Brouwer Sonata

A native of Cuba, Leo Brouwer is universally acknowledged as one of the most challenging and innovative of contemporary composers. This programme brings the guitar into consort with the bandurria, a small lute dating from the 16th century and perennially popular in South America, the combination perfect for expressing the rustic rhythms of Cuban folk style in Música Incidental Campesina. This recording covers a kaleidoscopic range of techniques and emotions, from political martyrdom in Chile to the immense vistas of Brazil. The Sonata para Bandurria was composed for one of the virtuoso performers on this recording, Pedro Chamorro.

Leo Brouwer is universally acclaimed as an innovative composer, and this fifth volume of his complete guitar works contains some of his longest and most ambitious pieces. Danzas Rituales y Festivas Vol. 2 covers the gamut of virtuosic techniques and includes a movement dedicated to Pedro Mateo González, while Brouwer considers the Sonata del Pensador to be one of my most valuable pieces. Rich in Cuban rhythms, introspection and astonishing virtuosity, Brouwers work is the result of a lifetime of musical exploration alongside a passion for music of the past.

Margaret Brouwer’s music has for decades been admired for “inhabiting its own peculiarly bewitching harmonic world”(The New York Times). These recently composed pieces reflect her musical representations of particular events: Rhapsodic Sonata charts an internal journey of love, whereas Declaration is a set of songs that addresses ideas of violence and war. Composed at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, I Cry – Summer 2020outlines a process of isolation and restriction. All Lines are Still Busy is a satirical monologue that should intrigue anyone who has been placed “on hold “during a telephone call.