Edgar Guzmán
PROMETEO & EPIMETEO
(2004)
Duration: 8 minutes
Instrumentation: Flute and electronics
Dedicated to Wilfrido Terrazas
Premiered by Wilfrido Terrazas on Nov. 30, 2004, at the Contemporary Music Festival in Monterrey, México
Copyright information: Creative Commons
The composer writes:
This piece is part of a series of mixed media works for solo instrument and pre-recorded sounds in which an initial sound divorce — in terms of musical perception— between electronic and acoustic sounds was approached and settled in different and particular ways. The title of this work is intended to offer a metaphorical insight into some of the basic technical and decision-making aspects involved in the compositional process.
A select group of so-called flute extended techniques were sampled, organized, and then related to a number of specific electronic transformation processes aiming to generate a musical equilibrium between the recently electronically acquired qualities and its acoustic, original sound image. After that, as if being taken one-by-one out of a basket, they were organized over a given musical timeline to create a musical ecosystem of electronic sounds, rooted nevertheless in an acoustic “natural” source. Although impossible to be completely overlooked, the composition of the flute per se had intentionally been left aside, waiting for the previous (electronic) sound resources to be drained before starting its own development. From that moment on, the compositional work focuses on the definition of a musical combinatory strategy of the electronically reassembled extended technique-based musical discourse and performer’s own evolution. A degree of indeterminacy attached to the musical notation was critical in order to allow performer’s own fire to naturally grow and establish its own (desirable) dominance.
About the composer:
Edgar Guzmán is a Mexican-born composer of acoustic and electronic music. His work has been performed at several new music festivals in Mexico, United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Austria, France, Poland, Germany and Switzerland. His musical production consists of commissioned by and dedicatory pieces to a number of institutions, ensembles and performers such as the Ensamble Liminar, Ensamble de Música Contemporánea de la Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Orquesta Sinfónica Juvenil de México, Camerata de las Américas, International Contemporary Ensemble, Wilfrido Terrazas, Alexander Bruck, Rebekah Heller, Kivie Canh-Lipman, Ryan Muncy and I-Chen Yeh, among others.
Guzmán has been recipient of several grants and distinctions such as the Queretaro State Institute of Culture and Arts Young Creators Grant 2002 and 2004, National System for Musical Promotion’s Annual Commissioning Program 2003, 31st International Competition of Electroacoustic Music and Sonic Art Bourges Residence Award in 2004, Guanajuato State Institute of Culture and Arts; Young Composers Specialization Program 2005, Artistic Projects Sponsorship Program granted by the Mexican Youth Institute in 2006, the FONCA Young Creators Grant in 2006 and again in 2009, FONCA-CONACYT Artistic Residence Grant 2011. He also fulfilled an artistic residence in 2005 at the LIPM at Centro Cultural Recoleta, and another one in 2012 with the Ensamble LEMC at Conservatorio Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires. In 2013, Guzmán was a commissioned composer for Ensamble Liminar’s concert series supported by INBA National Musical Production Grant. His music is available at New Focus Recordings, Tundra Records, Quindecim Records and through his personal website.
For more information about Edgar Guzmán, visit edgarguzman.weebly.com.