Works

Awarded composition of the 3rd International Composition Competition for Symphonic Band “Estepona, Jardín de la Costa del Sol”

“Impresiones de Estepona” is a continuous suite for symphonic band based on the cultural and musical heritage of Estepona.

In the first part, after a short majestic opening, the center of the city is musically expressed in the form of a colorful rondo with some free references to the Andalusian Cadenza. My inspiration was the colorful streets of Estepona, linked to the rich history of the city, where the Moorish influences can be seen, felt and heard.

The second part tells us about the beautiful monuments in the old city, starting from the church of “los Remedios”, walking along the various interesting sights, ending with the great panorama at “Punta Doncella”.

The last part of this suite is all about “Ferias y Fiestas”. Also here I used the traditional ceremonies as inspiration combined with some free references to flamenco, taking us from “San Isidro Labrador” to the “Ferias y Fiestas mayores” along all the cheerful, exciting and ecstatic celebrations. The work ends euphorically with the opening motif.

The work has numerous educational elements for wind orchestras, such as counterpoint, rhythmic variation and timbre variations. The work is therefore more than just a beautiful story about a beautiful city in Spain and hopefully inspire many musicians and orchestra to get the best out of themselves.

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When The Thinker was conceived in its original size (approx. 70 cm) in 1880 as the crowning achievement of The Gates of Hell, seated on the tympanum, it was given the title The Poet. He represented Dante, author of the Divine Comedy who had inspired The Gates, bent over to observe the circles of hell, meditating on his work. The Thinker was therefore initially both a being with a tortured body, almost a damned soul, and a free-thinking man, determined to transcend his suffering through poetry. The pose of this figure owes much to Carpeaux’s Ugolino (1861) and to the seated portrait of Lorenzo de’ Medici carved by Michelangelo (1526-31).

Remaining in place on the monumental Gates of Hell, The Thinker was exhibited individually in 1888, becoming an independent work. The colossal version, enlarged in 1904, proved even more popular: this sculpture of a man lost in thought, but whose powerful body suggests a great capacity for action, has become one of the most celebrated sculptures ever. There are numerous casts worldwide, including the one now in the gardens of the Musée Rodin, a gift to the City of Paris installed outside the Panthéon in 1906, and another in the gardens of Rodin’s house in Meudon, on the sculptor’s tomb and his wife.

A challenging composition for wind orchestra based on several “leidmotifs”, written from the perspective of the thinker, who ponders the different emotions and characters of the leitmotifs before coming to a conclusion, but with an open ending, because after all, the thoughts go on again…