Fernando Mariña / Fandangos y boleros Música para guitarra de Latinoamérica (2007 Ediciones Pentagrama APCD 633)

Fandangos y boleros is a work that was planed to be, in 2001, my first published recording. As the result of numerous events and opportunities which came up in different moments before and after 2001, this expected first CD turned out to be the third one in my Pentagrama musical catalogue. The pieces of music you will listen to, represent diverse expressions of the Latin American guitar repertoire; in this case from Mexico and Cuba. I chose these two countries for two reasons: 

 -Mexico is the country in which I was born.                                                                         -Cuba is the country in which I was formed as a musician.

In my opinion, the authors whose music I perform in this recording are of vital importance for the comprehension of current music in their respective countries. Furthermore, their music exalts the universal guitar of our days.

Leo Brouwer (Havana, Cuba; 1939) composer, guitarist and conductor, has performed in the whole world. He studied guitar in Cuba with Isaac Nicola. Additionally, he studied composition and conducting at Hartford University and at Julliard Conservatory in New York. He has taught guitar master classes all over the world. He is the author of the musical scores of over one hundred Cuban movies. He has composed music for guitar, symphonic and chamber orchestra and coral music. He has composed works for the Lieja, Toronto and Volos guitar festivals, and for the London BBC, among others. He is a honorary member of UNESCO and the Arts Academy of Berlin. Also, he has been Chairman of the Havana International Guitar Festival.

SONATA was written in 1990. It is dedicated to the celebrated English guitarist Julian Bream. This piece contains elements of African music, specifically of the Yoruba, that has an extensive presence in Cuban culture. Nevertheless, in each and every of its movements, Brouwer makes a type of homage to European musicians such as Padre Soler, Beethoven, Scriabin and Pasquini. Furthermore, he includes elements of a Cubanity which expresses univocally through Brouwer as the root of a deep cultural synthesis that does not exclude the incorporation of other external subsystems, inasmuch as that for him, all art develops in parallel processes integrated within an integral and multiple macrosystem.

Roberto Medina (Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico; 1955) studied composition, Gregorian chant, polyphony and piano at Las Rosas Conservatory in Michoacan. He specialized in composition in the "Carlos Chávez" workshop, with Federico Ibarra. He attended courses by Kotonski, Brouwer, Lanza, Barce, Lavista and Enríquez. As a composer, he has participated in numerous festivals in Mexico and other countries. His works include pieces for orchestra, chamber groups and soloists. He received a scholarship from FONCA (National Fund for Culture and Arts of Mexico) in 1991. He received the Academic Achievement Award from INBA (National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico) in 1993. He has taught at Las Rosas Conservatory, the Popular School of Fine Arts of the Michoacan University, the National School of Music (ENM) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and the Superior School of Music (ESM) of INBA, which he headed from 1999 to 2007. 

¡AY DE MÍ, SI ES AMOR, CUÁNTO ATORMENTA!                                                                          was written in 2005 at my request. In the words of Roberto Medina: "The title is taken from the Tenth Chant by the great Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi and it is dedicated to Ana María (Roberto's wife), she knows why". A piece of a single movement, it has as an origin the traditional popular "bolero", of which it takes some harmonic and melodic elements that are developed according to the musical conception of the author.

Carlos Fariñas (Cienfuegos-Havana, Cuba; 1934-2002) made his musical studies at the Municipal Conservatory of Havana with Harold Gramatges and José Ardévol. In 1956 he attended a composition course at Berkshire Music Center (USA) with Aaron Copland. Between 1961 and 1963 he received musical composition lessons from Alexander Pirumov and orchestra lessons from Rogal Levitski at Moscow Conservatory. His catalogue includes chamber, choral, symphonic, voice and orchestra music, as well as for ballet, movies and theatre. He was guest of honor in the Paris Villa, in the Italian Latin American Institute, in the British Council of London, in the Swedich Institute, in the Rikskonserter of Stockholm and in the Berliner Kunsder Program of the Federal Republic of Germany. His trajectory as a composer has been recognized in several countries of the world. 

Preludio and Canción Triste are two pieces written for the musical score of the movie "Soy Cuba" (Cuban-Soviet co-production) directed by Mihail Kalatosov. Preludio appears in various moments of the plot with different instrumental arrangements. Canción Triste appears in the movie sung bolero-style by an old man with his guitar in the street. Both pieces have a marked melodic and melancholic character that invites the performer to recreate them in a very expressive and inspired manner.

Ernesto García de León (Jaltipan, Veracruz, Mexico; 1952) studied at the National School of Music (ENM) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), and at the Royal School of Music in London, England. He is founding member of the Casa de las Américas Musicological Award of Cuba. He has participated as performer and / or composer in several national and international festivals. He attended, as a special guest, The Dallas-Ft. Worth Classical Guitar Exposition, 2000 edition, delivering three concerts and four master classes of his music at Texas Christian University -Fort Worth- ,Southern Methodist University -Dallas-, Woman's University -Denton-, and Brookhaven College Dallas-; all these in Texas, USA. During this same festival, he shared "The composer's Forum" with the North American composer and guitarist Brian Clément-Foreman. His music is published in New York through MICHAEL LORIMER EDITIONS. Since 1984 he is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) of New York City. Currently, he is a member of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI). In 2006, the International Guitar Contest and Festival of Taxco, Mexico, was dedicated to render homage to García de León. 

SUITE MEXICANA is integrated by four short pieces written in different periods of the author's life. They are not components of any Sonata, Fantasy or Variations; that is, they are not part of any great (in extension) work. The idea of grouping them in a "Suite" was my idea and was discussed with the composer. As in all of the works of García de León, the Mexican roots (mainly from Veracruz) that inspire the composer will be very clear to the hearer, who can feel a strong nationalism, in the style of Manuel M. Ponce during the Mexican Revolution, in Balada. In the same way, the hearer will listen in "El Viejo", with rumba rhythm, the Christmas carol from Veracruz "...una limosna, para éste pobre viejo..."; similar Mexican roots can be perceived in Preludio and Son. 

                                                                                                    Fernando Mariña, September, 2007

FERNANDO MARIÑA, GUITAR (Mexico, 1970)

He graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte of Cuba, as Licentiate in Music, under the guidance of Maestro Víctor Pellegrini. Additionally he has received classes from Maestros Carlos Guzmán, Marta Cuervo and Rey Guerra.

As a soloist he has developed an intense activity with performances in several cities of Mexico: III, IV, VII, and IX CNA (National Council for the Arts) International Guitar Festival in 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2007; I Guitar Festival of Yucatan in 2002; XXV, XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, and XXIX International New Music Forum "Manuel Enríquez" in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007; II and V International Baroque Cervantino Festival of San Cristobal de las Casas in 2003 and 2006; III International Festival "Guitarra sin Fronteras" of Chihuahua in 2005; V National Guitar Festival of Puebla in 2007. Outside of Mexico he has performed in Cuba (International Contemporary Music Festival in 1999, 2005, and 2007), Ecuador, Turkey (2nd.METU International Guitar Festival in 1998), Germany, Belgium, Barbados (Holder's Season in 1999), Nicaragua, Colombia (Music Week at Music School of the Valle de Cali University in 2004) and the United States of America (XIII Hispanoamerican Guitar Festival in 2006). His musical development has brought about that conductors such as Eduardo Sánchez Zúber (Mexico), Enrique Pérez Mesa (Cuba), Guido López Gavilán (Cuba), Irina Guerra Lig-Long (Cuba), Pablo Biutrago (Nicaragua), among others, constantly invite him to perform along with orchestras; particularly the Morelos Chamber Orchestra (Mexico), Matanzas Symphonic Orchestra (Cuba), "Música Eterna" Chamber Orchestra (Cuba), Nicaragua National Orchestra, and Michoacan Symphonic Orchestra (Mexico).

He has had outstanding participations in contests; among them:

Middle Level Students Festival of the Escuela Nacional de Música of Cuba, in which he obtained a mention for the best interpretation of Cuban music (1990).

First National Guitar Contest of Taxco (Mexico 1991), in which he obtained the 3rd prize.

Second Classical Guitar Contest "Graziella Lassere de Chappard" of Guanajuato (Mexico 1991), in which he obtained the 1st prize.

Composers such as Ernesto García de León (Mexico), Juan Helguera (Mexico), Roberto Medina (Mexico), and Boris Díaz (Cuba) have written works dedicated to Fernando Mariña.

He has also developed an intense teaching activity, delivering master classes. Between 2001 and 2006 he coordinated the guitar career in the Escuela Superior de Música (ESM) of the National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico (INBA); in 2006 and 2007 he was academic head of the mentioned school, where he currently teaches guitar.

As a performer of chamber music he has played with the Argentinean guitarist Víctor Pellegrini, the Instituto Superior de Arte de Cuba String Quartet, the "Convivium Musicum" Choral Ensemble of Mexico, among others. From 1999 to 2005, he integrated the García de León-Mariña guitar Duo.

Since 2001, he is an exclusive artist of the Discographic company "Ediciones Pentagrama".

Discography:

-Fernando Mariña, Guitarra (Ediciones Pentagrama APCD 376). (www.pentagrama.com.mx)

-Doremi, Un encuentro con la música (Independent Production): Tracks 34 and 35.

- Dúo García de León-Mariña, Los Espíritus de la Selva (Ediciones Pentagrama APCD 583), (www.pentagrama.com.mx)

- La Guitarra en el Mundo (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México); Tracks 12, 13, and 14.