Presentation of the first monographic CD work
chamber music by Laura Vega
Auditorio Alfredo Kraus/ Chamber Hall
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria – 24 February 2023
Recorded on March 12, May 14 and June 19, 2022
Produced by the German record label NEOS
Review
The original idea of this recording project was born in 2021 as a collaboration between the Asociación Taller Lírico de Canarias and Laura Vega, for whom it has been one of the most satisfying works ever. The CD contains the eight works of chamber music from Laura’s catalog that have meant the greatest personal growth for her, both for the musical result and for the vital circumstances in which the compositions were conceived.
Laura Vega is the Canarian composer with the greatest projection at present. She studied piano, oboe and composition at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Las Palmas and her catalog of works includes more than 60 titles today. A more detailed curriculum can be consulted on her website:
https://www.lauravegacompositora.com/
On February 24, the day that coincided with the first anniversary of the beginning of the war in Ukraine, she presented her recent creation to an audience that reflected her personality in a similar way as her music does. While the CD itself can symbolically be understood as her scion, the audience was made up of family, friends, teachers, and colleagues. Some of them were fans, too, and many of them have helped or watched our main character grow.
Of course, now some of my readers may wonder how I came to attend this presentation event. Yes, I am a fan of her great talent. But, it’s more. To my great surprise, I received, quite some time ago, a call from Taller lírico asking if I would be willing to help in the production of Laura’s CD. Of course, I would help, but I knew nothing whatsoever about it, hence my astonishment.
What happened was that the record label was German and the coordination and communication of the production team in the Canary Islands with the German side had been stalled ….. With English, they were unable to solve the problem and that’s how they contacted me, and suddenly, I was involved in a project as unique as it was beautiful. Lucky me!
I quickly grew fond of everyone involved and the project itself. Consequently, it is a MUST for me to present this work on my blog, too. Especially because Laura’s music inspires in me countless emotions and images, even synesthete sensations.
“Luz de Tinieblas” takes the piano as a starting point, and then adds clarinet, percussion, and string instruments. These instruments are the ones that have the greatest impact on Laura’s sensitivity and performance.
The title “Luz de tinieblas” coincides with a piece on the CD that is one of Laura’s favorites because of its timbral result based on a predominance of the low register of the intervening instruments. But there is another reason why Laura chose this title: it was the great musicologist, composer and cultural promoter Lothar Siemens, a conditio sine qua non-person in the personal and musical evolution of our creator, who helped her to choose it[1].
Yet, I would like to introduce you to the compositions, but I will not do it as Laura did last February 24, in reverse order to the chronology of the album. I will decide on the chronological order of composition. I do it for the purpose of guiding my readers to take a good look at the evolution of the composer from 2005 to 2019. The development from a somewhat more technical or strongly de lege artis composition towards a fluid and natural musical expression is astonishing. Laura herself uses the term “sweetening” to describe the same process.
N.° 6 from the CD – 2005/2007 – Homenajes II
Homenajes II (Eng.: tribute) is the oldest of the eight pieces on the album and was the first to be played at the presentation. It is, from my perspective, truly the most abstract and kaleidoscopic piece. It is a ‘work in progress‘ as the author calls it because in its beginnings it was conceived for solo piano and later versions emerged according to an increasing instrumental template, in this case the duo version. Likewise, it is a work that pays homage to the composers Albéniz, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Takemitsu.
N.° 4 from the CD – 2012 – Luz de tinieblas
Luz de tinieblas (Eng.: Light of darkness) is the next composition in order of birth. In its first bars, the dark sounds stand out clearly, difficult to digest, and make me think of something painful and scary. But later on, the cellos consoling sound comes in and, together with the piano, creates a point of light that will be developed through a melodic segment that is cut repeatedly.
Although the darkness is never completely overcome, neither is the light, which fully confirms the words of pianist José Lu’s Castillo, who understands that this music invites us to search for the light within the darkness to find divine comfort.
N.° 1 from the CD – 2012 – Viaje al silencio
According to the composer, the work is inspired by the book of the same title by the British writer Sara Maitland. Both Sara Maitland and Marta Meneses, a Zen master, understand that silence should not be conceived as the absence of noise or emptiness, but as presence, as awareness that leads to wisdom.
The music invites the listener to take a journey inward, into silence, and evokes in me several images from the film ‘Three Colors: Blue’ (1993) by Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski, resonating in me the blue play of wind that plays a central role in the aforementioned film, as if silence is calling out to us, “Can’t you hear me?”
N.° 3 from the CD – 2013 – De un lejano amor
De un lejano amor (Eng.: From a distant love) is inspired by a poem of the same name by Tomás Morales. The work was born for clarinet and piano in 2013 and, later, in 2014, the version for cello and piano was born.
The music, of dark and melancholic sonority, envelops me with sensations of space and time, rather than images or colors. Love, being an abstract concept, is not subject to an image in itself, but it is conditioned by remoteness in time or space.
The poem by Tomás Morales lets us glimpse that love has disappeared, “Where have you gone? I have lost my love! …. In pleasant calm I slept in the silence of my soul, youthful reverie, and I have lost it…”.
However, Laura Vega’s music seems to say rather that love has moved away (space), that is, that it is not completely over (time), that it is not lost, but yes, it is no longer tangible in the here and now. It could, perhaps, be found again in the silence of the listener’s soul, where all youthful dreams are kept.
N.° 5 from the CD – 2015 – Páginas de arenas
Laura composed this piece for her niece, Paula Torres, cellist. Like other works of hers, it is inspired by poetry, specifically 2 poems by the Canarian author Selena Millares entitled Océano de sombra (Eng.: Ocean of shadow) and Tu nombre (Eng.: Your name). It is rhapsodic music that triggers images in yellow. Not knowing the 2 poems, I picture a giant desert, an ocean of sand, and a horsewoman riding.
Sound cuts of both protagonist instruments, cello and piano, one to the other, recall gusts of wind lifting the sand creating swaying shadows. And meanwhile, the rider is bathed in an intangible dreamlike veil. The whole composition seems to be a tale written on paper that melts into yellow dust: sand.
N.° 8 from the CD – 2015 – Paraísos perdidos III
Track n° 8 of the CD is again a ‘work in progress‘ that gives rise to different versions of the work that are inspired by the painting El rayo verde (Eng.: The green lightning) by the artist Antonio Padrón. And no, my dear readers, no green image is invoked.
The work reflects the different geographical landscapes of the Canary Islands, considered paradises. We can clearly hear the longing of those who felt the need to leave their land and emigrate. Traits of Canarian folklore and imitations of the sounds of chácaras or the gomero drum create this nostalgic atmosphere. Nevertheless, I want to hear in this cry of the sonorous “Don’t forget me” a “Welcome” to those for whom it is a newfound paradise, those who are involved for the first time, upon arrival, in the nuances of Laura Vega’s arrorró (Eng.: Lullaby). Possibly, it is the most beautiful work in the literal sense of the word and the easiest to listen to.
N.° 2 from the CD – 2016 – Cuatro miradas a un infinito limitado
Cuatro miradas a un infinito limitado (Eng.: Four views on a limited endlessness) is another composition that makes me dream of movie images when I hear it. It is a contemplation of the landscape of La Isleta, an emblematic neighborhood of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria that in the past was a small and independent island.
The composition observes it in four different moments and colors: at dawn, in the afternoon, at night and at dawn. And yes, my dear reader, now we can again experience synesthete effects in yellow, blue, and green (or brown) and white (or gray). It is as if the sky screams for the infinite beyond our Isleta while the piano marks the typical limitations of a component of an archipelago. The clarinet that comes to the aid of the two remains, perhaps a bit like the huge bridge-like junction between the Isleta and the main island of Gran Canaria that was made in the last century.
Laura Vega knows how to express the harmony between the infinite and the limited in a way that only Laura can.
N.° 7 from the CD – 2018 – Ni neu
Finally, I am left with the most recent composition of this monographic. “Ni neu” is Basque and means ‘Myself’. The title is taken from Inma Arroyo’s poetry book. This work is born from a previous composition with the name ‘Alone’ (2014) that was intended as an invitation to meditation and an encounter with oneself.
Initially, the clarinet stands proudly in an upright position, from the bass to the highest sounds, as if it wanted to say: Here I am! In its musical journey, it returns to the lower parts of its range, transmitting security and firmness in its foundations. Despite the attempts of the piano and violin to unbalance the clarinet, it remains standing: Because I’m worth it!
According to the composer, the work is dedicated to all those women who throughout history have struggled to stay alive. When it comes down to it, we are all alone, someday. Therefore, my understanding should not be too far from the original thoughts and emotions.
In conclusion, I hope I have clarified that this first solo album by Laura Vega is highly poetic, allowing the listener to lose themselves in their own interpretations while still seeing, behind it all, the sweet smile of the creator.
Highly recommended!
Nicole Martín Medina
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
April 2023
(Original Spanish/ Translation Deepl/ Revision NMM)
NOTE: This article is available in Spanish and German, too:
DEUTSCH: https://nicolemartinmedina.com/de/luz-de-tinieblas-laura-vega-2/
ESPAÑOL: https://nicolemartinmedina.com/luz-de-tinieblas-laura-vega/
Footnotes:
[1] Please note my article about a book by Lothar Siemens, La sociedad sinfónica de Las Palmas: https://nicolemartinmedina.com/historia-sociedad-filarmonica-de-las-palmas/
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In case you would like to buy Luz de tinieblas, please note:
https://neos-music-label.com/product/laura-vega-luz-de-tinieblas-chamber-music/
Other press appearances of Luz de tinieblas (Spanish language):
https://www.canarias7.es/cultura/musica/laura-vega-conocer-20230224200652-nt.html
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