music.usc.edu/students/student - recitals Acknowledgements I would like to thank my dear teachers, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant and Brian Head for their limitless support and careful guidance during the past 5 years I spent studying at USC. Saro Babikian , Classical Guitar Final Masters of Music Recital Wednesday , May 6th, 2020 8 :0 0 p.m. Facebook live and YouTube This recital is i n partial fulfillment of a Masters of Music in Classical Guitar Performance Program 5 Venezuelan Waltzes Antonio Lauro (1917 - 1986) Sonata n.5 (Brasileira) Guido Santorsola 1. Con caracter energico (1904 - 1994) 2nd section 3rd section 4th section 3. Ritmo de Batuque Hika: In Memoriam Toru Takam itsu Leo Brouwer (1939 - ) Danza Del Altiplano Cancion - Triste argentino Un Dia de Noviembre Milonga del Angel Astor Piazzolla arr. Baltazar Benitez (1921 - 1992) Muerte del Angel arr. Leo Brouwer Fuga sobre tema de Edu Lobo “Zanzibar” Edu Lobo arr. Joao Luiz (1943 - ) with Pardy Minassian Program Notes Tonight’s program is a representation of the music of the Latin America featuring a handful of some of the most celebrated composers of the region. Antonio Lauro , son of an Italian immigrant who settled in Venezuela during the First World War began his m usical journey, learning the piano and violin, at a very young age. Later, he became the pupil of the renowned Venezuelan guitarist and composer Raul Borges. Lauro was a very nationalistic composer as he dedicated his life to writing music that reflects hi s culture. The folkloric character of his music can be heard through his use of mixture of ¾ & 6/8 rhythms, which is known by the term Hemiola. Lauro was also known for dedicating his compositions to his loved ones. For example, the 3 rd Venezuelan Waltz in today’s program is titled after his daughter’s name Natalia Guido Santorsola, short after his birth in Italy, moved with his family to Brazil. He spent his youth and early adulthood learning theory, harmony, counterpoint and violin. Very early in his life he played the violin in several orchestras and nightclubs to support his family. Later he joined the Italian army during the Second World War. Right after returning to Brazil he signed a contract as a first viola player with the Symphony Orchestra of the Uruguayan State Broadcasting Company. Thus, he moved to Montevideo, Uruguay where he spent the rest of his life. Guido’s first guitar composition was Concertino N.1 for guitar and chamber orchestra. The piece received first prize in a com position competition organized by Uruguay’s National Radio Broadcaster. He wrote a dozen guitar sonatas and eight concertos for solo, duo and chamber guitar. Santorsola became passionate about serialism and 12 - tone music during his later periods as a compo ser. Famous Brazilian guitarist Carlos Barbosa Lima is known for working with him closely on his guitar compositions. Sonata n.5 (Brasileira) is an example of his serial music. All three movements are based on chromatic 12 - tone rows. The third movement nam ed “Ritmo de Batuque” evokes African rhythms combined with Latin American sounds. In addition, he interestingly merges beautiful melodic lines with chromatic serial units within the piece. Leo Brouwer is one of the most renowned composers of the 20 th and 21 st centuries. He composed hundreds of compositions for solo and ensemble guitar, in addition to symphonies, concertos, vocal music, string quartets, piano trios and film music. Brouwer is known as a conductor as well. He conducted major orchestras su ch as the Berlin Philharmonic. Born to a Cuban musical family in Cuba, Brouwer began performing and composing in his early teenage years. His first guitar compositions were as early as 1955. Brouwer is known for reflecting his culture’s music in his compos itions. Some of his works such as the Dazna Del Altiplano are pure representations of the Cuban folklore. Hika is written in memory of the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. Brouwer sets a unique tuning to the composition by bringing the 2 nd string ha lf a step down to Bb and 5 th string a whole step down to G. The composition evokes traditional Japanese sounds mixed with Brouwer’s unique guitar idiomatic figures. Astor Piazzolla was an Argentinian composer and virtuoso bandoneon player. He is regarde d as the inventor of the new tango “Nuevo tango”, which is characterized by mixed elements from jazz and classical music. He mastered the bandoneon playing which allowed him to become a successful gigging musician. Later, he studied with Alberto Ginastera. His new and creative ideas gave him the opportunity to further his studies with world class classical composition teachers such as Nadia Boulanger. Piazzolla broadened the use of bandoneon into larger chamber settings such as symphonies. His classical tra ining created more opportunities for him. Moreover, he introduced extended harmonies and counterpoint to the old tango. For example, contrapuntal writing appears in Muerte del Angel as Piazzolla writes a fugue which is an accompaniment to the play Tango de l Angel. In addition, as another form of developing the old tango, more room was given to Baroque inspired techniques such as improvisation and passacaglia. Edu Lobo is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, composer and guitarist. He gained success during the bossa - nova period. His unique songs and compositions are the product of combining jazz with Brazilian rhythms and harmonies. Zanzibar is one of his famous vocal works. He performs the piece in different settings from him singing solo along his guitar accom paniment to larger group settings with guitars, percussion, keyboard and vocals. Brazilian guitarist Joao Luiz made a fugal two guitar arrangement of the song. Luiz added a written out improvisation section for each guitar while the other guitarist plays a n ostinato pattern.