Collection of music videos

Ástor Piazzolla (1921–1992) was born in Mar de Plata , Argentina . At the age of three, he moved with his family to New York , where at thirteen he met Carlos Gardel, who showed him the secrets of tango . Upon his return to Argentina , he took classes with Ginastera for six years while regularly attending the Café Germinal , where tango music was his daily bread. He formed part of various groups, where purists considered his innovations to be the “murder of tango”. In Paris, he met Nadia Boulanger, who made him believe in the possible conjunction of tango with classical music . He returned to Buenos Aires with such activity that in 1973 he suffered a heart attack, despite which he continued with his activity until 1990, when he suffered a blood clot in Paris that he was unable to overcome.

The bandoneon is a bellows-operated wind instrument, widely used in Argentina and Uruguay , due to its association with tango , but also with other genres such as chamamé, chacarera, zamba, chimarrita, or chamarrita and even with Creole waltzes and, of course, with milongas . It was initially designed in Germany as an evolution of earlier free-reed instruments. It is said that its initial use was as a portable organ for playing religious music; upon arriving in Río de la Plata with sailors and immigrants, it was adopted by musicians of the time and thus contributed to the formation of the particular sound of the Río de la Plata tango , becoming a true symbol of it.

Adiós Nonino is a tango piece, composed by him in 1959, in homage to his father, Vicente Piazzolla , based on another of his tangos entitled "Nonino", written five years earlier in Paris , also in homage to his father. It is a strictly instrumental tango , of which José Luis Person Properzi suggested that " Adiós Nonino " has reminiscences of George Gershwin ( Piazzolla himself came to recognize it, given the preference that his father had for this composer) and Brian Wilson , the latter especially in the chords and in the timbres he uses. In today's video it is the same maestro Piazzolla who is on the bandoneon.

Leonard Bernstein (1918 - 1990) was an American composer, pianist, and conductor. He was the first American -born conductor to achieve worldwide fame, famous for his performance of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra , for his Young People's Concerts broadcast on television between 1958 and 1972, and for his many compositions including West Side Story (1957) and Candide . He was also a pivotal figure in the modern revival of the music of Gustav Mahler , the composer who most interested him. As a composer he wrote piano music, chamber music, choral music, religious music, numerous stage works for ballet, film, opera, and musicals, as well as an extensive orchestral body of work.

Mambo is a musical rhythm and dance originating in Cuba . The word “ mambo ” is an Afro-Black word, similar to other African-American musical terms such as conga, milonga, bomba, tumba, samba, bamba, bambulá, tambo, tango, cumbé, cumbia and candombe , which denote an African, and particularly Congolese, origin. The original roots of Mambo , which can be found in the “ Danzón de Nuevo Ritmo ” (New Rhythm) , were popularized by the Arcaño y sus Maravillas orchestra by speeding up the danzón and introducing syncopated percussion. It was Arcaño's cellist, Orestes López , who created the first danzón called Mambo in 1938.

Today we present Bernstein 's Mambo in a Wind Band version offered by the New York Wind Orchestra .

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) was born in Nelahozeves , then Bohemia , now the Czech Republic , and is considered one of the great masters of the second half of the 19th century and a leading exponent of Czech nationalism . Between 1892 and 1895, Dvořák was director of the National Conservatory in New York ; from his arrival in the USA he showed a great interest in Native American music . In April 1895 he left the United States and returned permanently to his homeland where he resumed his work as a professor at the Conservatory . Throughout his life he wrote music for piano, violin and piano, trios, quartets, quintets, a sextet, two series of Slavic dances, serenades, suites, overtures, three rhapsodies, five symphonic poems, nine symphonies, several concertos, 100 songs and vocal duets, and several operas. His New World Symphony is a well-known work and its themes have been widely used in popular music.

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, Symphony of the New World , is Antonín Dvořák ’s best-known work and is closely related to its subtitle, although it is not usually translated correctly, as it is actually “ Symphony from the New World ”. This is a reference that Dvořák makes to ancient Europe, demonstrating an evolution and reflected in the last chord of the Symphony , which ends in a piano chord, thus referencing the title, moving away from ancient Europe .

Composed in 1893 shortly after the composer's arrival in the USA , it is structured in four movements: I (0´4´´) ADAGIO - ALLEGRO MOLTO. The first movement is written in the key of E minor , in 4/8 time which later changes to 2/4 and follows the sonata form (exposition-development-re-exposition or recapitulation). It opens with a slow introduction, marked Adagio , in 4/8 time which leads to the movement proper, marked Allegro molto , in 2/4 time. The introduction anticipates the main theme of the movement and establishes an idea that could be described as a kind of leitmotif of Dvořák 's American period. II (9´00´´) LARGO. The main theme is a broad, simple melody played by the English horn, framed by muted strings. The middle section features a passage in C-sharp minor whose melancholic tone might suggest an image of the vast and desolate American prairies, the stylization of an Indian lament and a reflection on nostalgia .-. III (20´02´´) SCHERZO: MOLTO VIVACE-POCO SOSTENUTO. The third movement is in E minor , in 3/4 time and follows an ABA ternary form. In Dvořák 's words , this part of the symphony is associated with the festivity where the Indians dance. The stimulating rhythms in the A section are only interrupted in its middle part, which, in its idyllic atmosphere, contrasts so much that it could be considered a kind of trio . Section B , which is the actual trio , is also a far cry from the wild rhythms of section A. After the repetition of section A comes the Coda , which with its solemn expression challenges the general tone of the piece and thus represents a certain conceptual transition towards the Finale IV (26´50´´) ALLEGRO CON FUOCO. The fourth and final movement returns to the initial key, which then passes to E major and is in 4/4 time. It is a sonata form , but the principle of reminiscence introduces innovative elements into its structure, especially in the explicit use of themes from the previous movements. Dvořák sets out the thematic substance of the previous movements, but starting from the development section. The contrasting second theme gradually finds its voice in a broad, lyrical cantilena . The final, energetic theme again reinforces the initial impression of the tone of the whole piece. The recapitulation is abbreviated compared to the exposition, so that the majestic Coda stands out even more by incorporating all the key ideas of the Symphony , including the opening chords of the Largo in monumental fashion.

Today it is offered to us by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop (1956), an American violinist and conductor who is currently principal conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra , making her the first woman to hold a position of this level in the USA ; she is also principal guest conductor of the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra .

Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (Tietê, February 1, 1907 - São Paulo, January 13, 1993) was a Brazilian composer of classical music. He received piano lessons from the age of ten with Virgínio Dias . In 1923 he moved to São Paulo , where he began playing in orchestras and cinemas in order to help with the household budget. In 1928 he met Mário de Andrade , who became his intellectual mentor. Many of the songs written by Camargo Guarnieri were based on texts by Mário de Andrade , including the opera Pedro Malazarte . In 1938 he received a scholarship from the government of the State of São Paulo to study in Paris with Charles Koechlin, Franz Rühlmann and Nadia Boulanger . In 1944, he received several awards in the United States that brought him a certain amount of notoriety. Among them, he placed second in a competition held in Detroit to select the " Symphony of the Americas ."

Camargo Guarnieri 's musical legacy includes more than seven hundred works, making him probably the second most performed Brazilian composer in the world, surpassed only by Heitor Villa-Lobos . Shortly before his death, he received the "Gabriela Mistral" award as " the greatest composer of the Americas ."

Three Brazilian Dances. Composed at three distinct moments in Camargo Guarnieri 's career, the dances "Brasileira" (1928), "Salvage " (1931), and "Negra" (1946) were considered a triptych by the composer himself. A common element in all three dances is the São Paulo composer's commitment to nationalist ideals, translated into inspiration from his Black and Indigenous roots. Originally composed for piano, they were later transcribed for orchestra, gaining greater brilliance and diversity through the instrumentation of their themes.

LA DANÇA BRASILEIRA (0´09´´) written in “ Tempo di Samba ” and of a cheerful and rhythmic character, Camargo Guarnieri relates it to his childhood memories: «I was born in a small town called Tietê ; my house was on one of the hills of the city, built on the banks of the Tietê River . Here in Brazil , we celebrate the abolition of slavery on May 13th. I remember that, as a child, I listened to the rhythm of the dances of the blacks during these celebrations; the rhythm was incessant and my Brazilian dance arose from that memory » .-. DANÇA SELVAGEM (2´29´´). As the title suggests, it brings suggestive elements of the Brazilian forests and the inclusion of rhythms recorded in the interior of Brazil . The piece is marked by its agitated character, which culminates in the final tension, with a high degree of intensity, throughout the orchestra .-. BLACK DANCE (1946) (4:26 p.m.) It was conceived after a trip with Jorge Amado to Bahia , where he attended a Candomblé ceremony (an Afro-Brazilian religion). While heading towards the place, he perceived that in the distance he could hear drums and chants, which intensified greatly as he approached. Inspired by this experience, Guarnieri created the third Dance that begins with a melody accompanied by an ostinato in pianissimo , reaches a fortissimo climax and returns to pianissimo to end. (Excerpt from the article by Cesar Buscacio published on the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra website )

Totó la Momposina (1940) was a Colombian singer born into a family of musicians; song and dance were something innate to her that she expressed from a very young age. Her music combines African and indigenous elements, just as it happened during the time of Spanish colonization in America ; hence, the rhythms that were born from that fusion were multiple. After studying at the Conservatory of the National University of Colombia , she dedicated herself to traveling around Europe and studying at the Sorbonne University in Paris , as well as at other institutions in Santiago de Cuba and Havana . She is one of the most recognized Colombian singers in Latin America and holds an Honorary Doctorate in Education from the National Pedagogical University of Colombia .

Celia Cruz (1925-2003) Cuban singer nicknamed "The Queen of Salsa" and "La Guarachera de Cuba", is widely considered one of the most popular and important Latin artists of the 20th century and an icon of Latin music ; she was one of the greatest exponents of her genre, as well as one of the most influential artists of the music of her country. Throughout her career, Celia Cruz performed and popularized internationally the most peculiar tropical rhythms; however, the genre that brought her to stardom was salsa , a dance musical genre resulting from the fusion of the Cuban son with the mambo, the guaracha, the cha-cha-chá or the guaguancó ; a genre, salsa , which has spread not only throughout the Caribbean basin, but throughout much of Latin America and today, throughout the world.

Zapateo Potosino is a festive rural dance native to the city of Potosí , Bolivia . After the harvest celebration, young single people, dressed in their finest clothes, seek partners amid the revelry in a dance that fuses pre-Hispanic and European elements. Today's performance is by the National Folkloric Ballet of Bolivia .

The International Cervantino Festival (FIC), popularly known as " El Cervantino ", is a festival that has been held since 1972 in the city of Guanajuato , in the Bajío region of Mexico . The festival was born in the mid- 20th century when the interludes of Miguel de Cervantes , brought to the stage by maestro Enrique Ruelas Espinosa , were still being performed in the squares of various Guanajuato cities. In the 1970s, more artistic activities were added to the traditional performances to reinforce the international dimension of the festival. Since then, it has grown to become one of the four largest festivals of its kind in the world.

The Amalia Hernández Ballet , based at the Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City and also known as the Ballet Folklórico de México , was founded in 1952 by dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernández . It has created more than 60 of its own choreographies and has performed throughout Mexico. It also has toured more than 100 times internationally, visiting a total of 60 countries. Over the past few years, it has been a benchmark for traditional Mexican music and dance.

Today we attended his performance at the aforementioned Festival.