El sonido del realismo mágico (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: El sonido del realismo mágico David P. Appleby Tomas Marco. El sonido del realismo mágico. Madrid: Fundación Autor, 2006. 222 pp. ISBN 84-8048-703-8. Catalogue of works, alphabetical catalogue, discography, bibliography of writings by Marlos Nobre, general bibliography, compact disc. Tomas Marco is well qualified to write the first Spanish language biography of Brazil's most internationally acclaimed living composer, Marlos Nobre. Marco is winner of several awards as a composer and is well known in Spain as a critic for Radio Nacional de España for eleven years. He was also professor of history of music in la Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia. This biography derives its title, "El sonido del realismo magico," from a term more readily familiar to readers of contemporary literature than music. Marco also mentions in his preliminary notes (13) the composition by Alberto Ginastera, "Cantata para America Mágica," as a source of inspiration for his title. Marlos Nobre was one of the Latin American composers selected for a period of study at the Centro de Altos Estudios Musicales del Instituto Torcuato de Tella de Buenos Aires during the years 1963–1964. The association with Alberto Ginastera and his fellow young composers was a period of intense stimulation and stylistic growth for Marlos Nobre. Marlos Nobre's output as a composer has embraced all major instrumental and vocal media with the exception of opera. Whereas the life of Villa-Lobos, with whom Marlos Nobre is often compared, was one of incessant compositional activity, Marlos Nobre's output has been one interrupted by periods of reflection and periods of intense compositional activity fulfilling major commissions. Marco's biography refers to the special [End Page 150] importance of the Tomás Luis de Victoria prize in 2005, awarded to "one of the greatest composers of contemporary Latin America: En atención a la excelente trayectoria, trascendencia y proyección de su obra, a sus altos valores en el campo de la composición musical, reflejados en su catálogo; a la originalidad de su pensamiento estético que sitúa la creación iberoamericana en un lugar de preferencia y supone una importante contribución a la música contemporánea (7). The organization of Marco's biography presents an evaluation of Nobre's contribution as a composer of piano music, vocal music, works for guitar, orchestral works, works for percussion, chamber music, and "musica aplicada," a chapter in which Marco discusses principally works for ballet and film. While Marco's biography provides an excellent introduction to the important contributions of Marlos Nobre as a major composer, one hopes that future editions of the biography improve the system of indexing. Two indexes of works (Catálogo de obras) are provided for reference. The first index is chronological. Unless one knows the date when a work was composed or published, a work cannot easily be found in the first Catálogo de obras. The second Catálogo de obras is alphabetical and provides the opus number and date of a work. After obtaining this information, the reader then must return to the first Catálogo de obras where information about dates of performance and awards in competitions, as well as other information, is to be found. The inclusion of a compact disc in recent biographies of composers is a welcome addition and enhances the value of the Tomas Marco biography. The CD provides a representative sample of various styles in Nobre's development as a composer and closes with one of his most effective works, "Passacaglia for orchestra" (1997). In the post-Nationalist period in Latin America, one of the important contributions of the Marco biography is the fact that, whereas Heitor Villa-Lobos created works that were recognized in the twentieth century as being Brazilian in inspiration and style, Marlos Nobre is convincingly portrayed as a major post-Nationalist Latin American composer whose style embraces elements of various Latin American cultures. Copyright © 2007 University of Texas Press