South American Suite for Harp and Orchestra

by

Alfredo Rolando Ortiz

Orchestration by Paul Hurst

On March 3rd, 1996, Alfredo performed the premiere of his
South American Suite for Harp and Orchestra, with the
Tulare County Symphony Orchestra, California, conducted by David André.
(Orchestration commissioned by Alfredo to Paul Hurst)

Due to the long standing ovation and at the request of orchestra members,
Maestro David André acquiesced to a repeat the last movement of the Suite.

CREATING MY SUITE:
The idea of performing with orchestra had began in 1982, when my friend, Phia Berghout, phoned me from The Netherlands, very early one morning, to ask if I would accept her invitation to perform several of my compositions as part of the Opening Concert of the First World Harp Congress, to take place in Maastricht, The Netherlands, in 1983. After a long silence I accepted. Phia requested my pieces and offered to have them arranged so I could perform them with the Royal Band of The Netherlands. The performance took place with great success, having not only the audience but the musicians in love with the marvelous and unique rhythmic styles of South America.

For several years I kept thinking of commissioning the orchestration of my "South American Suite," a collection of five of my pieces in contrasting South American music styles. In 1992, I heard a recorded version of one of my compositions, Sueño Español (Spanish Dream), beautifully performed on pedal harp by Paul Hurst. Mr. Hurst was also a pianist and orchestrator and specialized in computer music notation. Talking to Mr. Hurst about my ideas, I felt that I had found the person with both, the technical knowledge and the sensitivity I was looking for, to orchestrate my Suite.

I commissioned the orchestration in 1993. Giving him the original solo harp versions of my compositions for the Suite, as well as some of my versions accompanied by traditional instruments, he began the orchestration. Besides the many long hours he worked on the project, we worked together many more hours on many details, making sure that the unique style and character of each one of my compositions, were preserved.

While touring in Alaska, in November of 1995, a phone call from my wife informed me that David André, Music Director of the Tulare County Symphony, California, had called to ask if I had music for harp and orchestra. At that time, only one of the movements, Andina, was still to be orchestrated.

Both parts of Andina were kept very close to my original composition for harp, guitars, charango and quenas (Inca flutes). The strumming of some of the original instruments was given to the strings, strumming "guitar style." In the slow, haunting first part, the bassoon was assigned a phrase originally for guitar, while my theme for the quenas was given to a piccolo and a flute and, at other times, the oboes. The lively final part . . . well, just listen to that fun part in my recording and dance along! In December of 1995 the music score was ready.

The Premiere of the South American Suite for Harp and Orchestra took place March 3rd, 1996, at the L. J. Williams Theater, Visalia, California, performed by the Tulare County Symphony, conducted by David André. I was the harp soloist. It was one of the most emotionally intense moments of my career . . . only second to the experience of playing in the delivery room during the birth of our second daughter, fifteen years before.

Enjoy the music!

                                Alfredo

INSTRUMENTATION: Flute 1/piccolo, flute 2/alto flute, oboe 1 & 2, Bb clarinet 1 & 2, bassoon,

Horn in F 1 & 2, Bb trumpet 1 & 2, tenor & bass trombone, timpani, percussion and strings.

Note: The Suite may be performed with Symphony or Chamber orchestras.

ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS:

COLOMBIANA: "Villavicencio"

This is a "joropo," a lively harp music genre from the plains of Colombia and Venezuela. This piece is dedicated to Colombia and to the city of Villavicencio, in the Colombian plains, where every year a music festival celebrates the traditional music of the llanos (plains).

VENEZOLANA: "El Río" (The River)

This is a "tonada," a traditional harp music genre from the Venezuelan plains. I dedicate this piece to Venezuela and to Juan Vicente Torrealba, Venezuelan harpist and composer whose music had a great impact on me upon my arrival in Venezuela as a child.

ANDINA

The Andes, the valleys, the mountains reaching high in the sky, from jungle to snow, from Machu Pichu to Cuzco, from Inca to Spanish, the elements of this rich culture are the basis of this piece. In its two very distinctive parts I have used the same mixture of indigenous and Spanish elements present in much of their music.

ECUADOR

Dedicated to that beautiful South American country, this piece is in the genre of "pasillo," very popular in its mountain regions.

IMPROVISACION (Improvisation)

Ecuador ends with a solo harp improvisation which will be different every time the Suite is performed. Using elements of South American music genres, this improvisation will arrive at the main theme of "Paraguaya," without interruption. For the premiere, March, 1996, the improvisation was based on themes, originally improvised years ago, dedicated to my wife Luz Marina and the birth of our daughters, Luzma and Michelle. To them I dedicated that improvisation,

with all my love.

PARAGUAYA: "Zayante"
This piece is a"galopa" (also called "polca paraguaya"), the most characteristic harp music genre of Paraguay. Originally dedicated to friends in the area of Santa Cruz, California, who had fallen in love with the harp and music from Paraguay, I gave it the title "Zayante," a beautiful word which identifies an indigenous tribe which used to live in the area of Santa Cruz. I dedicate this new version of "Zayante" to Paraguay, land of the harp, and to the memory of my Paraguayan harp teacher, Alberto Romero.

Performances of the
“South American Suite for Harp and Orchestra”
include:

Third Latin American Harpists Encounter
Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Symphony Orchestra
Music Director: Rodolfo Saglimbeni
Caracas, Venezuela, October, 1998

New Mexico Symhony Orchestra, three performances, March, 1999

Orange County Youth Symphony Orchestra, May 2nd, 1999

Arizona State University Symphony, two concerts, September, 1999

El Paso Symphony Orchestra, four concerts, July and September, 2000

Invited by Jana Bouskova, he performed his South American Suite at the
Seventh World Harp Congress, Prague, Czech Republic, 1999,
with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand, November 2001

Istanbul Borusan Philharmonic Orchestra, two concerts, December 2001

St. Matthew's Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Palisades, California, June 6, 2003

California Chamber Orchestra, Temecula, California, January 5, 2008

Guatemala National Symphony Orchestra, Guatemala, April, 2008

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, Iowa, October 19, 2008

Returned to Iowa to perform again his Suite with the
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, March, 2010

South Coast Symphony Orchetsra, California, March 26, 2010

In planning stages:
Concert with the Corona Symphony, California, 2011

Photo: Rehearsal with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Bladimir Valek.
Friday, July 23rd, 1999. Spanish Hall, Prague Castle, Czech Republic.
The audience included over one thousand harpists from around the world.

Excerpts of concert recorded on September 23, 2000

El Paso Symphony • Conductor: Gürer Aykal • Harpist: Alfredo Rolando Ortiz