Instrumentation:
Flute/Piccolo, Bb Clarinet/Bass Clarinet, Violin, Violoncello, Percussion and Piano
Program Notes:
As a person born in Yauco, Puerto Rico, the name of Amaury Veray is heard sporadically when his most famous piece of music (performed and recorded all over the world) the Christmas carol: “Villancico Yauco”, is mentioned. This piece of ephemeral music aside, his contributions to music, particularly music history and composition, became cemented when he along with several other Puerto Rican composers started a modernist movement of Nationalistic Music.
The present piece is a reaction to among all of the above, the expectations that minority composers face whenever they are asked about their background, the role these elements may play in our imaginaries and the various ways in which these constant considerations of identity, nostalgia, loss of a sense of permanence shape our perspective of ourselves and the world around us.
This piece was commissioned by Tianhui Ng and the MIFA Victory Players, as part of the Puerto Abierto/Open Port Residency 2023-2024.
Recording:
Julio Elvin Quiñones | Composer 