus for creation. Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, a mural that expresses the horror after the bombing of a defenceless Basque town during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), was for me that artist’s masterpiece. In addition it was also a symbol of the struggle and contempt I felt, like so many Spaniards, for the dictator Francisco Franco, who crushed the young Spanish democracy in that war. Picasso was our hero, likewise Pablo Casals, Luis Buñuel and many other great artists and intellectuals who fled Spain at the end of that tragic war. I had to compose Guernica: my memories as a child crying and running with my family into the “metro” station in Barcelona to shelter us from the fascist bombings had been haunting me for three decades. I also had to compose it as my way of saying thanks to Picasso and all those exiled, who from overseas waved the flag of freedom, and I had to compose it as a protest against wars. Picasso was my hero and to him I dedicated the symphonic work. After its first recording was released, on an LP by the Louisville Orchestra, I had planned to visit him in the south of France and give him a copy of the work. Camilo José Cela, the late Nobel Literature laureate with whom at that time I was collaborating on the cantata Maria Sabina, had given me an introduction to the artist assuring me that Picasso would respond to my gift with one of his own: one of his paintings. My excitement was at its highest in the summer of 1972 when I had decided to make that visit to the south of France but it was not to be. For personal reasons I had to cancel that trip and Picasso died some months later without my ever meeting the master, one of the big disappointments in my life. My composing Guernica came in 1966, when the New Orleans Philharmonic announced a reading of new orchestral works. The anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that year at Columbia University in New York were an

8.557342

added stimulus for me, having attended meetings of protest at the MacMillan Theater on that campus. Childhood, Picasso, Vietnam all came together and in two weeks with the brevity of a bullet shot, my composition was conceived and done. Guernica became a turning-point in my output. Stylistically Guernica belongs to a new moment in my work which could be construed as my avant-garde period. Before that in the early 1960s my music was somewhat neo-classical, at a time when the contemporary musical scene in New York was practically limited to the twelve-tone serial style. But dissatisfaction with myself was strong and obsessive; I did not want to continue on the conservative path. How could I be so conservative, the son of a liberal Catalan family who had not even been baptized in a Spain were this Catholic ritual was a given for any newly born child? On the other hand the twelve-tone music I was hearing in New York proved extremely boring and intellectual to me. In consequence a relentless search for something that would satisfy my aesthetic vision followed, and the visual arts became my source of inspiration. From Rauschenberg to the happenings of the time and to Dali, with whom I was collaborating in New York, all helped me conceive my new strategy of sound. The avant-garde techniques of that time became secondary to my more Mediterranean approach. With a good degree of arrogance I was telling myself that I would put those techniques to good use. So, as sudden as lightning, my style jumped from a neoclassicalmedieval-like Guitar Concerto No.1 (1965) to the abstractions of Geometries No.1 for ensemble and Guernica, both of 1966. For about a decade my compositions now were abstract, angular, dramatic, propelled by rhythm and heavy textures, and full of passion. The symphonic works that followed like Steel Symphony, Sinfonía en Negro-Homage to Martin Luther King, cantatas María Sabina and No-res are all in that spirit. A new stylistic adventure started in 1975 when I felt

2

características. En 1975 sentí la necesidad de una nueva aventura estilística. En este nuevo periodo aquellos sonidos abstractos vanguardistas formarán simbiosis con ideas étnicas y tradicionales. Ello conllevó críticas de quienes aseguraban que había sacrificado austeridad por confortabilidad. Con ello venían a decir que el uso de ideas folklóricas hace la obra fácil. Sin embargo estoy convencido de que no es así, siempre y cuando el elemento folklórico sea tratado dentro de un contexto fresco y distinto al convencional, cosa que en todo momento he tratado de hacer con las obras de ese periodo. Homenaje a Sarasate y Homenaje a Casals son las primera obras correspondientes a este estilo, si bien

Sinfonía en Negro(1968) en cierto modo ya se le había anticipado al mezclar ritmos negro-africanos con aquellas técnicas vanguardistas. Las otras dos composiciones en este CD, Symphony n. 4 - Lausanne y Zapata: Images for Orchestra hacen uso de motivos folklóricos suizos y mejicanos respectivamente. Sin embargo esa forma de hacer simbiótica no me ha impedido prescindir algunas veces del elemento étnico, dejando al descubierto lo abstracto como es el caso en Divertimentos(1991) para orquesta de cuerdas. No veo contradicción en esa dualidad siempre y cuando el compositor mantenga un común sello individual en todas sus obras.

Guernica fue compuesta durante las últimas dos semanas del 1966 en Nueva York como protesta a las guerras y en homenaje a esa pintura. Está dedicada a Pablo Picasso autor de tal obra maestra. Si bien la obra no es programática, uno puede percatarse de los sonidos de la guerra, los gritos de la gente y la soledad de la devastación como parte de un total dramático. Su estreno tuvo lugar en 1967 interpretada por la New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra dirigida por Werner Torkanowsky y consecuentemente fue grabada en disco por la Louisville Orchestra dirigida por Jorge Mester. Homenaje a Sarasate viene a ser como una visión contemporánea del famoso Zapateado de Pablo de Sarasate, compositor y violinista español del siglo XI. La idea surgió en Balada después de contemplar la interpretación que Picasso hizo de las Meninas de Velazquez. Todo el mundo conoce el famoso cuadro, pero Picasso hizo su propia interpretación y en ella uno puede percibir las dos personalidades. Al comienzo, el ritmo de zapateado es escasamente perceptible. Sobre esta abstracción aparecen poco a poco fragmentos melódicos que aluden de forma distorsionada a la obra de Sarasate y que desaparecen para dar paso a nuevas ideas. Este procedimiento se repite varias veces con

maneras atonales, aleatorias y con frecuentes armonias “clusters”. El ritmo de zapateado se enriquece con sonoridades orquestales hasta convertirse en un enorme “collage”. Homenaje a Casals está basado en una melodía folklórica catalana, el canto de los pájaros que el gran violoncelista Pau Casals siempre interpretaba a la conclusión de sus conciertos. Los dos Homenajes representan una nueva dirección en la música de Balada en la que se establece una simbiosis entre tradición y vanguardia. En un artículo dedicado a Balada aparecido en el New York Times, el ensayista Peter E. Stone escribe:”...él vivió en Barcelona, antigua ciudad anfitriona de Gaudí y Picasso en donde viejas callejuelas desembocan en modernas avenidas...así pues su música...une lo antiguo y lo nuevo”. Los Homenajes obtuvieron el premio Internacional de composición sinfónica Ciudad de Barcelona - 1976 y fueron estrenados por la Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra dirigida por Donald Johanos. El Homenaje a Sarasate lo grabó en disco la Louisville Orchestra dirigida por Jorge Mester. Los dos Homenajes están dedicados al padre del composito, ‘Pepito’. La Sinfonía No. 4 - “Lausanne” (1992) forma parte

7

Leonardo Balada

8.557342

557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

Page 6

Leonardo Balada (b. 1933) Guernica • Sinfonía No. 4 • Homenajes a Casals y Sarasate Nada tiene mayor influencia en un individuo que sus experiencias infantiles. Para un compositor si esas experiencias llevan el estímulo de alguna obra maestra, su potencial creativo se multiplica. El mural de Pablo Picasso Guernica, reflejando el horror del bombardeo de esa indefensa población vasca durante la Guerra Civil Española (1936-39) y símbolo del pensamiento anti-bélico, fue para mí aquella obra maestra de referencia. Además, para muchos españoles de mi generación la pintura representaba también un símbolo de oposición hacia Franco quien había derrocado durante aquella contienda a la joven democracia del país. Picasso era nuestro héroe como también lo fueran Pau Casals, Luis Buñuel y tantos otros artistas e intelectuales que se exiliaron de España al acabar aquella trágica guerra. Componer Guernica era para mí imperativo. El recuerdo de mi infancia llorando y corriendo con mi familia hacia la estación del metro en Barcelona para cobijarnos de los bombardeos me acosaba ya por tres décadas. También era imperativo componer Guernica como agradecimiento y homenaje a Picasso y a tantos otros que desde su exilio ondeaban la bandera de la libertad. Picasso era mi héroe y a él le dediqué esa composición sinfónica. Cuando la primera grabación de esta obra salió a la luz, grabada en LP por la Louisville Orchestra, pensé en visitar al artista en el sur de Francia y hacerle entrega del disco. Camilo José Cela, con quien estaba yo en contacto a raíz de componer la cantata María Sabina con texto suyo, me ofreció una introducción asegurando que Picasso correspondería a mi obsequio con uno propio… una de sus pintura. Mi entusiasmo volaba por lo alto cuando decidí hacer tal visita durante el verano de 1972. Sin embargo no aconteció así, pues una circunstancia personal abortó el viaje y Picasso falleció algunos meses después jamás llegando a conocerle, una de las decepciones de mi vida. Compuse Guernica en 1966 cuando la New Orleans Philharmonic convocó un concurso para dar lectura a obras orquestales no estrenadas. Los pronunciamientos

8.557342

en contra de la guerra del Vietnam a los que asistí en el “campus” de la universidad de Columbia en Nueva York constituyó otro estímulo para realizar mi proyecto. Infancia, Picasso y Vietnam se sintetizaron en mi persona y en el espacio de dos semanas concebí y escribí Guernica. Estilísticamente, esa obra pertenece a un nuevo momento en mi producción que podría considerarse mi vanguardia. Anteriormente mi música deambulaba entorno al neo-clasicismo en un momento en que la música contemporánea en Nueva York se inscribía casi exclusivamente al serialismo técnico. Mi insatisfacción con esas circunstancias era casi obsesiva. Por un lado no quería seguir por el camino conservador. ¿Cómo podía yo ser conservador, hijo de una familia liberal catalana que ni siquiera estaba bautizado en un momento en que a todo recién nacido se le practicaba ese ritual? Por otro lado la música dodecafónica que escuchaba en aquellos días se me antojaba cerebral y aburrida. Consecuentemente me lancé a la búsqueda de algo que complaciera mi convicción estética: las artes plásticas en Nueva York se convirtieron en meta de referencia, y los conceptos visuales motivo de inspiración. Desde Rauschenberg a los “happenings” pasando por Salvador Dalí , con quien estaba yo colaborando en un proyecto, todo contribuyó a la formación de mi nueva estrategia sonora. Pensé en las técnicas vanguardistas como importantes pero secundarias a un pensamiento más mediterránea. Con buena dosis de arrogancia me decía a mí mismo “voy a poner estas técnicas a buen uso”. Así pues, con la brevedad de un relámpago mi estilo pasó del neoclásico-medieval Concierto para Guitarra y Orquesta n.1 (1965) a las abstracciones de Geometrías n.1 y de Guernica, ambas obras del 1966. Ahora y durante una década mis composiciones eran abstractas, angulares, dramáticas con buena dosis de ritmo y texturas densas, llenas de pasión. Las obras sinfónicas de ese periodo como Steel Symphony, Sinfonía en Negro- Homenaje a Martin Luther King, las cantatas No-res y María Sabina se nutren de estas

6

again the need for change. Now those abstract sounds would be blended with traditional ideas and the avantgarde would meet with the ethnic and traditional in a symbiosis. This brought criticism from some quarters by suggesting that I was trading austerity for comfort; the implication being that it is facile to compose music based on folk elements. It may seem facile, but it is not easy if those folk elements are presented in a non conventional context, different from the traditional one. Homage to Casals and to Sarasate were the first in this new period, although Sinfonía en Negro (1968) already hinted at this new style by using Afro rhythms with

those avant-garde techniques. The other two works on this CD, Symphony No.4 ‘Lausanne’ and Zapata: Images for Orchestra use Swiss and Mexican folk ideas. Nevertheless that symbiotic approach did not stop me from sometimes composing works in which the ethnicity is absent and the composition remains an abstract one, as is the case of Divertimentos (1991) for string orchestra. I see no conflict in this if there is a personal stamp in the works of the composer.

Guernica was composed during the last two weeks of 1966 in New York City and was written as a protest against wars and a tribute to that mural. It is dedicated to Picasso. Despite the fact that the work is not programmatic, one is always aware of the sounds of war, the shouting of the people and the loneliness of destruction, as part of the dramatic total. It was first performed in 1967 by the New Orleans Philharmonic conducted by Werner Torkanowsky and first recorded by the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Jorge Mester. Homage to Sarasate of 1975 uses the Zapateado, a composition of the nineteenth-century Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate, as the main idea. This came to Balada’s mind after he had seen the painting by Picasso called Las Meninas. Everybody knows Las Meninas as being by Velazquez, but Picasso gave his own interpretation so that one can see the Velazquez and the Picasso in the same modern painting. The opening moments of Homage to Sarasate present little more than rhythmic fragments suggesting the rapid triple meter of a zapateado, the traditional Spanish dance. To this are gradually added brief snatches of melody alluding to Sarasate’s composition. These emerge in a variety of tonal and rhythmic dislocations and quickly dissolve as other figures come to the fore. Sharp interjections from the winds or percussion occasionally punctuate the proceedings, and the Zapateado music is surrounded by

rich, colourful, orchestral sonorities. The work grows more dense with bits of melody, becoming a big collage. Homage to Casals, written in the same year, is based on a Catalan folk-melody, Song of the Birds, which the great cellist Pablo Casals used to play at the conclusion of his recitals. Homage to Sarasate and its companion piece Homage to Casals represent a new direction in the composer’s music, reinstating melody and traditional harmonies though at the same time he uses aleatoric devices, minimalistic moments, textural layer-on-layer and clustered sounds. It is a blending of the ethnic and the avant-garde. In an article about the composer in the Sunday edition of the New York Times, Pete E. Stone wrote: “Balada lived in Barcelona, an ancient city host to Gaudí and Picasso, where old narrow streets empty into modern avenues ... Thus his music encompasses ... (the) old and the new”. The two Homages won the City of Barcelona international prize for orchestral compositions and were first given by the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1976 conducted by Donald Johanos. They are dedicated to the composer’s father, Pepito. Symphony No. 4 ‘Lausanne’, written in 1992, is part of a group of works composed during Balada’s ethnicavant-garde period. The work develops in one single movement and next to the exuberance of the orchestral colour we find quotations of Swiss folklore. The

3

Leonardo Balada

8.557342

557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

Lausanne Chamber Orchestra commissioned this work for the fiftieth anniversary of its founding and first performed it in 1992 under Jesús López-Cobos to whom the symphony is dedicated. The Americam première was given by the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart. Balada collaborated with his countryman the surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí, in New York in 1960, and this had an unconscious effect on the composer during those formative years. This influence emerged in the composition of the opera Zapata, from which Zapata: Images is taken. The influence of surrealism is especially apparent in the Waltz. This dance encounters a number of metaphysical transformations after starting with an almost imperceptible pulse which becomes gradually a fully-fledged Viennese rhythm. Soon two different waltzes are superimposed: a regular waltz with the strings and a faster one with the brass. This tension is heightened by a frantic accelerando that transforms the waltz into an orchestral representation of

Page 4

a revolutionary shooting. In that movement all the motifs are original. That is not the case in the March, which again presents an almost surrealist interpretation of a revolutionary march. Here the popular La Cucaracha is gradually presented and eventually taken over by three other international revolutionary anthems, becoming a gigantic collage. A fragment of the popular melody Adelita, with muted trumpets and trombones, forms the essence of Elegy. These create a cloudy texture as background to two original motifs, played by the muted violas and solo cello. Elegy is taken directly from the opera where the cello plays the singing of Zapata and the violas the singing of his brother dying in his arms. The Wedding Dance mixes the popular Jarabe Tapatio with Balada’s original motifs. The National Orchestra of Spain gave the world première of Images in Madrid in 1988. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed the American première.

The first permanent orchestra in Catalonia, the Orquestra Municipal de Barcelona, was established in 1944 by the city administration of Barcelona, promoted through the conductor and composer Eduard Toldrà, who ensured its position in the cultural life of the city. There were regular concert series and collaboration with leading Spanish and foreign musicians, with the aim of bringing classical music to the public and fostering the work of Catalan composers. After the death of Eduard Toldrà in 1962, Rafael Ferrer became conductor until 1967, when he was succeeded by Antoni Ros-Marbà. The orchestra continued from then on as the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona until the 1994-95 season, when it became the present Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya (Symphony Orchestra of Barcelona and National Orchestra of Catalonia) by agreement between the municipal and regional administrations. Antoni Ros-Marbà served as principal conductor until 1978 and from 1981 to 1986. Other principal conductors have been Salvador Mas from 1978 to 1981, Franz-Paul Decker from 1986 to 1991, and García Navarro from 1991 to 1993. In 1994 Franz-Paul Decker was named principal guest conductor and from 1996 to 2002 Lawrence Foster served as principal conductor. He was succeeded by the present music director, Ernest Martínez Izquierdo. Since April 1999, the orchestra has had its own venue, the Auditori de Barcelona. In the course of some sixty years the orchestra has given a number of first performances and recorded for major record companies. Tours abroad have taken the orchestra to musical centres throughout Europe, to the United States, and to Korea and Japan. The orchestra is part of the Consorci de l’Auditori i l’Orquesta, formed by the Generalitat of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council.

Salvador Mas Conde

Leonardo Balada Born in Barcelona on 22nd September 1933, Leonardo Balada graduated from the Conservatorio del Liceu of that city and the Juilliard School in 1960. He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti and Aaron Copland, and conducting with Igor Markevitch. Since 1970 he has taught at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he is University Professor of Composition. Some of his best known works were written in a dramatic avantgarde style in the 1960s and he is credited with pioneering a blending of ethnic music with avant-garde techniques in later works. His compositions are performed by the world’s leading orchestras under the most distinguished conductors, and works have been commissioned by many outstanding soloists and organizations in the United States and Europe. A large number of his compositions are recorded on international record labels. Balada’s extensive catalogue of works includes, in addition to chamber and symphonic compositions, cantatas, two chamber operas and three full length ones, Zapata, Christopher Columbus, and its sequel The Death of Columbus. Christopher Columbus was first performed in Barcelona with José Carreras and Montserrat Caballe singing the leading rôles, attracting international critical aclaim. A collaboration with the playwright Fernando Arrabal on a new opera for the Teatro Real of Madrid is currently in progress. Balada has received several international composition awards.

8.557342

Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra

4

Born in Barcelona, the conductor Salvador Mas Conde started his musical studies in Montserrat, continuing at the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música of Barcelona (CSMM), in Salzburg with Bruno Maderna, in Siena with Franco Ferrara, and at the Vienna University of Music and Dramatic Art, with Hans Swarowsky and G. Theuring. He also studied Romanic Philology at the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona. He has received awards from the FEV, the Austrian Ministry of Culture and in the Second International Hans Swarowsky Orchestra Conducting Competition in Vienna. His career has brought appointments as Music Director of the opera house of Mainz, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, of which he has also been principal guest conductor, the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. He has also served as conductor of the Orfeó Català. He is currently the principal guest conductor of the Orchestra of Granada and the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla-León. In addition to engagements in Spain Salvador Mas Conde has been invited to Austria, Belgium, Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico and Poland, and regularly conducts the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and orchestras in Leipzig, Saarbrücken and the Netherlands, as well as the Munich Philharmonic. He has been in charge of orchestral conducting studies at the Barcelona Conservatory and currently teaches orchestral conducting at the Wiener Meisterkurse in Vienna.

5

8.557342

557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

Lausanne Chamber Orchestra commissioned this work for the fiftieth anniversary of its founding and first performed it in 1992 under Jesús López-Cobos to whom the symphony is dedicated. The Americam première was given by the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart. Balada collaborated with his countryman the surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí, in New York in 1960, and this had an unconscious effect on the composer during those formative years. This influence emerged in the composition of the opera Zapata, from which Zapata: Images is taken. The influence of surrealism is especially apparent in the Waltz. This dance encounters a number of metaphysical transformations after starting with an almost imperceptible pulse which becomes gradually a fully-fledged Viennese rhythm. Soon two different waltzes are superimposed: a regular waltz with the strings and a faster one with the brass. This tension is heightened by a frantic accelerando that transforms the waltz into an orchestral representation of

Page 4

a revolutionary shooting. In that movement all the motifs are original. That is not the case in the March, which again presents an almost surrealist interpretation of a revolutionary march. Here the popular La Cucaracha is gradually presented and eventually taken over by three other international revolutionary anthems, becoming a gigantic collage. A fragment of the popular melody Adelita, with muted trumpets and trombones, forms the essence of Elegy. These create a cloudy texture as background to two original motifs, played by the muted violas and solo cello. Elegy is taken directly from the opera where the cello plays the singing of Zapata and the violas the singing of his brother dying in his arms. The Wedding Dance mixes the popular Jarabe Tapatio with Balada’s original motifs. The National Orchestra of Spain gave the world première of Images in Madrid in 1988. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed the American première.

The first permanent orchestra in Catalonia, the Orquestra Municipal de Barcelona, was established in 1944 by the city administration of Barcelona, promoted through the conductor and composer Eduard Toldrà, who ensured its position in the cultural life of the city. There were regular concert series and collaboration with leading Spanish and foreign musicians, with the aim of bringing classical music to the public and fostering the work of Catalan composers. After the death of Eduard Toldrà in 1962, Rafael Ferrer became conductor until 1967, when he was succeeded by Antoni Ros-Marbà. The orchestra continued from then on as the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona until the 1994-95 season, when it became the present Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona I Nacional de Catalunya (Symphony Orchestra of Barcelona and National Orchestra of Catalonia) by agreement between the municipal and regional administrations. Antoni Ros-Marbà served as principal conductor until 1978 and from 1981 to 1986. Other principal conductors have been Salvador Mas from 1978 to 1981, Franz-Paul Decker from 1986 to 1991, and García Navarro from 1991 to 1993. In 1994 Franz-Paul Decker was named principal guest conductor and from 1996 to 2002 Lawrence Foster served as principal conductor. He was succeeded by the present music director, Ernest Martínez Izquierdo. Since April 1999, the orchestra has had its own venue, the Auditori de Barcelona. In the course of some sixty years the orchestra has given a number of first performances and recorded for major record companies. Tours abroad have taken the orchestra to musical centres throughout Europe, to the United States, and to Korea and Japan. The orchestra is part of the Consorci de l’Auditori i l’Orquesta, formed by the Generalitat of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council.

Salvador Mas Conde

Leonardo Balada Born in Barcelona on 22nd September 1933, Leonardo Balada graduated from the Conservatorio del Liceu of that city and the Juilliard School in 1960. He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti and Aaron Copland, and conducting with Igor Markevitch. Since 1970 he has taught at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he is University Professor of Composition. Some of his best known works were written in a dramatic avantgarde style in the 1960s and he is credited with pioneering a blending of ethnic music with avant-garde techniques in later works. His compositions are performed by the world’s leading orchestras under the most distinguished conductors, and works have been commissioned by many outstanding soloists and organizations in the United States and Europe. A large number of his compositions are recorded on international record labels. Balada’s extensive catalogue of works includes, in addition to chamber and symphonic compositions, cantatas, two chamber operas and three full length ones, Zapata, Christopher Columbus, and its sequel The Death of Columbus. Christopher Columbus was first performed in Barcelona with José Carreras and Montserrat Caballe singing the leading rôles, attracting international critical aclaim. A collaboration with the playwright Fernando Arrabal on a new opera for the Teatro Real of Madrid is currently in progress. Balada has received several international composition awards.

8.557342

Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra

4

Born in Barcelona, the conductor Salvador Mas Conde started his musical studies in Montserrat, continuing at the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música of Barcelona (CSMM), in Salzburg with Bruno Maderna, in Siena with Franco Ferrara, and at the Vienna University of Music and Dramatic Art, with Hans Swarowsky and G. Theuring. He also studied Romanic Philology at the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona. He has received awards from the FEV, the Austrian Ministry of Culture and in the Second International Hans Swarowsky Orchestra Conducting Competition in Vienna. His career has brought appointments as Music Director of the opera house of Mainz, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, of which he has also been principal guest conductor, the Württemberg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Maastricht Symphony Orchestra, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and the Israel Chamber Orchestra. He has also served as conductor of the Orfeó Català. He is currently the principal guest conductor of the Orchestra of Granada and the Symphony Orchestra of Castilla-León. In addition to engagements in Spain Salvador Mas Conde has been invited to Austria, Belgium, Canada, Israel, Japan, Mexico and Poland, and regularly conducts the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and orchestras in Leipzig, Saarbrücken and the Netherlands, as well as the Munich Philharmonic. He has been in charge of orchestral conducting studies at the Barcelona Conservatory and currently teaches orchestral conducting at the Wiener Meisterkurse in Vienna.

5

8.557342

557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

Page 6

Leonardo Balada (b. 1933) Guernica • Sinfonía No. 4 • Homenajes a Casals y Sarasate Nada tiene mayor influencia en un individuo que sus experiencias infantiles. Para un compositor si esas experiencias llevan el estímulo de alguna obra maestra, su potencial creativo se multiplica. El mural de Pablo Picasso Guernica, reflejando el horror del bombardeo de esa indefensa población vasca durante la Guerra Civil Española (1936-39) y símbolo del pensamiento anti-bélico, fue para mí aquella obra maestra de referencia. Además, para muchos españoles de mi generación la pintura representaba también un símbolo de oposición hacia Franco quien había derrocado durante aquella contienda a la joven democracia del país. Picasso era nuestro héroe como también lo fueran Pau Casals, Luis Buñuel y tantos otros artistas e intelectuales que se exiliaron de España al acabar aquella trágica guerra. Componer Guernica era para mí imperativo. El recuerdo de mi infancia llorando y corriendo con mi familia hacia la estación del metro en Barcelona para cobijarnos de los bombardeos me acosaba ya por tres décadas. También era imperativo componer Guernica como agradecimiento y homenaje a Picasso y a tantos otros que desde su exilio ondeaban la bandera de la libertad. Picasso era mi héroe y a él le dediqué esa composición sinfónica. Cuando la primera grabación de esta obra salió a la luz, grabada en LP por la Louisville Orchestra, pensé en visitar al artista en el sur de Francia y hacerle entrega del disco. Camilo José Cela, con quien estaba yo en contacto a raíz de componer la cantata María Sabina con texto suyo, me ofreció una introducción asegurando que Picasso correspondería a mi obsequio con uno propio… una de sus pintura. Mi entusiasmo volaba por lo alto cuando decidí hacer tal visita durante el verano de 1972. Sin embargo no aconteció así, pues una circunstancia personal abortó el viaje y Picasso falleció algunos meses después jamás llegando a conocerle, una de las decepciones de mi vida. Compuse Guernica en 1966 cuando la New Orleans Philharmonic convocó un concurso para dar lectura a obras orquestales no estrenadas. Los pronunciamientos

8.557342

en contra de la guerra del Vietnam a los que asistí en el “campus” de la universidad de Columbia en Nueva York constituyó otro estímulo para realizar mi proyecto. Infancia, Picasso y Vietnam se sintetizaron en mi persona y en el espacio de dos semanas concebí y escribí Guernica. Estilísticamente, esa obra pertenece a un nuevo momento en mi producción que podría considerarse mi vanguardia. Anteriormente mi música deambulaba entorno al neo-clasicismo en un momento en que la música contemporánea en Nueva York se inscribía casi exclusivamente al serialismo técnico. Mi insatisfacción con esas circunstancias era casi obsesiva. Por un lado no quería seguir por el camino conservador. ¿Cómo podía yo ser conservador, hijo de una familia liberal catalana que ni siquiera estaba bautizado en un momento en que a todo recién nacido se le practicaba ese ritual? Por otro lado la música dodecafónica que escuchaba en aquellos días se me antojaba cerebral y aburrida. Consecuentemente me lancé a la búsqueda de algo que complaciera mi convicción estética: las artes plásticas en Nueva York se convirtieron en meta de referencia, y los conceptos visuales motivo de inspiración. Desde Rauschenberg a los “happenings” pasando por Salvador Dalí , con quien estaba yo colaborando en un proyecto, todo contribuyó a la formación de mi nueva estrategia sonora. Pensé en las técnicas vanguardistas como importantes pero secundarias a un pensamiento más mediterránea. Con buena dosis de arrogancia me decía a mí mismo “voy a poner estas técnicas a buen uso”. Así pues, con la brevedad de un relámpago mi estilo pasó del neoclásico-medieval Concierto para Guitarra y Orquesta n.1 (1965) a las abstracciones de Geometrías n.1 y de Guernica, ambas obras del 1966. Ahora y durante una década mis composiciones eran abstractas, angulares, dramáticas con buena dosis de ritmo y texturas densas, llenas de pasión. Las obras sinfónicas de ese periodo como Steel Symphony, Sinfonía en Negro- Homenaje a Martin Luther King, las cantatas No-res y María Sabina se nutren de estas

6

again the need for change. Now those abstract sounds would be blended with traditional ideas and the avantgarde would meet with the ethnic and traditional in a symbiosis. This brought criticism from some quarters by suggesting that I was trading austerity for comfort; the implication being that it is facile to compose music based on folk elements. It may seem facile, but it is not easy if those folk elements are presented in a non conventional context, different from the traditional one. Homage to Casals and to Sarasate were the first in this new period, although Sinfonía en Negro (1968) already hinted at this new style by using Afro rhythms with

those avant-garde techniques. The other two works on this CD, Symphony No.4 ‘Lausanne’ and Zapata: Images for Orchestra use Swiss and Mexican folk ideas. Nevertheless that symbiotic approach did not stop me from sometimes composing works in which the ethnicity is absent and the composition remains an abstract one, as is the case of Divertimentos (1991) for string orchestra. I see no conflict in this if there is a personal stamp in the works of the composer.

Guernica was composed during the last two weeks of 1966 in New York City and was written as a protest against wars and a tribute to that mural. It is dedicated to Picasso. Despite the fact that the work is not programmatic, one is always aware of the sounds of war, the shouting of the people and the loneliness of destruction, as part of the dramatic total. It was first performed in 1967 by the New Orleans Philharmonic conducted by Werner Torkanowsky and first recorded by the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Jorge Mester. Homage to Sarasate of 1975 uses the Zapateado, a composition of the nineteenth-century Spanish violinist and composer Pablo de Sarasate, as the main idea. This came to Balada’s mind after he had seen the painting by Picasso called Las Meninas. Everybody knows Las Meninas as being by Velazquez, but Picasso gave his own interpretation so that one can see the Velazquez and the Picasso in the same modern painting. The opening moments of Homage to Sarasate present little more than rhythmic fragments suggesting the rapid triple meter of a zapateado, the traditional Spanish dance. To this are gradually added brief snatches of melody alluding to Sarasate’s composition. These emerge in a variety of tonal and rhythmic dislocations and quickly dissolve as other figures come to the fore. Sharp interjections from the winds or percussion occasionally punctuate the proceedings, and the Zapateado music is surrounded by

rich, colourful, orchestral sonorities. The work grows more dense with bits of melody, becoming a big collage. Homage to Casals, written in the same year, is based on a Catalan folk-melody, Song of the Birds, which the great cellist Pablo Casals used to play at the conclusion of his recitals. Homage to Sarasate and its companion piece Homage to Casals represent a new direction in the composer’s music, reinstating melody and traditional harmonies though at the same time he uses aleatoric devices, minimalistic moments, textural layer-on-layer and clustered sounds. It is a blending of the ethnic and the avant-garde. In an article about the composer in the Sunday edition of the New York Times, Pete E. Stone wrote: “Balada lived in Barcelona, an ancient city host to Gaudí and Picasso, where old narrow streets empty into modern avenues ... Thus his music encompasses ... (the) old and the new”. The two Homages won the City of Barcelona international prize for orchestral compositions and were first given by the Pittsburgh Symphony in 1976 conducted by Donald Johanos. They are dedicated to the composer’s father, Pepito. Symphony No. 4 ‘Lausanne’, written in 1992, is part of a group of works composed during Balada’s ethnicavant-garde period. The work develops in one single movement and next to the exuberance of the orchestral colour we find quotations of Swiss folklore. The

3

Leonardo Balada

8.557342

557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

Page 2

Leonardo Balada (b. 1933) Guernica • Symphony No. 4 • Homages to Casals and Sarasate In the personality of an individual nothing has more influence than experiences as a child. Another important influence is an artist’s masterpiece which translates into an ideal stimulus for creation. Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, a mural that expresses the horror after the bombing of a defenceless Basque town during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), was for me that artist’s masterpiece. In addition it was also a symbol of the struggle and contempt I felt, like so many Spaniards, for the dictator Francisco Franco, who crushed the young Spanish democracy in that war. Picasso was our hero, likewise Pablo Casals, Luis Buñuel and many other great artists and intellectuals who fled Spain at the end of that tragic war. I had to compose Guernica: my memories as a child crying and running with my family into the “metro” station in Barcelona to shelter us from the fascist bombings had been haunting me for three decades. I also had to compose it as my way of saying thanks to Picasso and all those exiled, who from overseas waved the flag of freedom, and I had to compose it as a protest against wars. Picasso was my hero and to him I dedicated the symphonic work. After its first recording was released, on an LP by the Louisville Orchestra, I had planned to visit him in the south of France and give him a copy of the work. Camilo José Cela, the late Nobel Literature laureate with whom at that time I was collaborating on the cantata Maria Sabina, had given me an introduction to the artist assuring me that Picasso would respond to my gift with one of his own: one of his paintings. My excitement was at its highest in the summer of 1972 when I had decided to make that visit to the south of France but it was not to be. For personal reasons I had to cancel that trip and Picasso died some months later without my ever meeting the master, one of the big disappointments in my life. My composing Guernica came in 1966, when the New Orleans Philharmonic announced a reading of new orchestral works. The anti-Vietnam War demonstrations that year at Columbia University in New York were an

8.557342

added stimulus for me, having attended meetings of protest at the MacMillan Theater on that campus. Childhood, Picasso, Vietnam all came together and in two weeks with the brevity of a bullet shot, my composition was conceived and done. Guernica became a turning-point in my output. Stylistically Guernica belongs to a new moment in my work which could be construed as my avant-garde period. Before that in the early 1960s my music was somewhat neo-classical, at a time when the contemporary musical scene in New York was practically limited to the twelve-tone serial style. But dissatisfaction with myself was strong and obsessive; I did not want to continue on the conservative path. How could I be so conservative, the son of a liberal Catalan family who had not even been baptized in a Spain were this Catholic ritual was a given for any newly born child? On the other hand the twelve-tone music I was hearing in New York proved extremely boring and intellectual to me. In consequence a relentless search for something that would satisfy my aesthetic vision followed, and the visual arts became my source of inspiration. From Rauschenberg to the happenings of the time and to Dali, with whom I was collaborating in New York, all helped me conceive my new strategy of sound. The avant-garde techniques of that time became secondary to my more Mediterranean approach. With a good degree of arrogance I was telling myself that I would put those techniques to good use. So, as sudden as lightning, my style jumped from a neoclassicalmedieval-like Guitar Concerto No.1 (1965) to the abstractions of Geometries No.1 for ensemble and Guernica, both of 1966. For about a decade my compositions now were abstract, angular, dramatic, propelled by rhythm and heavy textures, and full of passion. The symphonic works that followed like Steel Symphony, Sinfonía en Negro-Homage to Martin Luther King, cantatas María Sabina and No-res are all in that spirit. A new stylistic adventure started in 1975 when I felt

2

características. En 1975 sentí la necesidad de una nueva aventura estilística. En este nuevo periodo aquellos sonidos abstractos vanguardistas formarán simbiosis con ideas étnicas y tradicionales. Ello conllevó críticas de quienes aseguraban que había sacrificado austeridad por confortabilidad. Con ello venían a decir que el uso de ideas folklóricas hace la obra fácil. Sin embargo estoy convencido de que no es así, siempre y cuando el elemento folklórico sea tratado dentro de un contexto fresco y distinto al convencional, cosa que en todo momento he tratado de hacer con las obras de ese periodo. Homenaje a Sarasate y Homenaje a Casals son las primera obras correspondientes a este estilo, si bien

Sinfonía en Negro(1968) en cierto modo ya se le había anticipado al mezclar ritmos negro-africanos con aquellas técnicas vanguardistas. Las otras dos composiciones en este CD, Symphony n. 4 - Lausanne y Zapata: Images for Orchestra hacen uso de motivos folklóricos suizos y mejicanos respectivamente. Sin embargo esa forma de hacer simbiótica no me ha impedido prescindir algunas veces del elemento étnico, dejando al descubierto lo abstracto como es el caso en Divertimentos(1991) para orquesta de cuerdas. No veo contradicción en esa dualidad siempre y cuando el compositor mantenga un común sello individual en todas sus obras.

Guernica fue compuesta durante las últimas dos semanas del 1966 en Nueva York como protesta a las guerras y en homenaje a esa pintura. Está dedicada a Pablo Picasso autor de tal obra maestra. Si bien la obra no es programática, uno puede percatarse de los sonidos de la guerra, los gritos de la gente y la soledad de la devastación como parte de un total dramático. Su estreno tuvo lugar en 1967 interpretada por la New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra dirigida por Werner Torkanowsky y consecuentemente fue grabada en disco por la Louisville Orchestra dirigida por Jorge Mester. Homenaje a Sarasate viene a ser como una visión contemporánea del famoso Zapateado de Pablo de Sarasate, compositor y violinista español del siglo XI. La idea surgió en Balada después de contemplar la interpretación que Picasso hizo de las Meninas de Velazquez. Todo el mundo conoce el famoso cuadro, pero Picasso hizo su propia interpretación y en ella uno puede percibir las dos personalidades. Al comienzo, el ritmo de zapateado es escasamente perceptible. Sobre esta abstracción aparecen poco a poco fragmentos melódicos que aluden de forma distorsionada a la obra de Sarasate y que desaparecen para dar paso a nuevas ideas. Este procedimiento se repite varias veces con

maneras atonales, aleatorias y con frecuentes armonias “clusters”. El ritmo de zapateado se enriquece con sonoridades orquestales hasta convertirse en un enorme “collage”. Homenaje a Casals está basado en una melodía folklórica catalana, el canto de los pájaros que el gran violoncelista Pau Casals siempre interpretaba a la conclusión de sus conciertos. Los dos Homenajes representan una nueva dirección en la música de Balada en la que se establece una simbiosis entre tradición y vanguardia. En un artículo dedicado a Balada aparecido en el New York Times, el ensayista Peter E. Stone escribe:”...él vivió en Barcelona, antigua ciudad anfitriona de Gaudí y Picasso en donde viejas callejuelas desembocan en modernas avenidas...así pues su música...une lo antiguo y lo nuevo”. Los Homenajes obtuvieron el premio Internacional de composición sinfónica Ciudad de Barcelona - 1976 y fueron estrenados por la Pittsburg Symphony Orchestra dirigida por Donald Johanos. El Homenaje a Sarasate lo grabó en disco la Louisville Orchestra dirigida por Jorge Mester. Los dos Homenajes están dedicados al padre del composito, ‘Pepito’. La Sinfonía No. 4 - “Lausanne” (1992) forma parte

7

Leonardo Balada

8.557342

557342bk Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

de un conjunto de composiciones creadas por Balada durante su estilo étnico-vanguardista. La obra se desarrolla en un solo movimiento, y dentro de su exuberancia instrumental encontramos citas folklóricas suizas. La Lausanne Chamber Orchestra encargó la composición con motivo del 50 aniversario de su fundación y la estrenó en 1992 dirigida por Jesús LópezCobos, a quien está dedicada. El estreno americano lo realizó la Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra dirigida por Keith Lockhart. Balada colaboró con su compatriota el pintor surrealista Salvador Dalí en Nueva York en 1960 y ello tuvo un inconsciente efecto en el compositor en aquellos años formativos. Esta influencia se evidenció varios años después, sobretodo en la composición de la ópera Zapata. Zapata: Imágenes para Orquesta (1987) está basada en esta ópera. En las Imágenes la influencia del surrealismo es especialmente evidente en el Vals. Esta danza atraviesa una serie de transformaciones que la llevan desde un pulso imperceptible al comienzo, a un vals vienés auténtico; a esto le sigue la superposición de

Page 8

dos valses distintos, de velocidad diferente. Finalmente esta tensión se ve culminada por la sugerencia de un tiroteo revolucionario. En el Vals, todos los temas son originales. Este no es el caso en la Marcha, la cual presenta una marcha militar. Aquí la melodía popular La Cucaracha es presentada gradualmente, pero tres himnos revolucionarios internacionales - la Marsellesa, la Internacional y el Himno de Riego - entran en juego constituyéndose en un gigantesco collage. La Elegía presenta un fragmento de la popular melodía mejicana Adelita en forma de ostinato con trompetas y trombones con sordina. Este movimiento está sacado directamente de la ópera trasfiriendo la línea cantada por Zapata al violoncelo solista y la de su moribundo hermano a las violas con sordina. El Baile de Bodas mezcla el popular Jarabe Tapatio con melodías originales. Una vez más, el fantasma surrealista es aparente en la forma en que el jarabe es distorsionado, quebrantado y yuxtapuesto. El estreno absoluto de esta composición fue a cargo de la Orquesta Nacional de España y el estreno americano por la Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

Leonardo Balada Nacido en Barcelona (22 septiembre 1933), Balada hizo sus estudios musicales en el Conservatorio del Liceu de Barcelona y la Juiliard School de Nueva York. Entre sus maestro de composición contamos a Vincent Percichetti y Aaron Copland. Desde 1970 es catedrático de composición en la universidad Carnegie Mellon en Pittsburg, EE.UU. En cuanto a su estilo se le considera pionero en la combinación de ideas folklóricas con técnicas de vanguardia, práctica muy frecuente en compositores actuales. Sus obras son interpretadas regularmente por las principales orquestas de América y Europa por solistas y directores de la más alto distinción. También ha recibido encargos de importantes instituciones de ambos lados del Atlántico. Ha compuesto en todos los géneros sinfónicos y líricos. Entre sus óperas figura Cristóbal Colón estrenada en el Gran Teatre del Liceu en Barcelona con José Carreras y Montserrat Caballé, atrayendo aclamación crítica internacional. En la actualidad está colaborando con el dramaturgo Fernando Arrabal en una ópera encargo del Teatro Real de Madrid. También ha recibido varios premios internacionales.

8.557342

8

Leonardo

BALADA Guernica Symphony No. 4 • Zapata Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra Salvador Mas Conde

557342rear Balada US

25/05/2004

11:07am

Page 1

CMYK NAXOS

NAXOS

8.557342

Leonardo

Playing Time

DDD

69:25

BALADA (b. 1933) 1 2 3 4

8

20:05 6:28 5:25 3:23 4:48

Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra Salvador Mas Conde

NAXOS RADIO www.naxosradio.com

Over 50 Channels of Classical Music • Jazz, Folk/World, Nostalgia Accessible Anywhere, Anytime • Near-CD Quality

8. 5 573 4 2

8. 55 73 42

Recorded in the Teatre-Auditori Sant Cugat, Barcelona, Spain from 29th April to 3rd May, 2003 Producer: Eleanor Thomason (K&A Productions Ltd.) • Booklet Notes: Leonardo Balada Publishers: General Music/EMI (Track 1), G. Schirmer Inc. (Tracks 2-3) and Beteca Music (Tracks 4-8) Cover Picture: Guernica by Pablo Picasso (© Pablo Picasso / Museo Nacional Centro De Arte Reina Sofia / VEGAP 2004, Spain)

h & g 2004 Naxos Rights International Ltd.

7

Zapata: Images for Orchestra (1988) I - Waltz II - March III - Elegy IV - Wedding Dance

Booklet notes in English Comentarios en español Made in Canada

6

11:21 7:38 11:47 18:34

www.naxos.com

5

Guernica (1966) Homage to Sarasate (1975) Homage to Casals (1975) Symphony No. 4 ‘Lausanne’ (1992)

BALADA: Guernica

BALADA: Guernica

The Catalan composer Leonardo Balada went to New York in 1956 to study composition, and has been a powerful creative force for more than three decades. The unique ‘avant-garde’ techniques, dramatically as well as rhythmically imposing, which Balada developed during the 1960s, set works such as Guernica (which was inspired by Picasso’s mural and the composer’s own experiences of the Spanish Civil War) apart from composers of the time. Later, in the seventies, he was credited as a pioneer in blending the modern with folkloric ideas and mixing the new with the old in works such as Symphony No. 4 and Homage to Casals and Sarasate.