Suamox

Vibraphone and Marimba. (2009)

National Composition Prize for young composers in Colombia 2008

I have heard multiple times composers said “that piece made me a composer,” the so-called opus No. 1. If any, I consider Suamox to be that for me, it was the first piece I wrote and that I was proud of. As usual for performers who are also composers, the first piece you write is meant to be played by yourself, and so did I.

The story behind the title is that by 2010 my country (and others in Latin America) celebrated the 200th anniversary of Independence and there was a lot of reinforcement on the native heritage and local culture in the air. Joining this celebration, I put into music the sad story of Suamox. There was a temple in which Natives (Muiscas) used to glorify the Sun (Sua:Sun Mox:Home), this temple was ornamented with fantastic golden pieces and served as religious center for the tribe. In 1537, the Spanish conquistadores attacked the temple and stole all the gold. They killed hundreds of natives and burned down the incipient hut to nothing but ashes. Nowadays, it exists a museum that preserves Muisca’s memories and heritage, check this link.