Theodoro Valcarcel Caballero
Theodoro Valcarcel Caballero.jpg
(b Puno, Peru, 19 Oct 1900; d Lima, 20 March 1942). Peruvian composer. After a brief musical training in Arequipa with Luis Duncker Lavalle he went to Milan in 1914 where he studied with Appiani and Schieppatti, until the war forced him to return to Peru two years later. He was
influenced by French Impressionism in some of his early piano pieces. Later he turned his attention to native music and this brought him recognition, and also nomination as the Peruvian representative at the Ibero-American Music Festival in Barcelona and Seville (1929). He remained in Europe for two years, and in 1930 he presented with Viñes a concert of his music at the Salle Pleyel to critical acclaim. From his return to Peru until his death he occupied several official positions within the cultural field.
Valcárcel belongs to the nationalist movement that emerged in Peru around 1920, when artists and musicians looked to folklore for source material, including pre-Columbian as well as mestizo traditions. By the beginning of the
20th century, folk music research in the Andean area had identified the pentatonic scale as a characteristic trait of what was called ‘Incaic music’. This allowed the nationalist composers to separate pre-Hispanic music from any other tradition.
In such strongly evocative works as the two symphonic suites (1939), two pieces for piano – Estampas del ballet Suray surita and
Kachampa – and the symphonic poem En las ruinas del Templo del Sol (1940) Valcárcel achieved a very effective stylization of indigenous melodies and rhythms within a modern harmonic vocabulary. Numerous performances of his works were well received in Europe. He was one of the most successful Peruvian composers, described by Slonimsky as the ‘Stravinsky of Peru’, but his early death did not allow a full development of his talent. Rodolfo Holzmann was responsible for the orchestration of much of his work.
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Bibliography
C. Raygada: ‘Panorama musical del Perú’, Boletín latinoamericano de música, ii (1936), 169–214
R. Holzmann: ‘Catálogo de las obras de Theodoro Valcárcel’, Boletín bibliográfico publicado por la biblioteca central de la Universidad mayor de San Marcos de Lima, xii (1942), 135–40
R. Holzmann: ‘Ensayo analítico de la obra musical del compositor peruano Theodoro Valcárcel’, Revista eco musical (Buenos Aires, 1943)
R. Barbacci: ‘Apuntes para un diccionario biográfico musical del Perú’, Fénix, no.6 (1949), 505
G. Chase: Introducción a la música americana contemporánea (Buenos Aires, 1958), 67
C. Raygada: ‘Guía Musical del Perú’, Fénix, no.14 (1964), 88
E. Pinilla: ‘Informe sobre le Música en el Perú’, Historia del Perú, ix, ed. J. Mejía Baca (Lima, 1980), 363–669
G. Béhague: La música en América Latina (Caracas, 1983)
E. Pinilla: ‘La música en el siglo XX’, La música en el Perú (Lima, 1985), 125–213
César Arróspide de la Flor/J. Carlos Estenssoro
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Valcarcel ( - Caballero), Theodoro [1900-1942] - Danza del Combate (Kachampa).pdf (72.6 MB)
https://mega.co.nz/#!SA5hgBjY!I0aYOl1Wr ... blwLzKzisU
Montevideo (Uruguay) Editoral cooperativa interamericana de compositores [c1944]
Due to a poor BW attempt, I had to keep it high res GS for the score. Color Covers.
Audio (quite an attractive and 'unique' work, those familiar with traditional folk music of the region will definitely hear the connections)
http://youtu.be/CsQf6eQfIkM
'same piece' but the pianist seems to take some liberty, perhaps improvising on the standard pentatonic based tune, with the score, or he is simply playing another version of the piece ( I can find no other mention of a 2nd published work of this type for Varcarcel). The video describes the performance as 'based on his theme' so the improvisational approach to folk music of the type may well be the case, though again following with score may be a challenge the first time one listens, it gets easier!