A Portrayal of Art Music in Colombia through Four Works for Bassoon

The lecture recital focuses on pieces for bassoon composed by four well-known, contemporary Colombian composers: Blas Emilio Atehortúa, Jorge Pinzón, Pedro Sarmiento and Johann Hasler. I discuss how these works fit into the greater scheme of Colombian art music through an analysis of melodic and harmonic content, local and foreign influences, and performance practice. I show a relationship between musical language from indigenous, African and European traditions in addition to illustrating how compositional techniques begun in Europe and the United States were adopted by Colombian composers as a result of globalization. My approach is both textual and contextual. In my extensive research I have found a vast amount of information, mostly written by non-Colombian authors, describing processes of acculturation, transculturation, and enculturation that date back to pre-Columbian times. These materials provide a framework of textual concepts that represent the complicated history of Spanish domination in addition to the struggle of indigenous peoples and African slaves to create an identity through artistic expression. Colombian music has a history of cultural influences that include Spanish colonialism of the 16th century to independence movements and battles in the 19th century, African beliefs and practices brought by the slaves in the 17th century until the abolition of slavery in 1851, large Native American civilizations that inhabited the territory before the arrival of Spaniards in 1492 and more recent influences resulting from globalization and transculturation. Contextual information comes from my own experience as a trained Colombian musician and Colombian native. This is my frame of reference in presenting the Sonata para fagot y piano, Op.144 by Blas Atehortúa, Mobile para fagot y piano by Jorge Pinzón, Sonata para fagot y piano, Op.10b by Pedro Sarmiento and Diptych for Solo Bassoon by Johann Hasler. Through the discussion of how these works for bassoon, referenced above, fit into the larger realm of Colombian music, I establish a timeline for the history of Colombian art music. I feel strongly that researching, studying and performing this repertoire provides a way to maintain the relevance of my instrument in the Colombian art music tradition. It also encourages the composition and transmission of new works. Thus, two of the pieces I will be presenting have been commissioned specifically for this project