Customer Reviews

Jesús Guridi: Ten Basque Melodies

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I've had this CD on my 'to be reviewed' pile for several months but I kepy pulling it out and listening to it simply for pleasure, with no thought of reviewing it. I even put it on one of my Listmania lists without having reviewed it. But the time has come to buckle down and write of my delight in this disc.

I had never heard of Jesús Guridi (1886-1961) before this CD came my way. He was a Basque from Bilbao. His only even slightly known teacher was the Belgian, Joseph Jongen. This disc features pieces of different genres: a suite of Basque melodies, a cantata for children's voices, two orchestral tone poems, and an orchestral song for soprano.

'Diez melodías vascas' ('Ten Basque Melodies') is a 22-minute orchestral suite of Basque folk-melodies dressed in orchestrations reminiscent of those of, say, Falla, Albéniz or Granados; that is, in Spanish-inflected French impressionism. Each has its own style--amorosa, religiosa, epitalámica (a wedding song), elegiaca, etc. I particularly like No. 7, 'De ronda,' a courtly neo-baroque dance.

'Así cantan los chicos' ('Thus sing the boys') is an utterly charming 13-minute, three-section work in which children's chorus sings lightheartedly at play, then mourns the death of one of their playmates whose little coffin passes by, and then an innocent return to unrestrained play again. I defy anyone listening to this charmer without being caught up in both the joy and the momentary sadness. I have played it literally a dozen times and even tried to learn the Spanish words so I can sing along: 'Con llantos nadie quiera turbar nuestro placer, que no haya caras tristes, no las queremos ver' ('No one wants to spoil our fun with tears, no sad faces, we don't want to see them').

'Una aventura de Don Quijote' ('An Adventure of Don Quixote') and 'En un barco fenicio' ('In a Phoenician Barque') are two of several programmatic tone poems Guridi wrote. Both come from Spanish sources: 'Quixote', of course, comes from Cervantes' picaresque novel, and 'Phoenician Barque' tells the story of Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, which echoes a similar tale in Basque folklore. Each is brilliantly orchestrated, with solemn ancient-sounding modal moments as well as energetic (and in the case of 'Quixote,' comic) incidents.

Finally, there is the three-minute 'Canta el gallo tempranero' ('The early-crowing rooster'), a drowsy 'albado' ('dawn-song') sung limpidly by soprano Isabel Álvarez. Think of the style of Canteloube's 'Songs of the Auvergne' and you'll have an idea of its sound-world.

All the idiomatic performances are by the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Juan José Mena, the orchestra's music director and himself a fellow Basque.

I will admit that I am a pushover for Spanish folk music and the art-music inspired by it. Perhaps my level of delight is affected by that. But if, like me, you revel in the charm of Spanish melodic and rhythmic contours, you'll like this CD. You have my word!

TT=65:25

Scott Morrison

10 Basque Melodies by Guridi is a revelation. Soaring tone poems and masterfully crafted orchestration make these pieces, particularly "En un barco fenicio: En un barco fenicio (In a Phoenician Vessel)" something I replay again and again, losing myself in powerful visions. The pieces are very cinematic and no doubt have been used in film, but I cannot for the life of me remember which.

Well recommended to anyone.

The previous reviewer wrote a commendable review of the music contained on this disc. However, try not to write "Spanish melodies" into the context of the review. The music is purely in the vein of the Basque tongue and not "Castellano" or the major Spanish dialect of Spain, both of which are linguistically and historically unrelated.