Camilo Arias - Master Research Last Sand
(2023)
author(s): Camilo Arias
published in: KC Research Portal
While the commercial musical stream of "Latin American Baroque" has been associated with musical cross-breeding, the study of the colonial repertoire that composes it documents quite the opposite: the absence of non-European musical features. By accepting the impossibility to find the written "Mestizo Baroque", this research chooses to "re-imagine it" from orality. Taking the Fandango musical family as a framework, this research enters into playful dialogues between the XVIII century European fandango and its surviving folklore counterparts: the Mexican Son Huasteco and the Colombo-Venezuelan Joropo. Through analysis and transcription of oral sources, style comparison, arrangement, and improvisation this research aims to create a musical product that reclaims the mixed-raced identities, erased from colonial archives, in today´s Early Music industry.
Rite and identity of the cantaor flamenco in my own musical language
(2020)
author(s): ADRIÁN CRESPO BARBA
published in: Codarts
While flamenco harmony and rhythm has been widely used for creating new compositions, the use of flamenco voice in contemporary music is almost non-existent. The aim of this research was to uncodify the idiosyncrasy of the cantaor flamenco in order to apply it in a different musical context, starting from a solo instrumental piece and taking it to larger instrumental settings. To make this possible, the voice of the cantaor has been disaggregated into its melodic behaviour, its rhythm or its timbre.
The process consisted of transcribing examples of flamenco vocal recordings; analyzing many hours of videos, interviews and iconography to understand the cantaor’s rite; the participation of experts in the field like Mauricio Sotelo, Arcángel or Niño de Elche among others; and working side-by-side with the performers. The result came with three new compositions: ‘Cántico II: A la memoria de Antonio Mairena’, for trombone quartet, video media and soundtracks; ‘Cántico III’, a piece for voice, delay system and large ensemble; and ‘Cántico IV: Saeta por seguiriya after Velazquez’s ‘Cristo crucificado’’, a piece for electronic music, 3D animation and performative acting. In addition, this is probably the first study that treats in a deeper way the behaviour of the voice in the performance of cantes like fandangos or cañas, so it can open new perspectives on the field of flamencology.
Postcolonial Fandango: Interdisciplinarity between Early Music, Ethnomusicology and Postcolonial Studies
(last edited: 2024)
author(s): Camilo Arias
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
The musical label of "Latin American Baroque" has been associated with musical cross-breeding, allthough the body of its repertorie (music from colonial archives) documents rather the absence of afro-hispanic or hispanic-amerindian musical features. By accepting the impossibility to find the written the exoticized "Mestizo Baroque", this research chooses to "re-imagine it" from orality. Taking the Fandango musical family as a framework, it enters into playful dialogues between the XVIII century European fandango and its surviving folklore counterparts: the Mexican Son Huasteco and the Colombo-Venezuelan Joropo. Through analysis and transcription of oral sources, style comparison, arrangement, and improvisation research aims to create a musical product that resolves the identity tensions present in the Performance of Colonial Baroque Music.