Temazcal by Javier Alvarez - Margarita Kourtparasidou (percussion)

A piece for amplified maracas and tape written in 1984 by Javier Alvarez and played by Margarita Kourtparasidou. The performance took place 22nd May 2004 in Athens.

The title of this work stems from the Nahuatl (ancient aztec) word literally meaning " water that burns". The maracas material throughout Temazcal is drawn from traditional rhythmic patterns found in most Latin-American musics, namely those from the Caribbean region, southeastern Mexico, Cuba, Central America and the flatlands of Colombia and Venezuela. In these musics in general, the maracas are used in a purely accompanimental manner as part of small instrumental ensembles. The only exception is, perhaps, that of the Venezuelan flatlands, where the role of the maracas surpasses that of mere cadence and accent punctuation to become a soloistic instrument in its own right. It was from this instance that I imagined a piece where the player would have to master short patterns and combine them with great virtuosity to construct larger and complex rhythmic structures which could then be juxtaposed, superimposed and set against similar passages on tape, thus creating a dense polyrhythmic web. This would eventually disintegrate clearing the way for a traditional accompanimental style of playing in a sound world reminiscent of the maracas' more usual environment. The sound sources on tape include harp, a folk guitar and double bass pizzicatti for the tape's attacks, the transformation of bamboo rods being struck together for the rhythmic passages and rattling sounds created with the maracas themselves for other gestures. The tape was realized at the Electronic Music Studio at the Royal College of Music during the last months of 1983. The piece is dedicated to Luis Julio Toro who first performed it at the EMAS series in London in January 1984. Since receiving an honourable mention at the 1985 Bourges Electro-Acoustic Music Festival, Temazcal has been regularly performed and broadcast by percussionists worldwide.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• κρουστά
• μαράκας
• maracas
• peter prommel
• detmold amsterdam