Recuerdos Andinos

Program Notes

Recuerdos Andinos (Reminiscences from the Andes) evokes my earliest memories of the Peruvian Andes people and landscapes. In the Peruvian Andes there is an incredible amount of musical traditions. From this huge collection of traditional music, there are a few that survived the Spanish colonization and remain popular to this day. This is the case of the Huaynos and Carnavales. Though describing them in a single page would be impossible due to the number of regional differences, generally, Huaynos and Carnavales use the pentatonic scale as a base for pitch material and rely on repetitive binary rhythmic patterns. The year 2021 marks the 200th anniversary of Peruvian Independence. Though tarnished by a chaotic and rather depressing socio-political situation, I think that during this celebration time it is wise to remember my roots as a Peruvian in a foreign land—with the hope that this composition will have a similar effect on others, regardless of their nationality. I want to thank my family, friends, and mentors for their unconditional support, as well as the ECCE Ensemble and the Etchings Festival for making the realization of this piece possible.