Ritual
Chamber Ensemble
Scored for
Flute
Clarinet in Bb
Trombone
Double Bass
4 percussion players:
player 1: Vibraphone, Marimba
player 2: Bass Drum, Triangle, Tam-Tam
player 3: 2 Floor toms (medium, low), Shaker, Rainstick
player 4: 2 Woord Blocks (medium, low), Glockenspiel, Suspended Cymbal
Program Note
“Ritual” (Rite) was kindly commissioned by Costarican Conductor and Composer Eddie Mora to be premiered by an ensemble from the “Banda de Conciertos de San José” in Costa Rica.
The piece evokes a rite in the Pipil tradition in El Salvador, in which our ancestors presented offerings to the god of the water and rain (“Tlaloc”) The music starts with the trombone resembling a caracol doing a greeting to the 4 cardinal points. The main rhythmic idea combines different traditional rhythms from El Salvador (as investigated by Aracely Sánchez). For the melodic material, I wrote a theme that evokes the sound of the “pito flauta”, a traditional “flute” used in El Salvador. In the Ritual offered to Tlaloc, our ancestors asked for a good harvesting season and that Tlaloc grant them rain and enough water for the year. The central section of the piece starts with a glissando from the Vibraphone and represents the idea of water and rain. The piece finishes with a new exposition of the dance-like section presented in the beginning adding more elements at a slightly faster speed.
- Juan Guerra González