Q&A with Lisa Graham, Music Director

Q: Tell us what’s in store for us in this Latin American Adventure.
A: There’s a distinctive Latin American sound that everyone recognizes, but within this profile, there is a wonderful diversity of elements and style. That’s what we’ll be exploring together. Much of this music is folkloric, but there is also a strong western European compositional style that is more classical in nature. Even within the folkloric genre, there is a broad range of distinctive rhythms and styles, each reflective of a particular region of Latin America. Listen carefully to the different movements of Missa Criolla or to the dance themes in Tonada y Cueca and Candomblé – these different rhythms come from Argentina, Bolivia, and the Andes, and root each piece to a specific region.

Q: We all know Latin American music when we hear it – what is it that makes this music so recognizable?
A: First, there’s the rhythmic idiom – even with the diversity I just mentioned, there’s a certain rhythmic layering we expect. The instrumentation is also familiar – listen tonight to Canto Bolivia’s accompaniment on winds (quena, quenacho, zampona), percussion (bomba and chajchas) and strings (guitar and charango). And Carlos Moreno brings us that wonderful, melancholy sound of the bandoneón from the Argentinian tango tradition. And finally, the melodies are folk-based and strike a deep chord of familiarity.

Q: I don’t immediately think of choral music when I think of Latin American music.
A: It is true that tonight we’ll be performing a number of choral arrangements of the folk literature. But there is a Latin American choral literature. The Chamber Choir will be singing Manuel de Sumaya’s De Lamentatione Jeremiae Prophetae (The Lamentations of Jeremiah), for example. Sumaya was chapel master of the Mexico City Cathedral in the 18th century and a prolific composer of choral music. He is credited with writing the first Italian opera in the New World, La Partenope (unfortunately now lost). He is the personification of the blend of European and New World cultures – he was half-Indian and half-Spanish, born in Mexico City. His sound is quite European, but the sound is of a slightly earlier time, closer to high Renaissance in some cases, like the piece you'll hear tonight.

Q: Are we hearing a bit of Hebrew in this piece?
A: Yes! Lamentations is from the Hebrew Bible, made up of five poems, four of them acrostic. They tell of the destruction of Jerusalem and the misery that has been inflicted upon its people. Each verse begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and Sumaya has included the Hebrew letters Heth, Teth, and Iod  for the portions of Lamentationshe set.Each letter is slowly repeated three times, heralding a new section of the Biblical text. Listen, too, for the block harmonies followed by counterpoint, and the beautiful example of word painting – when the text is about silence and patience, all the voices come to rest.

Q: Does contemporary Latin American music continue to have a Western influence?
A: It certainly does in the music of Ginastera and Piazzola. Listen, for example, to the cantus firmus – melody over a baseline chant – in Ginastera’s Lamentations of Jeremiah. Ginastera studied with Copland, Bartok and Stravinsky, and Piazzola was a student of Nadia Boulanger.

Q: So they brought that traditionally-European classical training to their work within their native music literature.
A: Right. Take Piazzola, for example. He revolutionized traditional tango music by including jazz and classical elements into it. Ginastera, too, used folk themes in much of this work, even as he was influenced by eastern and western European traditions. He was deeply nationalistic and, in fact, was forced to leave Argentina during the Peron era because of his liberal views. Ironically, this temporary exile led to a lot of sharing of Argentine music around the world.

Q: Ginastera’s Lamentaciones de Jeremias Propheta (Lamentations of Jeremiah) is considered a classic in today’s choral literature. What makes it so admired?
A: Choral professionals around the world view it with such respect partly because it’s so challenging. I think of it as a mini-Mt. Everest – very difficult but so very worth the effort. It perfectly captures the emotional feel of the text – the wailing lament is conveyed both in word and sound.

Q: What’s the oldest piece we’ll be hearing in this concert?
A: Hanaq pachap, and it’s a really interesting piece. It is thought to be the first polyphonic work from the New World. It was written in the 17th century, in Peru. We don’t know much about it, other than that it was a processional, written by and for monks, to sing entering a place of worship. It’s not a very subtle piece and listening to its block chords, it’s easy to imagine the sound echoing through the large churches and having quite an effect. The language of the piece – Quechua – is an indigenous Peruvian language, still spoken though endangered today, and quite a challenge for the chorale members to memorize. It serves as a lovely invitation to the audience, portending what the concert will bring.

Q: Several of the pieces on the program were arranged by Oscar Escalada. Tell us about him.
A: I met Oscar several years ago, in Buenos Aires, when I was asked to consult to a cultural tour company, advising them about the suitability of concert venues and accommodations. We went to his house, where he shared many of his arrangements with us – they’re vocal arrangements of instrumental tunes, and choral arrangements of folk music and other songs. One piece I’d love to perform some time is his Alice in Wonderland, in Spanish of course.

Q: And Grupo Canto Bolivia – you’ve worked with them before, too, right?
A: Yes, several years ago, I was preparing to perform the Misa Criolla [with the Brookline Chorus] and knew the kind of instrumental accompaniment I wanted, but didn’t know where to find it. A colleague at Wellesley had performed with Grupo Canto Bolivia and introduced us – of course, they’re perfect for this piece, and I’m delighted to be working with them again.