University of York Music Press

Epitafio

Review in Scherzo

21/11/21

With barely an hour to spare and in another part of the city centre, the Espacio Turina held a second session of the Festival Encuentros Sonoros run by Taller Sonoro, who with the collaboration of the Siemens Foundation and the Ibermúsicas programme premiered the commission of Epitafio (2021), by Hilda Paredes, who was present in the hall and with whom the group had been working on the work during the two preceding days. Despite being placed at the end of a relatively extensive programme, good music always takes centre stage. A work of great emotional commitment for the Mexican composer, Epitafio is in memory of her Mother, who died many thousands of kilometres away from her during the period of confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Necessarily, the music, without taking on an obvious mournful character, is born imbued with all those sentimental repercussions that must have agitated the composer whilst writing. The agitation so significant in many of Paredes' other works is here rather more confined to the electroacoustic part (worked on at the Experimentalstudio in Freiburg) than to the instrumental writing; it is more devoted to the search for echoes and sounds in the air, with spasmodic unisons and solos that seem to be configured as lyrical sketches, as subtly pointed, unspoken laments. The presence of Hilda Paredes once again constituted an event, both for the audience and for the members of Taller Sonoro, who are aware of the importance of already having in their repertoire a far-reaching work which will command more performances in the future.

Excerpt from: https://scherzo.es/sevilla-como-donaueschingen-por-un-dia/

 

A night of premieres with Hilda Paredes

Taller Sonoro offered a resounding selection of very recent titles, with three world premieres and the essential presence of Hilda Paredes (****).

Juan José Roldán /Seville /21 Nov 2021

The XI Festival de Música Contemporánea Encuentros Sonoros yesterday reached not only its halfway point but also its climax, with three world premieres, one of them featuring the London-based Mexican composer Hilda Paredes, who sets a benchmark in contemporary music and is one of the most outstanding figures on the current scene.  This time the collaboration with the Seville ensemble was close, which gives a good idea of ​​the level reached by this festival, reaching even beyond our borders.

All set for the great premiere of the evening, Hilda Paredes was able to present a work very much influenced by the pandemic, as it is a commission from the Siemens Foundation and the Ibermúsicas Programme, which was set to be premiered in 2020, but delayed until now by covid-19. These circumstances meant that the work took a very personal and tragic turn, inspired by an experience of loss and mourning suffered by the composer, which imparts a delicate and poignantly traumatic dimension to the ensemble. With almost the entire cast on stage, the piece is conceived in collaboration with the ensemble, with whom Paredes has a long-standing professional relationship. For this reason, she plays with the possibilities of each and every one of the instruments, to which a new spectral accompaniment of electronic resources gives an atmospheric and enveloping aspect, an immersive experience that provokes the unease and persecution experienced in the face of the devastating effects of the health crisis we are suffering. The Seville ensemble's performance of the work was exemplary in every way and its prestigious author seemed to appreciate it as well.

Excerpt from: https://elcorreoweb.es/cultura/noche-de-estrenos-con-hilda-paredes-JF7575478

Photo credit: El Correo de Andalucia - Hilda Paredes greets the audience from below the stage