Development of the Percussion Ensemble Through the Contributions of the Latin American Composers Amadeo Roldán, José Ardévol, Carlos Chávez, and Alberto Ginastera
Four Latin American composers - Amadeo Roldán, José Ardévol, Carlos Chávez and Alberto Ginastera - made significant contributions to the development of the percussion ensemble during the years 1930 to 1964. Roldán's Rítmicas No. 5 and No. 6 (1930) are the first compositions for percussion ensemble and created the percussion ensemble genre. Ardévol's three percussion ensemble compositions - Estudio en forma de preludio y fuga (1933), Suite para instrumentos de percusión (1934) and Preludio a 11 (1942) - are among the earliest of the genre. Chávez's Toccata para instrumentos de percusión (1942) is one of the most frequently performed and recorded works for percussion ensemble, and his Tambuco (1964) has also been successful. Ginastera's Cantata para América mágica for dramatic soprano and percussion orchestra (1960) pushes the boundaries of percussion ensemble compositional techniques with its immense instrumentation of 53 percussion instruments. The strong influence these compositions had on the developing percussion ensemble genre is evident in the instrumentation and compositional techniques employed by other composers of the genre, including Edgard Varèse, Henry Cowell, Lou Harrison, and John Cage. This influence has been overlooked by current music scholarship, and in the case of Roldán, scholars have marginalized or criticized his achievements. In addressing the criticisms of Roldán and presenting overlooked information concerning Ardévol, Chávez, and Ginastera, this document will outline the contributions of these four composers.
School:The Ohio State University
School Location:USA - Ohio
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Keywords:percussion ensemble latin america amadeo roldan jose ardevol carlos chavez alberto ginastera
Date of Publication:01/01/2008