TCMG: The Creative Spark

February 15, 2007

There is a unique and rather symbiotic relationship in the classical music world between composer and performer. Unlike a jazz improviser or singer-songwriter, a composer’s music does not get heard without musicians to play it, and, conversely, performing musicians are mostly bringing to life and interpreting other people’s compositions. A great treat for any ensemble is to work hand-in-hand with a living composer, who is there to guide the musicians through the very personal offering of her creativity.

The Taos Chamber Music Group has frequently collaborated with composers-in-residence as part of their concert series, and this season is featuring the music of Elisenda Fabregas from Barcelona, Spain. Three of her works, “Voces de mi Tierra� for flute, cello and piano, “Cantilena and Dance� for flute, violin, cello and piano, and “Hommage à Mozart� for solo piano, as well as Johannes Brahms’ “Piano Trio, opus 87� and Gary Schocker’s “Green Places,� will be included in a program called “Passion and Place� on Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Harwood Museum of Art. Fabregas will be in Taos for school programs as well as to talk to TCMG audiences at the concerts about her compositions. Articulate as well as passionate about her art, Fabregas eloquently answered a few questions during a recent email interview.

N.L. - As a performer as well as composer, could you talk about the relationship between the two?

E.F. - A composer is intimately familiar with the way a composition is constructed. A composer who is also a performer can better understand the intentions of the composer behind the music and can better interpret and recreate it. I am talking about musical form, harmonic rhythm and progression, melodic contour, structural rhythm, texture, accentuation, etc. The notes, dynamics, accents and other information printed on the page provide only clues. In my opinion what is most important is in between the notes and not on the page. Each composer has a language of its own and the performer has to become familiar with his or her language in order to bring meaning to the music. Because I am also a professional pianist, my music keeps the performer in mind, and in writing from a performance point of view, I have the audience in mind. What is most important for me is to have my own musical voice—to be personal and keep my individuality.

N.L. - What are the main influences on you as a composer (musical and non-musical)?

E.F. - My musical influences are J.S. Bach, mostly with regard to counterpoint and complexity of layers, but also expressive devices such as appoggiaturas and expressive dissonance. I am also influenced by Gregorian chant and Catholic liturgy, Spanish music (Flamenco), Catalan folksong (modality), Federico Mompou, and by all the Baroque, Romantic, and Contemporary piano and chamber music repertoire I have performed as a professional pianist most of my life. My non-musical influences come from emotional connections with people I meet and specific performers I write music for, Nature as creator and destroyer of life, people I have met throughout my life—especially women who encouraged me to compose, such as dancers Maria Benitez (who introduced me to Garcia Lorca’s poetry) and Janet Soares. And of course my life experience and background: the town and country where I was born during Franco’s regime (I was 20 when Franco died); my family’s education and the education provided by Catholic nuns in school (from 3 to 16 years old); the unfulfilled lives and wasted creativity of the women in my family—especially my mother and grandmother.

N.L. - Where does your inspiration for a work come from, particularly for the three that TCMG will be performing?

E.F. - My inspiration comes from the inside out (internal). It is usually a state of mind triggered by a situation that engenders powerful emotions. This state of mind taps into my emotional and intellectual energy and is channeled into music. The initial fragment of music (or sometimes entire song) comes out easily and effortlessly. The challenge is later to give a logical structure and form to this material. “Portraits I� was originally a solo piano work written for pianist Roger Wright (the pianist who will be performing on these programs with TCMG). Roger is an intense, dramatic and musical pianist, and I felt his musical approach was very similar to mine. In “Voces de mi Tierra,� I had in mind my native country and its music. “Hommage à Mozart� was commissioned by pianist Eric Himy. His beautiful and colorful interpretations of French music, along with the promised premiere of the work at La Salle Cortot in Paris, inspired me to write a work with some Spanish/French overtones (and title).

N.L. - Anything else you would like people to know about you or your music?

E.F. - As a young child I needed to perform to express feelings that otherwise had no other way to surface. Music was then for me an emotional release. As a performer I always felt that I liked certain parts of a piece better than others and I would enjoy playing those parts over and over. However, I did not like to practice in order to improve technically. I felt once I understood the music it should just stay in my fingers without the need to keep practicing forever ... it felt like wasted energy! Later on when I started to compose I found the perfect match for my intellect: the challenge to write music that is somehow part of me, which is personal and says something about who I am; the challenge to put all my concentrated and intense emotion into a logical and coherent shape. I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment after I finish a work. Every piece of music is a different journey, and afterwards I know a little more about myself. Nothing else makes me that happy. 

Tickets for “Passion and Place� are available for $15 in advance ($17 at the door), $8 for children under 16, at the Harwood, 758-9826, or can be charged by phone through the Taos Center for the Arts, 758-2052. Ticket stubs may be used for a discount on dinner from Lambert’s, Doc Martin’s, Joseph’s Table and the Apple Tree restaurants.