Sinfonietta (2015)
“Macondo” is a fictional town created by Colombian Nobel Prize Winner Gabriel García Marquez in his novel “One hundred years of Solitude.” The town is a unique place supposedly located on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Its streets witness the most unexpected and magical events, executed by its unique and flamboyant characters. The plot of the novel centers on the seven generations of the “Buendía Family.”
This piece of music is an attempt to capture four specific short moments in the novel (out of many more possible) that called my attention and which I felt could be effectively approached through music. For a better understanding, I provide the excerpts that relate to each movement of the piece.
1. 4 years, 11 months and 2 days.
(…) It rained for four years, eleven months, and two days. There were periods of drizzle during which everyone put on his full dress and a convalescent look to celebrate the clearing, but the people soon grew accustomed to interpret the pauses as a sign of redoubled rain. (…)
2. Aureliano’s Carnival
(…) The carnival had reached its highest level of madness and Aureliano Segundo had satisfied at last his dream of dressing up like a tiger and was walking along the wild throng, hoarse from so much roaring, when on the swamp road a parade of several people appeared carrying in a gilded litter the most fascinating woman that imagination could conceive (…)
3. The Trickle of Blood
(…) A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs, went on to the other living room, made a wide curve to avoid the dining-room table, went along the porch with the begonias, and passed without being seen under Amaranta’s chair as she gave an arithmetic lesson to Aureliano José , and went through the pantry and came out in the kitchen, where Úrsula was getting ready to crack thirty-six eggs to make bread. (…)
4. Úrsula’s Solitude
(…) They found her dead on the morning of Good Thursday. The last time that they had helped her calculate her age, during the time of the banana company, she had estimated it as between one hundred fifteen and one hundred twenty-two. (…)
Live Recording by my friends from Ensemble Exit 128
EN 
ES