3.4. CONCLUSIONS 

 




Through the course of this research, it was possible to construct my own postcolonial artistic interpretation of "Latin American Baroque", creating a musical product that reinserts excluded Hispanic mixed-race cultures into our imagination of the past. With this product, I intend to respond to the market's expectation of exoticism, without falling into the contradictions of conventional Latin American Baroque- repertoire.

 

It was possible to explore and illustrate the relationship between fandango-related baroque music and surviving Latin American folklore- Fandangos through the creation of a crossover style. This crossover style had mostly the structure of a "musical collage" consisting of pairing two pieces into small "suites", as observed in the recording "Folias Criollas" by Jordi Saval. During this research, I used exclusively the baroque Fandango (in some unrecorded exercises also the Passaccalle or ancient Sarabande) but other ostinato baroque dances can be used as well (the Canarie has a special kinship with Andean folklore and will be used in future collages)


The concept of "crossover", often associated with musical opportunism, was used during this research to bring political values into classical music. The idea of "crossing" became a leading thought in this research. "Crossing" not only in the sense of "combining" different styles but also "crossing" in the sense of "crossing limits". With this crossover style, for example, it was possible to cross barriers between audiences during concerts. Educated classical music audiences would see their comfort zone "transgressed" every time the ensemble would switch from the elegance of a Baroque Fandango to the euphoric sounds of a folklore fandango. The loud screaming and stomping can be something very violent when put into the context of a classical music concert.


There is something deeply subversive about this music, which I would like to portray through the subversive image of the ensemble created for this research. To me, the fandango is the vital affirmation of the subdued ones. It is the scream of the bull, the buzz of the rattlesnake, the cock. On the other side, in accordance with its ritual origins in communal integration, the fandango is also the celebration, the social bond, the dissolution of the individual self in the "Dionysian drunkenness" which is so beautifully represented in the Fandangos Verdiales. At last, and once again in accordance with the spirit of the celebration, the fandango is humor. The joyful craziness of the party, the "Follia".