ENRIQUE SORO AND CARMELA MACKENNA: PROMINENT COMPOSERS OUTSIDE THE CHILEAN CANON By CAMILA OSSES LECTURE-DOCUMENT Presented to the School of Music & Dance in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts DECEMBER 2023 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................. 3 Enrique Soro and Carmela Mackenna: prominent composers outside the Chilean Canon......... 5 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................5 The Chilean canon ................................................................................................................. 9 The origin of the canon ............................................................................................................... 16 Soro, Mackenna, and the Chilean canon ..................................................................................... 31 Enrique Soro (1884-1954) ..................................................................................................... 40 Enrique Soro’ Piano Sonatas ................................................................................................ 45 Piano Sonata no. 2 by Enrique Soro ............................................................................................ 45 First movement .................................................................................................................................................. 50 Second movement ............................................................................................................................................. 60 Third Movement ................................................................................................................................................ 63 Fourth Movement .............................................................................................................................................. 67 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................................... 74 Carmela Mackenna (1879–1962) .......................................................................................... 76 Carmela Mackenna’s piano music: the Klavierkonzert .............................................................. 81 The Songs of Carmela Mackenna ......................................................................................... 94 Melodía (1918) ............................................................................................................................ 95 Lieder (1929)............................................................................................................................. 100 Poema de Amor (1930) .............................................................................................................. 105 Canto de Cuna (1933) ............................................................................................................... 110 Silvester Abend (1933) .............................................................................................................. 113 Zwei Gesänge (1935) ................................................................................................................. 119 Deux Poèmes de Verlaine (1936) ............................................................................................... 126 Ave Maria (1942) ...................................................................................................................... 132 En e fleurant (date unknown) ................................................................................................... 135 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 138 Reflections on the Chilean canon and pedagogical approaches to the Piano Sonata no. 2 by Enrique Soro and Carmela Mackenna’s Songs .................................................................... 139 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 144 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 147 3 Acknowledgments I would like to thank the Osses Soto family (Rosa, José, Emilio, and Gose) for their unconditional support over all these years I have spent outside Chile, especially my mother Rosa Soto for her strength, braveness, and endless love. To my grandmother, Rosa Retamal for always being there for me and for being so proud of all her grandsons. To my grandfather Tata Pancho for always believing in me. Thanks to the big Soto family, who are always happy about my achievements. Especial thanks to my doctoral advisor, Dr. Alexandre Dossin, for all these years of unforgettable and incredible piano teaching, for helping me grow professionally, and for his kind support in my thesis project. To my committee members and wonderful teachers Dr. Grace Ho and Dr. Stephen Rodgers, from whom I learned so much all these years. To Dr. Camille Ortiz and Dr. Craig Phillips for their amazing job performing and recording with me for the Carmela Mackenna project, and for their kindness and inspiration. Also, big thanks to Roberto Doniez and the Enrique Soro Foundation for supporting me in my project about the Piano Sonata No. 2, and to the personnel of the Music Archive of the Chilean National Library, for allowing me access to Carmela Mackenna’s scores. Thanks too to all the professors I had the opportunity to learn these past four years: Dr. David Riley, Dr. Juan Eduardo Wolf, Dr. Abigail Fine, Dr. Margaret Gries, and Dr. Holly Roberts, all of whom made my experience at the University of Oregon richer and helped me see the world differently. Thanks to Daniel De Togni, my best friend and partner, for his enormous support and unconditional love. 4 Last, but not least, all my friends who were there always and supported me. Those who “survived” (and are still “surviving”) Eugene: Tamara, Diego, Nicolás and Tanys, Alonso and Antonella, Luis, Jorge, Adriana, Mauricio, Ashleigh, Duca, Luchito, Nino, Susana, Wally, Tina, Gabriela, Cecco, Desireé, and Juan Sebastián. From the distance: Sara, Fernanda, Paula (who also introduced me to Soro’s Piano Sonata), Sol and Nika, and my cousins Joche and Feli. All your sincere friendship, support, and help, made this experience more pleasing for me, considering all the challenges I faced in this doctoral adventure, personally and professionally. 5 Enrique Soro and Carmela Mackenna: prominent composers outside the Chilean Canon Introduction How can Latin American pianists start to recognize the legacy and history of our “own” composers? Why is that so important? As a Chilean pianist with a great interest in teaching and performance, I have been questioning the fact that in conservatories and music schools in Chile, Latin American music is partially covered and is subjected to the teacher’s interests. Performing Latin American music is not a requirement for degree fulfillment. To hear such works is rare in auditions, recitals, or examinations. During my music formation, I have admired the works of composers from the Western European tradition, and I have enthusiastically studied and performed their music. I am thankful for having the opportunity to study with excellent foreign piano professors (in Chile, as well as abroad) who taught me technique, repertoire, and performance practices of European music. However, an essential element of our formation as musicians from Latin America, in my opinion, is the study and recognition of the music of our land. It is important to acknowledge Latin American repertoire, and in the case of Chilean citizens, the acknowledgment of Chilean music, as we are people who live and share experiences in that particular country. Contrary to a nationalistic ideology or approach to what really matters in our national context, it is intrinsically important to appreciate the variety of Chilean composers and the history behind them. It is tremendously encouraging for composers, performers, and listeners to be aware of such history, 6 because it unifies, links, and emerges interesting discussions about identity while enhancing creativity of different kinds. How different it would have been if I had had the opportunity to perform Chilean music during my undergraduate years? Since my piano professor was from Russia, and the only Latin American works she was interested in performing were the ones of Alberto Ginastera and Heitor Villa-Lobos (the representatives of Latin American music), I grew up with no role models of Chilean classical music. In which place is the music of Luis Advis, Alfonso Leng, Carmela Mackenna, María Luisa Sepúlveda, Enrique Soro, and others, in Chilean music schools, universities, and conservatories? Another factor during my years as a student in Chile, was the constant conflict between music schools in Santiago, the capital city where the main schools of music in the country are concentrated. Those who belonged to the Conservatory of Universidad de Chile, would know a little more about Chilean composers because it was the first national conservatory of Chilean history (formerly founded as Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación) and because piano professors there played and taught that music (however, only partially, due to reasons I will develop later). In the case of the Conservatory at Universidad Católica and the Music Conservatory of Universidad Mayor, that would depend on the teacher and not on the music institution. At the Music Conservatory of Universidad Mayor, where I got my bachelor’s degree in piano, the only music class where I was able to study Chilean music was “Twentieth Century Piano Music”, taught by a Chilean pianist, who actively studied Chilean contemporary music. However, I did not meet any national composer with romantic influences, like Enrique Soro’s music, for example. As a music student, it was very difficult to make time to study Chilean composers, since the assigned repertoire for examinations was Western European composers, which is quite demanding. These decisions on how to address the requirements for a performance degree could come either from the institutional perspective 7 or from teachers. I did not have a piano teacher willing to discuss Chilean repertoire, nor consider assigning me a piece by a Chilean composer for my examinations or auditions, also because music institutions do not specify in their curricula that Chilean or Latin American composers should be included in recital programs and performance examinations. Given that context, I decided to develop my topic of research on two Chilean composers: Enrique Soro and Carmela Mackenna, both of whom I discovered much later in my career. These composers are particularly interesting due to biased conceptions about their music and their personalities: Soro was a historical figure of the Conservatorio de Musica y Declamación and aesthetically undervalued by his colleagues, and Mackenna was a woman composer who developed her career abroad, and who had contact with the Chilean music scene in the 1930s. The main questions on which I base my research about the Chilean canon are: What role does the music of Chilean composer Enrique Soro (1884-1954) and Carmela Mackenna (1879- 1962) play in Chilean music literature? In the case of Enrique Soro, why only a few works are performed nowadays in the Chilean music scene if newspaper accounts depict the composer as popular and renowned at that time? In the case of Carmela Mackenna, why her works are not performed if she was such a creative personality with international projection? How vast is their repertoire, and how much of it is appreciated, studied, discussed, and performed in Chilean music conservatories? What reasons motivated the separation of Enrique Soro from his role as director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación in 1929, and why his legacy and points of view were not considered when the educational reformation occurred in Chile? This DMA lecture investigates the role of Chilean composers Enrique Soro and Carmela Mackenna in the development of Chilean music and the construction of their music identities within that context. For the role of Enrique Soro, I will focus on his pianistic output, specifically 8 his Piano Sonata no. 2. Enrique Soro composed three piano sonatas: No. 1 in C-sharp minor, from 1922, No. 2 in E minor, from 1941 (although the compositional process of this sonata started in 1917) and his Piano Sonata No. 3, from 1923. Both sonatas No. 1 and 3 were published by G. Schirmer and G. Ricordi respectively.1 His second piano sonata, although remains unpublished, was recorded in 2019 in a collective project lead by Roberto Doniez Soro, grandson of Enrique Soro and Director of the Enrique Soro Foundation, a website dedicated to the life, work and career of the Chilean composer.2 Regarding composer Carmela Mackenna, I will focus on her output for voice and piano, with mentions of her piano production as well. Mackenna’s songs have not been recorded professionally, and most scores of this music exist only in outdated notation. 1 “Biography”. Fundación Enrique Soro, Accessed November 4, 2021, https://fundacionenriquesoro.cl/fundacion/biografia/ 2 Jeraldo Barraza. “Integral de las sonatas para piano de Enrique Soro”, Revista Musical Chilena, 75, no. 235 (January-June 2021): 253. https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/60761/67459 9 The Chilean canon Enrique Soro was one of the most active and productive composers of the first half of the twentieth century in Chile. He wrote around two hundred works, many of them for piano, orchestra, voice, and chamber music. He was also a prominent figure outside the country, having his music published by companies like Schirmer New York and Ricordi, recording pieces for the auto-piano company Aeolian, traveling to numerous countries presenting his works, and establishing connections with music institutions to improve the music education system in Chile. Carmela Mackenna was a very successful composer who achieved international recognition with her choral music in a competition in Frankfurt, Germany, where she obtained the second prize in 1936. Her piano concerto from 1933 was premiered in 1935 in Chile and Germany by renowned institutions such as the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Chilean Symphony Orchestra. However, she had only a few mentions in journals and articles, being only extensively covered by musicologist Raquel Bustos in 1983, two decades after Mackenna’s death. Soro’s career ended abruptly when he was forced to retire from his duties as director of the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación (from now on referred to as CNM) in 1928, where Soro worked for over fifteen years. The reason: by law decrees made by the Chilean President, Carlos Ibáñez, the CNM became part of the Universidad de Chile, and thus all personnel of the conservatory were removed from their duties, and the conservatory reorganized. This historical event had notable repercussions for him, who was excluded from the CNM not only as its leader but as a teacher too, forcing him to teach privately for several years. However, this situation also affected other musicians and composers who taught at the CNM, whose contributions before 1928 were omitted as well as their compositional works. The education 10 reformation that started in 1929 shaped the way Chilean classical music was conceived (I refer to traditional written music). This means that from that year on, a music Chilean canon was formed, and the ones who oversaw the new Universidad de Chile Conservatory disseminated the rules for that canon through different means of expression, such as articles in the press, music journals, and the repertoire programmed and performed at the different venues in the city of Santiago. This aesthetical conception not only affected Enrique Soro, but it also affected the composers who did not affiliate with this aesthetics and who were not particularly close to those who originated the canon. To be able to explain why composers like Soro, Mackenna, and others were ignored for several years in the music academic environment, it is necessary to explain the origins of the Chilean canon and how this canon established specific rules for how music had to be created. As Marcia Citron tells in her book “Gender and the Musical Canon,” a canon “provides a means of instilling a sense of identity in a culture: who the constituents are, where they come from, and where are they going.”3 In the case of Chile, a music canon was established linking the birth of a new music institution (Universidad de Chile Conservatory) and the composers, musicologists, historians, and teachers who belonged to it to a new music era, exempted of the “bad taste of Italian and salon music”. These two genres were widely cultivated in Chile in the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth along with zarzuelas and popular/traditional music. As stated by historian Vicente Salas in 1950 in his book “La Creación Musical en Chile: 1910-1950,” the decades between 1910 and 1950 were the object of an “incredible transformation” of Chilean music4, and that all music repertoire produced before that 3 Marcia J. Citron, Gender and the Musical Canon, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1933), 1. 4 Vicente Salas, La Creación Musical en Chile: 1900-1950 (Santiago: Edición digital de la Universidad de Chile, 2001), 7. 11 period was decadent5. The arbitrary representation of the different aesthetic currents that were present in the first half of the twentieth century, along with the promotion of certain works and composers related to the institution of Universidad de Chile, formed a canon of Chilean music. What usually occurs with the act of canonization, is that many talented and interesting composers are excluded from the pages of official history, thus not allowing (and making difficult) the study of such people and their works in the present. In a report that addresses the period between 1887 and 1928 (the latter the year of the reformation to the CNM), musicologist Luis Merino indicates that certain personalities of the Chilean music scene in the first half of the twentieth century related to the reformation of the CNM have contributed to this canon formation, among them Domingo Santa Cruz, Vicente Salas, Eugenio Pereira, and Samuel Claro. They expressed their views and alienated towards an official account of the progress and modernization of Chilean music. The conditions that determine a canonical work in Chilean music are detailed by Merino in the same report, citing the work of musicologists Rafael Díaz and Juan Pablo González: • The creation of the work • The work’s production in its several formats: music scores, public concerts, and particularly a recording, among others • Recurring circulation, and depending on that, • Recurring reception • The discourse/speech about the work 5 Vicente Salas, La Creación Musical en Chile: 1900-1950 (Santiago: Edición digital de la Universidad de Chile, 2001), 7. 12 As an example of the canonization of a work, in another article Merino addresses the reception of composer Pedro Humberto Allende’s orchestral work Escenas Campesinas Chilenas (Chilean Country Scenes, written in 1914, premiered in 1916). Allende was contemporary to Enrique Soro, although, differently from Soro who studied in Italy, Allende studied composition in the CNM, with Domenico Brescia and Luigi Stefano Giarda in the early twentieth century (paradoxically Italian musicians who came to Chile and developed interesting compositional and teaching careers). Allende’s Escenas Campesinas Chilenaa were promoted and critiqued in newspapers, magazines, and music journals when it was premiered, as Merino states6. The orchestral work was also premiered in Argentina, where newspapers praised the piece for its use of Chilean folklore7. However, its consolidation as a canonical work came in 1930 when the piece was constantly performed in the concerts organized by the Symphonic Concerts National Association (Asociación Nacional de Conciertos Sinfónicos), an organization dependent from Universidad de Chile Conservatory. Domingo Santa Cruz, the prominent figure of the education reformation of 1928, wrote in 19328: Allende is undoubtedly the foundational author of our orchestral music; with him we could completely exit the “Italian era” in our country, entering the somehow French door of this man who was praised by Debussy, to a valuable contribution of Chilean taste that circulates through an excellently conducted orchestra. 6 Luis Merino, “Más allá del nacionalismo. Una aproximación al compositor Pedro Humberto Allende Sarón (1885- 1959) desde la recepción de dos de sus obras en Chile y el extranjero: Escenas Campesinas Chilenas (1914) y Concierto Sinfónico para Violonchelo y Orquesta (1915), Neuma 9, no 1 (June 2016), 23, https://neuma.utalca.cl/index.php/neuma/article/view/70. 7 Luis Merino, “Más allá del nacionalismo. Una aproximación al compositor Pedro Humberto Allende Sarón (1885- 1959) desde la recepción de dos de sus obras en Chile y el extranjero: Escenas Campesinas Chilenas (1914) y Concierto Sinfónico para Violonchelo y Orquesta (1915), Neuma 9, no. 1 (June 2016), 23, https://neuma.utalca.cl/index.php/neuma/article/view/70. 8 Domingo Santa Cruz. “La temporada de la Asociación Nacional de Conciertos Sinfónicos”, Aulos, 1. No.1 (October 1932). 17. 13 In an article of 1937 called “Chilean music through the lens of some recent publications”9 historian Eugenio Pereira collected several testimonies from foreign musicians about Chilean contemporary music. One of them, Wilhelm Mann wrote, according to Pereira: Through impressionistic techniques Allende reflects the typical characteristics of criollos10 and the temperament of the popular race in a graciously and musical manner. In the same article, the words of William Barrien, a musician from the United States, says the following: Many critics consider Pedro Humberto Allende the leader composer of Chile. His works as the guiding spirit of many important figures in Chilean music has won him the gratitude of composers and public incorporate popular material into these more elaborate structures. Allende’s importance not only as a composer but as a teacher and the leading force in the orientation of modern music is graciously acknowledged by distinguished a contemporary as Carlos Isamitt. Carlos Isamitt, a former pupil of Allende, during the occasion of Allende receiving the National Arts Prize in 1945, wrote that “Escenas Campesinas is the first work of our literature that is able to establish a distinct spirit of racial character,” and that in Chilean music history this piece “accomplished a degree of lasting artistic meaning never seen before. The musician (Allende) overcame in it his harmonic conscience and his talent for transformation, reaching originality and distinction11”. 9 Eugenio Pereira Salas, La música chilena: la música chilena a través de algunas publicaciones recientes. Revista De Arte, 3m no.14, (1937), 29 – 33. https://revistadearte.uchile.cl/index.php/AR/article/view/22809. 10 Ibid 11 Luis Merino, “Más allá del nacionalismo. Una aproximación al compositor Pedro Humberto Allende Sarón (1885- 1959) desde la recepción de dos de sus obras en Chile y el extranjero: Escenas Campesinas Chilenas (1914) y Concierto Sinfónico para Violonchelo y Orquesta (1915), Neuma 9, no 1 (2016). 26-27, https://neuma.utalca.cl/index.php/neuma/article/view/70. 14 Composer Alfonso Letelier, another former pupil of Allende, said the same year: Chilean folklore is very poor, and it was not easy to elevate it to the category like the composer [Allende] did. [He] wrote the Twelve Tonadas and The Country Chilean Scenes, masterworks, which the first one has become part of the universal repertoire. Another example of canonization, and surely the most transcendental for the validation of the educational reformation to the CNM that later became UCC, is the case of composer Alfonso Leng (1884-1974). He was an odontologist but studied music at the CNM with Enrique Soro and later independently. He composed two works that until nowadays have been indicated as “foundational” works of “truly Chilean music” and labeled as “Chilean avant-garde” in the official music history of this country: Doloras (1901-1914), a cycle of five piano pieces (later arranged for orchestra in 1920) and his symphonic poem La Muerte de Alsino (1920). These two pieces were the symbolic anthems of a group of intellectuals called “Los Diez” (The Ten), of which Leng was a member. La Muerte de Alsino (Alsino’s Death) a symphonic poem, became an official work and a symbol of the “modernism” represented by the new institution UCC. Domingo Santa Cruz, Leng’s friend, wrote in his memories that “this poem was beautiful, magnificent. Its premiere (…) was great news”12 and that “the stunning success of Leng’s work, an authentic symphonic poem, in line with Strauss and with a language that suddenly connected us with Scriabin.”13 12 Domingo Santa Cruz (2008). Mi vida en la música: contribución al estudio de la vida musical chilena durante el siglo XX. (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile), 76. 13 Ibid 15 As the Spanish historian Vicente Salas, who joined the UCC in 1940 through the Institute of Music Extension (Instituto de Extensión Musical de la Universidad de Chile) indicated in 1950: The premiere of this work by the Symphonic (National) Orchestra conducted by maestro Carvajal in May of 1922, marks a significative date in the evolution of Chilean contemporary music. In Alsino’s Death the capital contribution of Leng as a symphonist, which concentrates and projects in the environment, establishes an aesthetic continuity, rather than technical, to the posterior art. In another article from 1957, the same author referred to this poem as “the first Chilean symphonic poem”. “Does not reach another dimension, due to its distinction of being the starting point, or the driving force of an aspect of Chilean art music of such prominence? Alsino’s Death is a continuity of the poem as a form in Chilean music that extends until today”.14 Another example of a canonical work, which constitutes a paradox for this lecture document, is Enrique Soro’s Andante Appasionato (1902-1903), a piece that was original for small orchestra, and arranged for piano by the composer in 1916. In 1917, the piano version was included in a catalogue released by the publishing company G. Schirmer New York, thus gaining popularity abroad. In the years 1905-1922, this work circulated due to its popularity in public and private spaces, and due to Soro’s nurtured career as a pianist, who played the piece in concerts and public events. The piece is also mentioned in several articles in music journals and magazines, and especially after 1948 when Soro received the National Arts Prize. 14 Salas Viu, V. (1957). “En torno a “La Muerte de Alsino”. Revista Musical Chilena, 11 no. 54, 19-26. https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/779 16 Even though Soro was excluded from the official institution of UCC in 1928, this piece survived through the years, being performed thirty-six times in the period from 1943-200815. Thus, it became one of the most representative pieces of his style, along with his Piano Concerto in D major from 1918, and Sinfonía Romántica (Romantic Symphony), the first symphony ever composed in Chile, from 1921. The origin of the canon It is necessary to comprehend the context for what these works were considered foundational and thus becoming part of a Chilean music canon that emerged along with political and historical changes that affected and modified the Chilean music institution. In an extensive dissertation about Alfonso Leng’s philosophy, aesthetics, and his role during the creation of the Universidad de Chile Conservatory, authors Juan Carlos Poveda and Maria Pilar Peña argue that Leng’s music regarded as “Chilean” was a social and aesthetic construct used with political means towards the educational reformation of 1928: “While Alfonso Leng is not the main agent of the institutional musical project (UCC), he is one of the main referents: a mythologized “hero” who gave social legitimacy, as well as in terms of aesthetics and ideology, to the development of the official nature of the twentieth century, nowadays mythicized as “the good old times” in which the “heroes” succeeded in getting state funds for a project of national development.” 15 Luis Merino, “La problemática de la creación musical, la circulación de la obra, la recepción, la crítica y el canon, vistas a partir de la historia de la música docta chilena desde fines del siglo XIX hasta el año 1928”, Boletín Música, 34 (2014), https://dokumen.tips/documents/revista-de-msica-latinoamericana-y-caribea-revista-de-msica- latinoamericana.html?page=2 17 Leng was a member of the intellectual collective called “Los Diez” (The Ten), which originated in 1916 by the impulse and leadership of writer Pedro Prado. The group included painters, writers, poets, visual artists, and journalists. Leng was the only member who was a musician. In their meetings, Los Diez discussed topics about art, music, and read poetry and books. Pedro Prado read his book called “Rough Invitation to the Jelsé” in their first meeting at the Chilean National Library in 1916. In the text, the philosophical principles of this group were established. It was also included in the book titled “Los Diez” that was published later. One of the texts read in these meetings says the following: With all its love to total life, where beauty lives more comfortably, Then Ten, with all its strangeness, aspires to do works that last, embracing life with a love that does not escape from melancholy and pain, that does not deny humor and seriousness, and that does not despise any of the ideals and duties which men consume in this temporary life. The ten published twelve volumes consisting of articles and reflections about arts, along with the publication of music by Chilean and international composers. In these columns the members criticized the music environment of that time, proclaiming that it lacked artistic depth16. They were critics of the public and its good reception of Italian opera and the composers as well, indicating that “the majority of them have not been able to get rid of the concept of traditional music, represented by Italian opera composers”.17 About the publication of music 16 Carmen Peña, "Ópera decimonónica: al banquillo de los acusados". Resonancias (November 2011), 15 no. 29, 61, https://artes.uc.cl/resonancias/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2014/09/Carmen_Pena.pdf. 17 Carmen Peña, "Ópera decimonónica: al banquillo de los acusados". Resonancias (November 2011), 15 no. 29, 61, https://artes.uc.cl/resonancias/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2014/09/Carmen_Pena.pdf. 18 scores, The Ten published several Chilean composers such as Alfonso Leng, Luis Alberto García Guerrero, Pedro Humberto Allende, Acario Cotapos, and Adolfo Allende.18 About the Ten and their philosophical view expressed in these articles, Carmen Peña indicates in her research about nineteenth and twentieth-century opera that the Ten’s ideas were expressed from a perspective of superiority and inferiority, thus their appreciations were often negative. They recognized some young composers who expressed a “renovation in the musical movement”, contributing with “novelty in the style, interesting subjectivism, music intellectuality19”. About the role of the public, they would talk about “subjective auditors” versus “objective” ones, who would appreciate superficial aspects of the music such as timbre, melody, etc.20 As Poveda and Peña indicate, the ideology of The Ten greatly influenced Leng’s composition style. This intellectual group was inspired by ideals of the man as a creator, and in search of beauty and spiritual nobility, expressed through art intended as transcendent in “this temporary life”. This “transcendence” gives an aesthetic value to the work, which is understood as an autonomous being product of the knowledge and inspiration of the “creator”. Thus, the work will prevail after the creator’s life. 21 18 Ibid 19 Los Diez, 1, (September 1916), 82, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0004167.pdf. 20 Juan Carrera Los Diez, 1, (September 1916), 164, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0004167.pdf. 21 Juan Carlos Poveda y María Pilar Peñat, Alfonso Leng: Música, Modernidad y Chilenidad a Comienzos del Siglo XX (Santiago: s.n), 37 19 Writer Pedro Prado, the main figure of The Ten, was intrinsically nationalist. He supported the idea of an art created in Chile and by Chileans22. This discourse influenced the thinking of the “avant-garde” and modernist artistic movements at the beginning of the twentieth century, which were in search of a “Chilean identity”. Folklore and popular expressions of those days were not considered as valid, regarded as inferior and superficial, thus excluded of this nationalistic imaginary. Later, Leng took these ideas and expressed them in his music, linking the search of inner spirituality with Chilean identity. Although, as Poveda and Queralt clarify, the parameters in which artistic creation was validated in that time were always looked at through a Eurocentric and hegemonic perspective23. In a text from 1927 published in the music magazine Marsyas, titled The Chilean Musical Art”, Leng conveyed the ideas that elevated the romantic nationalistic ideas against folklore and popular expressions, establishing the elements of what constituted “Chilean art.” In the following text, Leng describes the conditions in which art should represent the people of a nation, and praises the musical art of France and Germany, putting them as an example of “good” art: Art should represent not only the exterior signs of the people, but mainly its psychological features since they are the translation of its most noble aspect. An art based exclusively on popular folklore represents only a portion of the nation (…) Although, if we consider the music production of European nations, for example, the most representative authors, Ravel and Debussy, have not been inspired by the popular song, but have created a musical art 22 Juan Carlos Poveda y María Pilar Peñat, Alfonso Leng: Música, Modernidad y Chilenidad a Comienzos del Siglo XX (Santiago: s.n). 38 23 Juan Carlos Poveda y María Pilar Peñat, Alfonso Leng: Música, Modernidad y Chilenidad a Comienzos del Siglo XX (Santiago: s.n). 37 20 with elements of foreign countries of the West (…) Elements that are sifted with the spirit of the authors and become French, because the composers know how to convey the stamp of their homeland, all the grace (and) refinement (…)24. In Germany, the music of Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner (…) represent the nobility and depth of the German soul, their love for nature and the deep romanticism that characterizes it. Rarely we can find elements of folklore in these authors’ music; although, their music is the exact representation of the human soul25. About Chilean folklore, and folklore in general, Leng argues the following: We have in our country a culture that is not Incan, nor Araucanian (referring to the native Mapuche people in the Central-Southern area of Chile), but distinctly European; and we cannot, given our short existence as an independent identity, avoid it. Although, we undoubtedly should analyze if we possess some characteristics, not only American (referring to the American continent), but as well as Chilean ones. Our psychological and popular specificity is represented in folklore in tonadas and cuecas26. When we listen to them, it calls to attention that, although they seem enthusiastic and joyful, there is deep sorrow in them that cannot be dissimulated by the accompaniment of lively rhythms and loud clapping, which are like the animated support to a sick person27. What defines the true characteristics of Chilean music, according to Leng, is the following: Sobriety, precise expression, and the absent of useless ornamentation; an opportune grace, a bit malicious, but of (good) quality, are the characteristics of our Chilean soul, Frank, big, and noble.28 24 Alfonso Leng, “Sobre el Arte Musical Chileno”, Marsyas, 1 no. 4 (June 1927), 118, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033027.pdf 25 Ibid 26 Official Chilean dance 27 Alfonso Leng, “Sobre el Arte Musical Chileno”, Marsyas, 1 no. 4 (June 1927), 118, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033027.pdf 28 Ibid, 119 21 Leng concludes the article dictating the rules for writing adequate Chilean music: The technique of an art is patrimony of the world, as well as progress is. By serving these characteristics, we will be able to have a national art without detrimental limitations. A well written work and truly Chilean could be singularized by its sobriety, direct expression, the exclusion of imported ornaments; a deep base, idealist, noble and full of hope, to which the malicious grace could join from time to time. Let’s avoid the combination of the negative aspects of the folklore that indicates lack of vigor, relaxation, and laziness of spirit and moral. These features could be used occasionally like a coloristic note, as admirably have done some of our composers. Although, we should have in mind that these are not the topics that reflect the art of a nation, but the spirit that gives life to it, its psychological continuity.29 Alfonso Leng was not only a respected member of The Ten; he also joined the Bach Society (Sociedad Bach), a collective of professionals of the bourgeoise who cultivated music in their free time. Its members gathered at private houses to sing choral music by French composers of the Renaissance, along with choral music by Johann Sebastian Bach. This institution was founded in 1917 by Domingo Santa Cruz along with Carlos Humeres, with the purpose of “renewing our music environment” and to “improve and dignify” music education in Chile.30 Although Santa Cruz was not part of The Ten, the intellectual group influenced him notoriously through his friendship with Alfonso Leng. The impact that The Ten and Bach Society had on the reform of 1928 is transcendental to understand the aesthetic and philosophical values of the UCC and the composers that adhered to its “renovation” process. 29 Alfonso Leng, “Sobre el Arte Musical Chileno”, Marsyas, 1 no. 4 (June 1927), 119, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033027.pdf. 30 Carlos Humeres, “La Sociedad Bach y su obra”, Marsyas, 1 no. 1 (June 1927), 2-3, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033027.pdf 22 In extensive documentation about the role of the Bach Society, whose leader was the main propulsor of the reform, the lawyer and composer Domingo Santa Cruz, the objective of gaining power and a privileged position for the decisions about Chilean music education, was palpable. According to Poveda and Peña, a collaboration between Santa Cruz and members of the Bach Society, helped by Alfonso Leng made possible a series of publications in the press with strong critics to the CNM, accusing them of having “obsolete” programs and a restricted defense to Italian opera and all forms derived from that style. The agitated political climate the country was going through made these developments possible. The strong presence of Italian musicians who immigrated to Chile in the mid-nineteenth century (who were teachers at the CNM), and the popularity of Italian operas and Italian companies that were constantly performing at the Santiago Municipal Theater, served to install an ideologic battle between the German and Italian aesthetics in composition. As Enrique Soro returned to Chile after finishing his studies in Milan, he started working in the public administration and arts education; he later became deputy director of the CNM, and in 1919 became director of this institution, a position he held until the reformation in 1928. Along with Soro was the Italian composer and singer Luigi Stefano Giarda (1868-1952), who was the deputy director of the CNM in that period. As both musicians had connections with Italy (both studied in the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan) the CNM was targeted as a pro-Italian and a pro-opera institution. Also, the Bach Society constantly attacked the Municipal Theater of Santiago, the main representative of Italian opera since a considerable number of operas were programmed there. 23 The opera as a genre came to Latin America in the early 1700s, in the viceroyship capitals of Mexico and Lima. In Chile, the first opera production came from Italy to the port of Valparaiso in the early nineteenth century. Many of these were organized by the Philharmonic Society (Sociedad Filarmónica), a music organization founded by Carlos Drewetcke, José Zapiola and Isidora Zegers (1803-1869). Zegers was the most influential figure of that time in the promotion of classical music, specifically, opera and song. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the opera genre was socially accepted and had enormous popularity, until it started to be pointed out as superficial and vulgar. As Carmen Peña argues, the campaign against opera started with The Ten in 1915 through their opinion columns in the magazine of the same name. The campaign initiated by the Bach Society to destabilize the CNM and the Santiago Municipal Theater started in 1924, with anonymous and non-anonymous letters to the local newspaper El Mercurio. The first public fight started with Santa Cruz demanding a space to rehearse in that theater for the choral ensemble of the Bach Society, in detrimental of an Italian opera company that had the license until then in that space. After a year of letter exchanges in the newspaper between Santa Cruz and the local authorities, the Bach Society got the permit to have rehearsals in the theater, along with twenty musical events per year, and with the permit to sell their own tickets. This meant a symbolic triumph for the Bach Society since they got recognition as an organization that had the ability to gain a public space, even though they were a private organization. Firmly, the Bach Society started to gain validation as a music organization that could influence decisions in the political and musical environment in Santiago, as demonstrated by Joaquin Montalva in his research about this group. Montalva points out that due to the political crisis in Chile in 1925, it was possible to establish laws by decree, and Santa Cruz, the head of 24 the Bach Society, took advantage of this opportunity to gain power regarding the reformations of the CNM31. The claims to improve musical education were already made to the government in the past by Enrique Soro and other faculty32, but the new political situation, the knowledge Santa Cruz had as a lawyer, and the influence he already had as a valid figure through the Bach Society, facilitated his intromission in this area33. The first solid victory for Santa Cruz was when he gained attention from the Ministry of Primary Education, Enrique Bahamondes, writing a letter to El Mercurio newspaper complaining of scholarships given to visual arts students to study in Europe, comparing it with the lack of opportunity for musicians in Chile. Bahamondes met Santa Cruz a few days later and made a new decree to improve the situation for musicians. In 1927, Santa Cruz continued his efforts along with the Bach Society to enter as a valid representative of Chilean music education, achieving this time the designation as a member of the committee in the reformation of artistic education in the country. He was helped by Alberto Mackenna, who after serving as the mayor of Santiago, became the director of that reformation committee (Alberto Mackenna was the brother of composer Carmela Mackenna). After months of designations of new public instruction ministers in a complex political climate (a coup d’état by military Carlos Ibáñez that year), the writer Eduardo Barrios became the new minister of public instruction. Barrios was a former member of The Ten, and thus the project proposed by 31 José Montalva, “Se fueron el tiempo, la sangre y los nervios de ópera: La Sociedad Bach como articulador de litigios culturales y su conflicto con el Conservatorio Nacional y el Teatro Municipal, (1924-1928)”, (Bachelor’ diss. Universidad Diego Portales, 2015), 12. 32 Juan Carlos Poveda y Pilar Peña, Alfonso Leng: Música, Modernidad y Chilenidad a Comienzos del Siglo XX (Santiago: s.n), 100. 33 Juan Carlos Poveda y Pilar Peña, Alfonso Leng: Música, Modernidad y Chilenidad a Comienzos del Siglo XX (Santiago: s.n), 106. 25 the Bach Society to professionalize music education became a reality, bypassing the opinion and validity of the CNM authorities (Soro, Giarda, and others). At the beginning of 1928, the reformation became effective, and all the personnel of the conservatory were removed, except for Armando Carvajal, who became director of the conservatory. Santa Cruz became a music professor at this institution. According to Poveda and Peña, the management of the CNM was not deficient. They already had an orchestra and a choir ensemble, the majority consisting of professionals who were former students of that institution. According to Luis Sandoval in his review of the Chilean conservatory since it was created, the CNM increased its number of students progressively, having a total of 719 students by 191134. In addition to the pre-existing instrumental classes, Music History, Aesthetics, Humanities, Theory, Harmony, French, and Italian languages were added to the curriculum35. In 1906, a law decree established that primary and secondary education institutions should preferably hire teachers who graduated from the CNM to work at these public venues36. During the years Enrique Soro Soro assumed in 1919 as director of the CNM and Luis Stefano Giarda as deputy director, Soro asked for a new building for the CNM since the current building was in deplorable condition. He also criticized the national budget that prioritized the 34 Luis Sandoval, Reseña del Conservatorio de Nacional de Música y Declamación: 1849 a 1911, (Santiago: Imprent Gutemberg, 1911) http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/mc0033046.pdf. 35 Ibid, 31 36 Ibid, 24 26 Math and Science Department of the University of Chile instead of music, the National Library, the Historical Archive, and other governmental institutions37. In 1925, due to the new law decree in which Santa Cruz collaborated, Giarda was removed from his position as the deputy director as that position was eliminated from the administration. As previously mentioned, that year was particularly prone to the modification of state laws due to the political crisis in the country. Clearly, what helped Santa Cruz in his campaign to monopolize public music education was his connections with Alfonso Leng, who acted as the main mediator of the negotiations with the public administration in 1925, 1927, and 1928. Leng also negotiated with Enrique to accept the reformations first proposed in 1925 and later, which ended with Soro excluded from the final decisions and with his position taken by Armando Carvajl. Soro could have not accepted a lawyer as a part of the composition faculty like Santa Cruz, ironically a former student of Soro, who in his own words said that he lacked talent and that he should dedicate himself to other activities rather than composition38. There were numerous examples of the strong criticism that the CNM received from the Bach Society and anonymous columnists in the local press. In an article of Marsyas magazine, founded by the Bach Society in 1927, it says: 37 Roberto Doniez, José Manuel Izquierdo, Palabra de Soro (Valparaíso: Altazor, 2011), 132, https://fundacionenriquesoro.cl/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/LIBRO-PALABRA-DE-SORO-def.pdf 38 Roberto Doniez, José Manuel Izquierdo, Palabra de Soro (Valparaíso: Altazor, 2011), 237, https://fundacionenriquesoro.cl/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/LIBRO-PALABRA-DE-SORO-def.pdf 27 “Some faculty at the CNM are incredibly incompetent and lack totally of technical preparation in the classes they teach”39. Alberto Spikin (1898-1972), the author, criticizes the teaching methods of the piano lessons imparted there, but he does not cite sources or give names. He continues saying: “What is rubato? Scabrous topic, discussed by prominent authors, and which our professors (of the CNM) identify with horrendous licenses in regards rhythm, with fermatas, pauses, and that genuine epilepsy characteristic of the Italian tenors”. In the same magazine, Santa Cruz wrote a column titled “The reasons why the Conservatory has not accomplished its cultural function”, arguing that the authorities of the conservatory, particularly Enrique Soro, kept the institution at an inferior level, the professors’ lack of preparation, and the education of mediocre amateurs with professional degrees. Also, he said that the conservatory was dispelling Chilean artists.40 In the same column, he pointed out that the solution to the problems of the conservatory was dissolving its current orientation: “neophobia, Italianism, and anti-national prejudice.”41 The volumes of the Marsyas magazine were charged with comments like the ones above. During its one year of life, the members of Marsyas magazine were dedicated to diminishing the work and the merits that the CNM had achieved. Once the reformation became effective in 1928, the publication of this magazine ended. Although, once in a position of power, Santa Cruz and the people allied to him continued disseminating the ideas against Italianism and deficiency that were attached to the CNM. The CNM became part of the University of Chile, and the canonical 39 Alberto Spikin, “La Sociedad Bach y su obra”, Marsyas, 1 no. 1 (June 1927), 34 http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033027.pdf 40Domingo Santa Cruz “Por qué el Conservatorio no ha llenado su función cultural”, Marsyas, 1, no. 3 (May 1927), 74, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033027.pdf 41 Ibid, 76. 28 discourse continued with the undermining of Italian music and the former faculty of the CNM through publications such as Aulos magazine (1932-1934), Revista de Arte (Arts Magazine, between 1934-1940) and finally Revista Musical Chilena (Journal of Chilean Music, founded in 1945 until the present). In 1932, the CNM became officially part of the new Fine Arts Department of the University of Chile. Santa Cruz, Leng, Carvajal, Pedro Humberto Allende and other musicians close to Santa Cruz’s ideology became the official voice of Chilean Music, carrying the ideas that emerged at the first meetings of The Ten and the Bach Society. In an article of Aulos magazine in 1932, Santa Cruz referred to Soro’s Piano Concerto as an “authentic work of our “Italian period”, of which Soro is the “best musician”42. In the same column, Santa Cruz pointed to the recently created Society of Chilean Composers (Sociedad de Compositores Chilenos), that it had among its members were “embittered” people, and that the only real composer of that organization was Enrique Soro.43 The Society of Chilean Composers (SCC) originated in 1928 as a response to the marginalization the composers and former teachers of the CNM experienced after the reformation. In 1936, the Universidad de Chile Conservatory (UCC) founded the National Composers Association (Asociación Nacional de Compositores), ANC, which was in direct opposition to the SCC. This institution became the official organization of composers, which still exists today. 42 Domingo Santa Cruz “Presentación de la Sociedad de Compositores Chilenos” Aulos, 1, (October 1932), 19, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033030.pdf 43 Domingo Santa Cruz “Presentación de la Sociedad de Compositores Chilenos” Aulos, October 1932, 1, http://www.memoriachilena.gob.cl/archivos2/pdfs/MC0033030.pdf 29 As an example of the consolidation of this new canon is Vicente Salas’ book La Creación Musical en Chile: 1900-1951, published in 1952, which the introduction says: “At the beginning of the 20th century, the Conservatory was a propitious refuge of outdated teaching systems and the most absolute incomprehension of the phenomena that agitated the world of music. With its back turned to the struggle to liquidate the clichés of post-romanticism, not even the influence exerted on it by one of its first prominent Chilean conductors, Enrique Soro, could destroy its antiquated spirit, nor the servitude in which it lived with respect to the Italian lyric art”44. “The latent conflict between the new generation and the Conservatory would eventually produce a conflict that worsened when the Bach Society, around 1924, undertook its renovation work, uniting under its aesthetic postulates the musicians of the advanced guard of young people with ambitious goals. In 1928, the Conservatory was reformed and joined the movement that the Bach Society had maintained to raise the musical culture of Chile to the level of the demands of the time”. “Not only in Chile but throughout Latin America, Italian opera was the most active musical manifestation of the nineteenth century. The invasion of Italian opera in Chile coincided with the key year of 183045”. Salas is emphatic in pointing out the origin of the symphonic music in Chile, saying: In Chile, as in Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, and other American countries, the blossoming of a national lyric theater as a bridge from romanticism to the contemporary era did not take place. In this period, Chilean music, whether conservative or avant-garde, followed the path of chamber or symphonic genres that had no tradition in the country. If the modest and reduced production of the composers of the 19th century by Isidora Zegers, Federico Guzmán, Manuel Robles, or José Zapiola - could offer nothing valid as a starting point to the musicians of the beginning of our century, no less is it presented to them as a conclusive phenomenon, a simple and untrue historical 44 Vicente Salas, La Creación Musical en Chile: 1900-1950 (Santiago: Edición digital de la Universidad de Chile, 2001), 7. 45 Vicente Salas, La Creación Musical en Chile: 1900-1950 (Santiago: Edición digital de la Universidad de Chile, 2001), 7 30 fact, which has filled the preceding musical life. Neither the scarce and precarious religious music of the eighteenth century, nor the salon music of the XIX century, nor the Italian opera are bases for the musical movement of Chile (…). It could be categorically stated that in the domains of musical creation, Chile has no past.46 In Aproximación a una recuperación histórica: compositores excluidos, músicas perdidas, transiciones estilísticas y descripciones sinfónicas a comienzos del siglo XX by musicologist José Manuel Izquierdo, composers that were excluded from the official catalogue of national composers in Chile are discussed and described. Although Soro’s works did not disappear completely from the music scene after his removal from the conservatory in 1928, only a couple of pieces (among them the popular piano piece Andante Appassionato) were performed occasionally. The report explores totally forgotten composers such Raul Hügel, Luis Stefano Giarda and Aníbal Aracena, who along with Soro, shaped and contributed to the development of a music culture in Chile, especially in the capital, Santiago. The author indicates that an article in the Revista Musical Chilena (Journal of Chilean Music) ignored the musical output by these composers and claimed that serious music, or real academic music was composed only from 1910, relegating the mentioned composers to a lower category47. Musicologist Luis Merino argues that a musical current towards modernism was increasing gradually through the work of autonomous groups of musicians between 1887 and 1928, charged with innovative ideas and enhancement of the composer’s individuality. The idea of modernity is linked to the period beginning in 1810 until 1855 which was later expanded from 1855 to 1866. During the period 1887-1928, the interest in cultivating music 46 Ibid 47 José Manuel Izquierdo, "Aproximación a una recuperación histórica: compositores excluidos, músicas perdidas, transiciones estilísticas y descripciones sinfónicas a comienzos del siglo XX". Resonancias 15, no. 28, (May 2011), 33-47, https://resonancias.uc.cl/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2014/09/Izquierdo-3.pdf. 31 and composition increased as musical activities were taking place in public and private spheres in Chilean society. The creation of the CNM in 1850 is a characteristic of the interest in music education by the Chilean Estate, which from 1886 also included a degree in composition (before that, the conservatory was intended for the music education of performers only). Enrique Soro is mentioned as part of the composers with Italian influences, as he studied in Milan, along with other Italian musicians as Luis Stefano Giarda and Domenico Brescia. They and others were excluded from the Chilean musical canon, or their works fell into oblivion. Soro, Mackenna, and the Chilean canon In 1948, Enrique Soro received the National Arts Prize in recognition of decades of compositional work. Earlier, Soro got a sort of compensation for all the years excluded of the official institution of UCC: former Chilean president Pedro Aguirre Cerda (1939-1941), increased Soro’s pension in 1940 and helped the composer with the organization of concerts of his music in cities in Chile.48 According to Roberto Doniez, Soro’s grandson, Soro experienced such a traumatic event with his removal from the CNM, that he composed very little and was profoundly depressed for many years. However, he persevered and continued promoting his own works in circles where he was already known and dedicated to private teaching. He received the Arts National Prize in 1948, four years after the death of his wife, Adriana Cardemil. Her death obviously increased Soro’s gloominess and left him alone with four children. That same year. the Journal for Chilean Music, from UCC, dedicated an extensive report in its edition of 1948 to praise Soro’s achievements as a composer and as a historical figure. It is rather curious that members of the UCC referred to Soro like that, when he was still composing, 48 Roberto Doniez, José Manuel Izquierdo, Palabra de Soro (Valparaíso: Altazor, 2011), 245, https://fundacionenriquesoro.cl/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/LIBRO-PALABRA-DE-SORO-def.pdf 32 and his music still being performed. Domingo Santa Cruz gave a speech during the award ceremony, recognizing the conflicts he had with Soro in the reformation of 1928, but thanking him for his role in front of the CNM from 1919 through 1928. In the speech, Santa Cruz also made sure to reaffirm the “official truth” that opera was a harm that needed to be eradicated. He recognized Soro for “not being tempted by the slippery gradient of the theatre of those days” and having dedicated himself to cultivating symphonic forms and absolute music.49 Also, that “Soro could and should have been different, although he had a musician’s soul with different aspirations.” He finishes the speech with the following words: “It is justice to say that Enrique Soro was the musician who pointed out the path we had to take, and I am sure that he must have been proud of what his disciples were achieving”. “We cannot speak about Soro without insisting on his historical role; he is a link in our history and has the honor of being the first [composer] and of having attended the formidable awakening of the Chilean music that he knew in its infancy. Many times, we have heard him [Soro] denied, we have discussed his true value, because when things are transformed and evolutions are hurried, generations coexist that are dizzily differentiated, and from this turbulent life negations originate and that the restored serenity cannot approve.”50 As can be seen, Santa Cruz continued perpetuating the idea of him and the reformation as the “restored serenity” and that “dizzily” difference between him and Soro was aesthetically irremediable. A year later, in the speech for the centenary of the UCC, Santa Cruz mentions the Bach Society and its role started in 1294 to “fight for a superior education level for musical activities.” 49 Domingo Santa Cruz “Enrique Soro y nuestra música”, Revista Musical Chilena (August-September 1948), 4 no. 30, 3, https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1086 50 Domingo Santa Cruz “Enrique Soro y nuestra música”, Revista Musical Chilena (August-September 1948), 4 no. 30, 3, https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1086 33 These activities had to be under the control of “technicians and people from high hierarchy to decide their fate, free from political influences and social considerations.”51 With this sentence, Santa Cruz is assigning the mentioned attitudes to the former authorities of the CNM, when in fact, he was the one that used his political influences as a lawyer and for his closeness to the intellectual group The Ten; he gained social validity as he was linked to intellectual bourgeoise groups in Santiago, who were influent in the political and cultural environment in Chile in the 1920s. Even though the music canon was solidly established in Chile by 1940, Soro continued composing, and in 1941 he finished his Piano Sonata no. 2, which is one of the materials examined in this lecture document. That same year Soro joined the Institute of Musical Extension of the UCC as a delegate for that organization, holding this position until his death. During the same decade, Soro’s music started to circulate again in different concerts organized by the Symphonic Concerts Association, dependent on the UCC, although he was not considered to rejoin the faculty body of the UCC. This reflects that the aesthetic debate was still alive between the official authorities and Soro, who although recognized hiscontributions as a national composer, did not allow him to return to his teaching and administration duties inside the UCC. The works of Luigi Stefano Giarda also started to circulate again in 1941 by the symphonic organizations pertaining to the UCC, but as can be seen in his biography, after his removal as faculty of the CNM in 1928, he continued composing, teaching, and presenting his chamber music works at different public and private venues in Chile52. Giarda also received recognition 51 Domingo Santa Cruz “Centenario del Conservatorio” Revista.Musical Chilena (August-November 1949), 5 no. 35- 36, 7 https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/11826. 52 Ivan Barrientos, “Luigi Stefano Giarda: Una luz en la historia de la música chilena” Revista Musical Chilena, July 1996, vol.50, n.186, 40-72, http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0716-27901996018600003. 34 for his contributions to the field of composition (in fact he wrote roughly 1500 music works53 during his life) and was assigned academic member of the Fine Arts Departments of the UCC. Other composers that were in favor of Soro’s and Giarda’s administration before 1928, had a different fate, as they were qualified as amateurs or simply ignored by the current authorities of the UCC, as in the case of composers María Luisa Sepúlveda, Raoul Hügel, Juan Casanova and Aníbal Aracena. In the case of female composer Carmela Mackenna, her work, and contributions to the field of Chilean composition were recognized when she achieved the second prize in the Frankfurt choral competition with her A Cappella Mass in 1936. Her Klavierkonzert from 1933 was premiered in 1934 in Chile and programmed later in 1942. Her work Zwei kleine Orchesterstücke (Two Orchestral Pieces) from 1935 was also premiered in Chile by the National Symphonic Orchestra for the commemoration of the Women’s International Year in 1975. The few references about the reception of her work in Chilean territory were collected by Raquel Bustos in her report on Carmela Mackenna’s life and work from 1983. Bustos was a faculty and researcher of the UCC at that time, and as can be seen in her writings, the canonical ideas imposed by Santa Cruz and his group played a role in the perception of Mackenna’s music. By 1980, Domingo Santa Cruz was the most relevant personality of the UCC. Under his leadership there were created the Institute of Musical Extension, the radio of the UCC, the Journal of Chilean Music, and the Festivals of Chilean Music, among other projects. His opinions in the Journal of Chilean Music were often charged with prejudices against composers who did not belong to his circle. Even though Mackenna embraced modern compositional techniques that aligned with the aesthetics of Santa Cruz and his followers and that had a style influenced by the 53 Ibid 35 avant-garde environment in Germany in the 1930s, her music received epithets such as “arid”, and “inexpressive” and that lacked coherence and unity. The report written by Bustos is the only one that addresses her music and life and has been the reference for anyone interested in knowing more about Mackenna. Even though some sentences in the report are carefully written to not sound impolite, judgments about her physical aspect are mentioned: “Her sharp-featured and hermetic face denotes a cold and severe personality. Only her hands reveal a very hidden sensitivity”54. Similarly, the sentences that describe her music often carry negative connotations. For example, when Bustos addresses the melodic aspects of her music, she often uses expressions such as “Mackenna uses old-fashioned techniques” referring to the hoketus present in one of her works55. Curiously, the nationalistic group in control of the UCC were devotees of the Renaissance period and embraced modern techniques such as atonality, classical forms, impressionism, expressionism, and other styles56. Another example of a biased description of Mackenna’s music is the section about chamber music: “Her trios and quartets are very distant from what a good representation of the management of sonorities is”. “According to some professional musicians, (does not say who), Mackenna never felt Chilean (…) Her music with Chilean titles does not have any connection with Chilean music. These compositions constitute her nostalgic and blurred memories of the country”. Domingo Santa Cruz wrote about Mackenna’s Klavierkonzert in 1934: 54 Raquel Bustos, “Carmela Mackenna Subercaseaux”, Revista Musical Chilena, 37, no. 159 (January-June 1983), 53, https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1571. 55 Ibid, 62 56 Raquel Bustos, La Mujer Compositora y su Aporte al Desarrollo Musical Chileno (Santiago: Ediciones UC, 2012), chap. 2, 51. https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396. 36 “The piece consists of three movements and its language is saturated by the canons of Hindemith (…) There was a moment [in the concerto] where an insisting tambourine (…) caused fatigue and even entertainment.”57 In another publication, in 1942, Santa Cruz said: Juan Casanova revived Carmela Mackenna’s Piano Concerto which was presented by pianist Herminia Raccagni in 1934 under the conducting of Carvajal. A few remembered this music, a bit dry, which, as I was told, sounded better with a more confident and well-distributed orchestra”.58 Although the fact that Mackenna started a career as a composer in Germany (in Chile she would stand out as a classical pianist but is it necessary to acknowledge Mackenna’s social status), she did not have a formal career as she came from a high-rank family. As mentioned earlier, Alberto Mackenna, her brother, was mayor of the city of Santiago and later became director for the reformation of artistic education in 1925. By that time, Mackenna was traveling with her husband, a diplomat, through several countries for governmental duties. There are several facts of why Mackenna’s music was not performed in Chile as often: 1) Mackenna produced private editions that she requested copyists to produce in the different countries she visited and lived in, such as Uruguay and Germany; 2) The extent of Mackenna’s international relevance is not known yet, and more research needs to be done to collect Mackenna’s traces as a composer; 3) Mackenna was a woman, and that constituted the first obstacle to receiving recognition as a composer due to the social prejudices that prevailed in the period; 4) Mackenna 57 Ibid, 63. 58 Raquel Bustos, La Mujer Compositora y su Aporte al Desarrollo Musical Chileno (Santiago: Ediciones UC, 2012), chap. 3, 63. https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396. 37 did not study for a degree, as she took private lessons with her teachers in Chile and Germany; 5) The fact she was a woman from the Chilean aristocracy could have influenced a bias in the conception of her value as a composer; and 6) Mackenna developed her career in Germany, and once returned to Chile in 1942, apparently, she did not develop a composition career in that country59. As a parallel to Mackenna’s situation as a composer, the case of María Luisa Sepúlveda is worthy of mention. Sepúlveda was a Chilean woman composer who studied for a degree in composition at the CNM, becoming the first Chilean woman to graduate as a composer in the country. She was a prolific piano teacher, researcher, singer, conductor, and composer, but after the reformation of the UCC she was removed from her teaching duties at the conservatory, resulting in the impossibility of having a space to develop her compositional activities. The criticism she received from Santa Cruz and others was often charged with emotionality and prejudice, as musicologist Fernanda Vera writes in her research about Sepúlveda60. Bustos points out in her book La Mujer Compositora (The Woman Composer) that historian Vicente Salas included four women composers in his lists of national composers in in book from 1952: Carmela Mackenna, María Luisa Sepúlveda, Leni Alexander, and Sylvia Soublette61. This reveals that Mackenna got some recognition, but her music has not been studied thoroughly. Bustos’ book, La Mujer Compositora subtly continues with epithets when describing Mackenna’s music as “excessively frugal” and “impersonal”. 59 Raquel Bustos, La Mujer Compositora y su Aporte al Desarrollo Musical Chileno (Santiago: Ediciones UC, 2012), chap. 3, 62, https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396 60 Fernanda Vera, Dania Sánchez and Isidora Mora, “María Luisa Sepúlveda Maira (1883-1957): Desde el “Desvanecimiento Historiográfico” hasta la presencia actual de una compositora y Música Chilena”, Neuma, 13, no. 2 (August 2021), 53, 54, https://doi.org/10.4067/S0719-53892020000200040. 61 Raquel Bustos, La Mujer Compositora y su Aporte al Desarrollo Musical Chileno (Santiago: Ediciones UC, 2012), chap. 2, 48. https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396. 38 The extent to which the Chilean canon has expanded is still a topic of debate in Chilean musicology. As can be noted in the sources used for the present work, many of them have addressed some of the consequences that this canon had on prolific and promising composers, who, in different ways were ignored and deprived of an adequate environment to present their music. Soro, Giarda, could continue performing in other venues not related to the UCC in the first decade after the reformation, and from 1935, they could re-establish their reputation as their works were performed again by the official symphonic organization of the UCC, but were not invited to join the teaching and administrative duties at the UCC, excluding them from the decisions related to the conservatory. María Luisa Sepúlveda had to dedicate to other duties, but her fight with the official authorities, Carvajal and Santa Cruz, lasted around three years. She claimed her restitution as a piano teacher, event that at the end did not happen62. Sepúlveda then dedicated to teaching in elementary schools in other regions of Chile, collected folkloric material from the countryside and musicalized several poems with educational purposes63. Mackenna did not have financial struggles as the previously mentioned composers, thus her activity as a composer existed in a context of economic stability and social status. It is possible that Mackenna continued composing after 1942 in the privacy of her house in Santiago or Zapallar, place mentioned in the scores of songs she wrote in 194364. Some of her scores do not have date, so this issue needs to be resolved in future research about the composer. 62 Fernanda Vera, Dania Sánchez and Isidora Mora, “María Luisa Sepúlveda Maira (1883-1957): Desde el “Desvanecimiento Historiográfico” hasta la presencia actual de una compositora y Música Chilena”, Neuma, 13, no. 2 (August 2021), 53, https://doi.org/10.4067/S0719-53892020000200040. 63 Ibid, 58 64 Raquel Bustos, “Carmela Mackenna Subercaseaux”, Revista Musical Chilena, 37, no. 159 (January-June 1983), 53, https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1571. 39 As a revindication of Soro’s and Mackenna’s legacy as composers, a complete biography of each composer will be introduced along with their works Piano Sonata No. 2 by Soro and Mackenna’s songs for voice and piano. Regarding the information available on each composer, it is noteworthy to say that Enrique Soro’s biography has been completed by Roberto Doniez, Soro’s grandson and the current owner of his copyright. Through the Enrique Soro Foundation created by Doniez in 2018, he and numerous collaborators (among them professional musicians, musicologists, editors, and cultural agents) have carried out several projects to promote Soro’s legacy, such as recordings, catalogs, conferences, and new editions. In the case of Carmela Mackenna, she is one of the less studied female Chilean composers65, thus further research is needed, and it is imperative to study and record her music to promote her contributions to Chilean music. 65 Constanza Arraño, “Mackenna, Carmela”, Intérpretes y Conciertos Doctos en Chile, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, last modified May 10, 2023, http://basedeconciertos.uahurtado.cl/public/bio/46. 40 Enrique Soro (1884-1954) The body of work by Chilean composer Enrique Soro is of great significance for the cultural and musical heritage of Chile. His musical output consists of more than 200 works for piano, and varied works for strings, chamber music, art songs, and symphonic works. His presence on the Chilean music scene from 1905 to 1928 was very relevant: he was a piano performer, conductor, music critic, artistic director, and teacher. He was the director of the Chilean Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación (CNM) until 1928 when he was removed from his position. This event had marked Soro’s career until his death, Thus, his work fell into oblivion, along with the works of other composers.66 Enrique Soro was born in Concepción, Chile, in 1884. His father, Giussepe Soro was an accomplished Italian musician who arrived in Chile on an uncertain date during the nineteenth century. He taught Enrique his first music lessons until his death. Soro was only four years old. After that, the child continued learning music with Clotilde de la Barra, a private piano teacher. Around the age of six, Soro gave a small concert with his compositions in his native city. With the visit of the Italian musician Domenico Brescia to, who arrived in Concepción to teach music lessons, Soro’s mother Pilar soon hired Brescia to teach his son. Shortly after, Brescia told her that the child needed to develop his talents abroad and advised her to get Soro a scholarship from the government to continue his studies outside Chile. Fortunately, the Chilean National Congress gave Enrique Soro a scholarship to pursue music studies at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan from 1898 to 1905, where he composed in a variety of genres such as piano pieces, art song, string quartets, chamber music, 66 “Biography”. Fundación Enrique Soro, Accessed November 4, 2021. https://fundacionenriquesoro.cl/fundacion/biografia/ 41 and symphonic works. His most important teachers were Luigi Mapelli in counterpoint and Gaetano Coronaro in composition. The main works that he composed during this year are his String Quartet in A major, the Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Andante and Variations for Orchestra, and Suite for Small Orchestra. Along with his compositions required for his music education at the conservatory, he composed another fifty works which were sent to his family and friends in Chile. In 1904, Soro received an award for his merits as the best composition student of his generation at the conservatory. This award allowed him to travel and present his works in cities of Italy and France. An important milestone was the concert of Soro’s works held on 16 December 1904 in the Grande Salle Pleyel in Paris. There he premiered his String Quartet in A major with the participation of the renowned Geloso Quartet. Also, Soro had the collaboration of the young pianist and later famous composer Alfredo Casella. It is noticeable that the violinist of the Geloso Quartet at that time was Pierre Monteux, who nine years later premiered in Paris “The Rite of the Spring” by Igor Stravinsky. Upon his return to Chile in 1905, Soro started teaching harmony and piano at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música y Declamación (CNM), was appointed to the post of Inspector of Music Teaching in the primary schools of Chile, as well as starting a very nurturing activity as a performer of his own works. His debut concert took place in Santiago, in June of 1905, where he performed piano and chamber music works. A few days later, he performed the same concert in his native city of Concepción. These events started the so-called “Soro- Concerts”, in which year after year he presented new compositions to the public. During the summer of 1906, Soro gathered 7 works for piano and published his scores in an album titled “Album Per Pianoforte”, which the fourth piece corresponds to the Andante 42 Appassionato for piano, dedicated to the politician Antonio Huneeus G. This is one of Soro’s most renowned works. Soro was also an active composer of anthems, a music genre that was popular in Chile and other countries of Latin America. Between 1906 and 1912, he composed the “Anthem to the Chilean Flag” (1906), “Hymn to Normal School No. 2” (1907), “Pan American Hymn” (1908), "Hymn to the Land” (1910), and “Hymn to the American Students” (1911), with which he won a contest in Lima, Peru, in 1912. From 1908 to 1914 Soro started the first of his piano sonatas, his Piano Concerto, composed piano pieces and chamber works such as his Violin Sonata no. 2 (1909), the Piano Quintet (1911), the Suite for Violin and Piano (1909), among others. In August of 1909, Soro became deputy director of the CNM, assisting in these duties by then- director Luigi Stefano Giarda, In a trip to New York in 1915 Soro conducted his anthem for the 2nd Pan American Scientific Congress. This occasion gave him the opportunity to share with music personalities and meet Mexican composer Julian Carrillo. He also recorded music for the Aeolian Piano Roll Company and signed a contract to publish his music by the company G. Schirmer New York. In 1917 Soro finished his Piano Concerto in D major. The premiere took place at the Municipal Theater in Santiago with Soro conducting the orchestra and with pianist Osvaldo Rojo as soloist. Later, in 1919, Soro was appointed director of CNM, a position he held for ten years. In 1921 he premiered his Romantic Symphony in A major, the first symphony written in Chile. The same year he married Adriana Cardemil. 43 Soro was a prolific cultural agent, pianist, and teacher. He often traveled abroad to represent Chile at international events, establishing connections with renowned composers and cultural representatives, with the objective to learn the systems of music institutions, while also presenting his compositions. In 1922, in an important trip to Europe, the United States and Latin America, Soro was able to perform his music and have his music performed in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic in Germany. In France, he met personalities such as Maurice Ravel, Jules Massenet, Ferruccio Busoni, and Pablo Casals. In 1923 he became a member of the Society of Authors, Composers, and Music Editors of Paris. After a political regime change in the country, Soro was removed from his appointment as director of the conservatory under pure political means, in 1928. His retirement allowed him to have a low pension from the government. The period from 1929 until 1940 was economically and emotionally challenging for him. After several years working in the public sphere as one of the main personalities of the music scene, this marginalization affected him profoundly, which is reflected in his low musical production at that decade. Even though he continued working as a composer, presenting new and older compositions at national and international festivals and contests. Many of these trips were afforded by himself, at the impossibility of having any relationship with governmental and state music institutions. In 1940, he received the distinction “Meritorious Citizen”, an award given by the Chilean president for his 50 years of career as a composer, in a ceremony at the Santiago Municipal Theater. This award increased his retirement pension from the CNM. Two years later, he wrote an orchestral piece “Three Chilean Airs” which was premiered with Soro himself the conducting 44 the Santiago Municipal Theater Orchestra, and in 1943 premiered his work “Suite in Old Style” with the same orchestra, with Soro conducting it. In 1944 composed “Six Melodic Etudes for Piano and Orchestra”, which was not published, but the manuscripts remain. Later that year his wife, Adriana Cardemil, passed away leaving Soro with three children. This phase of life became hostile for Soro, who got depressed, having to work and take care of his sons by himself. He barely composed in the following years. In 1945 he wrote and published his piano piece “Elegy” dedicated to his wife. In 1948, Enrique Soro obtained the Art National Prize (Premio Nacional de Arte)67, a recognition for his contributions to the development of music education and Chilean music. According to Doniez, Soro did not receive this prize with joy. Enrique Soro dies in 1954 at the age of 70 in Santiago from postoperative complications. 67 Domingo Santa Cruz Wilson. “Enrique Soro y nuestra música”. Revista Musical Chilena, 4, No. 30 (August- September 1948): 3-6. http://repositorio.uchile.cl/handle/2250/118336 45 Enrique Soro’ Piano Sonatas Enrique Soro wrote three piano sonatas during his career: no. 1, in C-sharp minor, written in 1911 and published in 1922 by G. Schirmer, No. 2, in E minor, work that remains unpublished and in manuscript form, and sonata no. 3, in D major, published by G. Ricordi in 1923. Several accounts indicate that these pieces were performed during Soro’s lifetime, and times by Soro himself. In Raquel Bustos’ report from 1976, it is indicated that professional pianists and Soro’s former students of the CNM performed these pieces.68 In 2019, the Enrique Soro Foundation and the pianists María Paz Santibáñez, Svetlana Kotova, and Armand Abols recorded Soro’s three piano sonatas, in a compact disc titled “Integral de las Sonatas para Piano de Enrique Soro”69. This is the first time that the piano sonatas were recorded professionally. Piano Sonata no. 2 by Enrique Soro Written in 1911, and premiered twice in 1917 and 1925, Enrique Soro’s Piano Sonata No. 2 was not finished until 1940. According to his grandson, Roberto Doniez Soro, this might be due to the economic and emotional difficulties Soro was going through after his exclusion in 1928 from the CNM and its reformation, which transformed it in the Universidad de Chile Conservatory. The second and third movements are the movements of Soro’s woodwind quintet with piano titled “Lautaro”, written in September of 1941. Through accessing Soro’s original manuscript and drafts of the sonata thanks to the Enrique Soro Foundation presided by Roberto 68 Raquel Bustos, “Enrique Soro”, Revista Musical Chilena 30, no. 145 (October-December 1976), 77 , https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1274. 69 Vladimir Barraza, “Reseñas de fonogramas”, Revista Musical Chilena, 75, no. 235, (January-June, 2021), 253, https://revistapsicologia.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/60761/67459. 46 Doniez Soro, we also know that the sonata had the pseudonym “Atahualpa”. Atahualpa (1502- 1533) was an Incan emperor from 1527, when the old Incan chief and Atahualpa’s father died, dividing the empire in two with his half-brother Huáscar, the only legitimate heir. Atahualpa ruled the northern part of Quito, while Huáscar ruled the Cuzco area, the traditional Inca capital. Contemporary chroniclers depicted Atahualpa as brave, ambitious, and extremely popular with the army. According to historical accounts, Atahualpa took his part of the empire to a civil war with his half-brother in 1529, who was killed along with his family. Shortly after the victory, Atahualpa was caught and killed by Spanish colonizer Francisco Pizarro in an ambush prepared by the later.70 “Atahualpa” is also mentioned in an interview to Enrique Soro in the newspaper “El Sur” from the Chilean city of Concepción, from 1919. In it, the reporter describes Soro’s professional achievements and the highlights of his career, mentioning that in 1912 Soro won the composition contest of a hymn for the Congress of American Students71 (CEA) which was organized in different capitals of South America during the decade of 1910. According to Soro’s words, he sent two hymns under pseudonyms: “Lautaro”, and “Atahualpa”, which were selected for the first and second prizes respectively. The note says: “Finally, Lautaro: it was mister Soro. The envelop with the name of “Atahualpa” was open immediately and it revealed that it was mister Soro himself”72. This story is also featured in an interview with Soro in 1940 from the newspaper “El Mercurio” in Santiago73. 70 Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopedia. "Atahuallpa." Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed August 25, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Atahuallpa. 71 Roberto Doniez, José Manuel Izquierdo, Palabra de Soro (Valparaíso: Altazor, 2011), 102, https://fundacionenriquesoro.cl/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/LIBRO-PALABRA-DE-SORO-def.pdf 72 Ibid, 232. 73 Ibid, 235. 47 Musicologist Raquel Bustos indicates that it was written in 1915 and officially premiered in 191774. The same report states a premiere in Santiago in 1925,75 information that is found in the catalog section at the end of Bustos’ article. There are also reports of its performance in 1911 in Sesiones Musicales76 (music sessions organized by bourgeoise and intellectual personalities Luis Arrieta y Alberto García between 1910 and 1914), according to musicologist Luis Merino. According to Soro’s biography, the composition of the Sonata No. 2 started in 1908 and took 24 years, finishing in 1941. It is probable that Soro never published the edition of the Piano Sonata no. 2 and just dedicated himself to performing it, which would explain why the word “premiere” is mentioned on different dates. Also, the lack of mention of this piece in musicological reports and articles could be explained by the lack of a physical score circulating. Daniel Quiroga indicated that Soro presented the work at the fourth version of the contest of the Centenary of Santiago in 1941, obtaining one of the prizes77. This coincides with the information provided in Soro’s biography in the Enrique Soro Foundation website, where it says that the Sonata No. 2 was sent to a contest under the pseudonym of Atahualpa. Although there is documentation about that contest for the category of fine arts, there are no traces of the music compositions presented at that occasion78. 74 Raquel Bustos, “Enrique Soro”, Revista Musical Chilena 30, no. 145 (October-December 1976), 88, https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1274. 75 Ibid, 93 76 Luis Merino Merino, “La Música En Chile Entre 1887 y 1928: Compositores que pervivieron después de 1928, compositores en las penumbras, compositores olvidados”, Neuma, 2, (December 2014), 65, https://neuma.utalca.cl/index.php/neuma/article/view/103. 77 Daniel Quiroga, “Música de cámara de Soro”, Revista Musical Chilena 4, no. 30 (August-September 1948), 29- 30, https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1093. 78 “Catálogo 52° y 53° Salón oficial del Estado. IV Centenario de la fundación de Santiago, 1941”, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, accessed October 8 ,2023, https://www.mnba.gob.cl/sites/www.mnba.gob.cl/files/images/articles- 9402_archivo_01.pdf. 48 Roberto Doniez Soro found the manuscript of the Piano Sonata no. 2 along with other manuscripts in a trash bag when he inherited Soro’s copyright in 2008, after the death of Ignacio Aliaga, Soro’s son-in-law and former owner of the rights. As Doniez Soro has stated in previous interviews for this project, he explains that possibly Soro did not have enough energy to finish the sonata until the year 1940. Soro was very active even after the controversy in which he was involved and excluded from the academic circle of the UCC. He kept traveling and performing his own works, piano solo, and chamber music, and kept composing. One could speculate that Soro did not finish all the movements when he started performing the piece between 1917 and 1925. Most of his time as director of the CNM was spent in confrontation with the Bach Society; this could be why Soro did not present the piece to his publisher, G. Schirmer. Another reason could be that Soro was interested in presenting the piece in composition contests, which many of them required the pieces to be sent anonymously. The manuscript which I accessed contains four movements with the following indications: Allegro con brio, Andante Sostenuto, Scherzando, and Allegro Vivace. The general feature of the sonata is the clear organization of motifs, ideas, and phrases. In all movements, there are present contrasting themes (dramatic-lyrical, or inverse order). The first and fourth movements are the longest and most demanding ones. Those movements include virtuosic writing, coupled with long expositions and development sections. The sonata presents a cyclical form and uses thematic development, which unifies the musical material throughout the sonata, specifically the first and fourth movements. 49 Scherzando: Andante Allegro vivace Sostenuto _..,.....,..~.,.-...,..,.· II Ill /./ Calm Joyful Melancholic Humorous Allegro con /,/ Lyrical Virtuosic Brio // IV Virtuosic Dramatic Resolute Melancholic Dramatic Virtuosic Energic ~ ll J. 1J J. Example no. 1, 1st movement, main theme mm. 1 – 9 > ,• ! 'r trip•, FF fief 1.J J] dpw JJ,J oIJ JJH ' > r > r > r > F Example no. 2, 4th movement, main theme in mm. 1-8 50 First movement The first movement reflects a sense of urgency and melancholy that is strongly contrasted by a lyrical theme, but overall, the minor mode prevails and dominates practically the whole movement. The first movement is composed in sonata form, with clear sections A and B in the exposition. Section A has contrasting ideas in the first phrase which consists of sixteen measures. Measures one through eight are melancholic and dark with a tragic sense, and harmony is based on tonic and dominant chords. There is an interesting turn in measure five, where an augmented sixth chord appears and creates the illusion of a modulation, which rapidly returns to the dominant of the tonic in measure seven. 51 Example no. 3, 1st mov. mm. 1-9, theme A The same phrase is repeated in the second phrase starting in measure 9, where the same augmented sixth chord becomes a transition to modulate to C major in measure 7. This section is very lyrical, but the sense of melancholy and urgency with the repeated sixteenth notes is still present. 52 Example 4, 1st movement mm. 9-18 The harmonic transitions that occur from measure 25 to 32 prepare the reinstatement of the main theme. 34 Example 5, 1st mov. mm. 33-36, main theme in the left hand 53 This dichotomy between major and minor modes governs the character of the entire sonata. Section B in C major) is lyrical, and it is also in an ascending lyric line and polyphonically resembles the dialogue of a string or woodwind quartet. The slurs especially in this section are challenging for the performer as it requires to think of effective fingerings and a great legato gesture to emulate the expression of a string or woodwind instrument. f r Example 6, 1st mov. mm. 67-68, theme B As stated before, contrasting themes are also part of this section, with repeated notes in ostinato, the use of distant and extreme octaves of the keyboard, and a hasty sense of urgency that finds a way out by placing a dominant chord of B major before the development. 54 Example 7, 1st mov. mm. 101-112 The development is not as long as the exposition, although it is not a brief section. As said earlier, the thematic development is present in the whole movement, and similar melodies and textures are present in the development, in an ambiguous E major key that seems to modulate to A minor. 55 129 ,~ a - --- - - - ~" ' , ~- " . _,. -~- -- t.. ~--r ti • • f .-#j .- --. - xr#,= r .-fi #f xr - I p 1 I I i I T I I ....... .w " T ~ , , ' ~- - ... f ... 7 ... ff ... -... .-.. M.S. ~ Example 8, 1st mov. mm. 129-137, development section One of the climatic moments of the movement appears in the development, starting in measure 145. In it, the theme present in the exposition appears in octaves in the left hand and in the key of D minor in pianissimo dynamic, with indications of increasing the volume until reaching fortissimo in measure 149. The texture is like the one in the exposition, but instead of intervals of sixth, fifth, and fourth, there are half-step notes. 56 cresc. poco a p co _______________ _ pp espress. ii basso ,..------...___ ,..------...___ ,,,--.....__ ,..------...___ ,,,--.....__ 147 . II.• .. -- - ... I.. l~.J J ti •.~ -J -I .J J -. - -~ - -~ -~ - - -~ - -~" - -~ - -~ - - - - - -~ _ ., -· " - " . - " I I I I ------- ------ ------- ------- - ------ ---- ------ . - ~ --.. . ~ . ~~. .. - .::: - ~~. ~~. ~-I•. - . 111 • I• • f f• • -111 • .,..,,-..__,_ ,,------.___ .,..,,-..__,_ ,,------.___ ,,,--.....__ Example 9, 1st mov. mm. 145-149 57 This section also contains elements of the section B, the lyrical theme, in D major instead of C major: /6 ~ u I L I. L I. I I ~ M -•· .. ,; ,; ,; ,; u ., . ., ., - - - - ""I ------------ -------------- ------------ ------------ I L L I ,_ . ■• M ~- ' ~·· T I TT /69 tranquillo r r r r i r Example 10, 1st mov. mm. 167-172, development section. There is a subtle but notable transition from the development to the recapitulation, in which Soro reaches the recapitulation with the main theme in octaves seen in measure 33 in the exposition. The movement follows the classical structure of the sonata form, and the recapitulation now is in the tonic of E minor and major for sections A’ and B’. There is a short coda after the recapitulation with a similar texture of sixteenth notes and the main theme over harmonic support of distant tonalities, such E minor, G-sharp, F-sharp, A minor, F minor and G minor. The piu mosso indication gives an urgent and drastic character to this last section of the movement along with the distant tonalities and wide use of the keyboard. 58 1°Tempo 305 piu mosso --------------- ~ 8'1" 7 ~· ~~- ~ ~· ~qr- ---312 ,~ -II Ill.• -1-- . 1"'. . ,,.,-......__ -• ·• -~~ i: - _ _ ,...,_ -_ ,,.,-......__ . . ·n --· ~- - -· --" ~ I ,/ f p f p ... -- .. -. > I -I~- ~I ~~(i-: I~ ~I ~~: - ,_ . ·-- -· - 0 --~·- - - - -0 . - --~·- Example 11, 1st mlv. mm. 305-321, coda. 59 The texture of this movement recalls the ones used by Schumann’s piano sonatas, Grieg’spiano sonata, and Franck’s prelude from the piece Prelude, Choral, and Fugue. All, gro moduato, = : cresc. f . # Example 12, Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 22, 1st movement f'r11u 11,·ari.-tt.- , ui,:t ,:rL. Kunxl' i:,.••idmrl. Co•ponirt l""-3~ (~c:unnt-a l""-:13) So rn$ch will mo•~l ich. 41f'r l,ue,- Sat& te•,. 1,:1, . )I. )I. J = 1 u. r."\ - --- Example 13, Schumann’s Piano Sonata No. 2 Op. 22, 1st movement 60 Prelude. Moderato. Example 14, Franck’s Prelude, Choral, and Fugue FWV 21 Second movement The second movement of the sonata marked Andante Sostenuto with the indication molto espressivo is the calm and lyrical movement of the piece. It has two contrasting sections: A section, in E major and the section B in E minor, in an inversed order compared to the first movement. Also, the piano texture of both sections is contrasting. Section A has two themes, long legato phrases, and has the texture of a string or woodwind quartet, with sustained notes usually resolve in the next measure. From measures 1 through 16, the texture is uniform and polyphonic. 61 mo/to espres. Piano J ] J Example 15, Soro’s 2nd mov. mm. 1-8 In measure 17 the texture varies from eighth to sixteenth notes in the bass line, still maintaining the polyphonic texture, this time in the minor relative, C-sharp minor. Starting in measure 21, sixteenth notes start to be repeated in the left hand while supporting the melody in the right hand, which doubles the melody to octaves in measure 25. Section A concludes with the return of the main theme. 62 Example 16, 2nd mov. mm. 17-28 Section B resembles the B section of the second movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto KV 466 in D minor, which features crossing hands. They are also similar in the use of orchestral textures and the predominance of harmonic progressions rather than melodic ones. 63 ::::::: .., GEi V l t 3 fi Example 17, section B of Mozart’s Piano Concerto KV466, 2nd Movement "---~~ --------------' Example 18, Soro’s 2nd movement, Piano Sonata No. 2, section B Third Movement As its title Scherzando says, this movement is written in the style of a Scherzo. The meter is 3/8, and its main motive is a diminished third interval (m.1). This combination is present 18 64 times throughout the piece. It is the main humorous device of the piece, which maintains a prolonged game between G major, the tonic, and E minor, the minor relative. Allegro Vivace (en 1) >---.__ Piano > > p p Example 19, 3rd movement, Scherzando. Some characteristics of this movement are: • There is a relationship of antecedent and consequent in the phrases, following the rules of classical and romantic music. • The virtuosic elements that constitute the piece are the sixteenth notes at the end of the first section; the lightness of the main motive, developed and repeated in different keys from measure 25l; the big leaps in m. 73 and sixteenth notes played in octaves; and the virtuosic passages of arpeggios from m. 97 through the end of section A. 65 8""_- - - ' ~> ---n------ > ---------73 ~~n ______,, > ~ Example 20, 3rd. mov. mm. 73-79. / 0~ I.I I ~ t.T -- I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I ~ .~ -- - ·- - ·- - ,._ ·- - ,._ ,- - -Iu I r I I I - - -'UD cresc. molt, , ~~~ -··• - -, - - :- u :- ~ I' "~ ·- ~· JI. __:J • ~-i -:-----i: ~ 8"" ------------- - - /09 ... -- - - - ~ - .. .. ~ .. - .. .. . - - - - - - - ., I I r I I I f f-f. - it. Fine . -" .. - - ~· ., ,)1 • I . 1,11 • Ii: Example 21, 3rd mov. mm 103-112, end of the Scherzo • The Trio section is calmer and reflexive. It is written meno mosso, and the texture is homophonous and simple, with some contrapuntal episodes. Undoubtedly, a challenge in 66 the performance of this piece would be the repetitions of section A, and the last repetition after the meno mosso. Trio 119 "i I . -u ~ - - . . . - .~ ~ ~ • ~ P': q1: r= r ~r- f· -... - I i------- I - -_, ~ I ~ I . ~ - . - , -__· ~ m --" ,,:_ . ~ . I I 11 • l<1 • -11 • Example 22, 3rd mov. mm. 113-124, Trio section The modulations in this movement are mostly to close keys: The second part of section A is in B minor, and E minor, with different harmonic progressions trough F-sharp minor and A minor. The central keys of the pieces are G major, B minor, and E minor. The Trio is in E minor, with episodes that lead to G major that briefly return to the tonic E minor. This movement creates a sort of relaxation in the whole work, as it has a light and playful character. As the other three movements are charged with temperamental, melancholic, lyrical, and virtuosic ideas, the Scherzando represents the playful side of Enrique Soro, as mentioned previously by Roberto Doniez. Another piece that resembles the character of this movement, is the 67 first movement of the cycle “Cat Scenes”, from 1930, titled “The Playful Cat”. The cycle consists of three contrasting pieces that describe three cats’ different personalities. Example 23, Soro’s Cat Scenes, 1: The Playful Cat Fourth Movement Titled Allegro Vivace (Finale) the fourth movement, like the first movement of the sonata, is very long and dramatic, showing a resolute character emanating from the very first measure: a syncopation between the left and right hand two octaves apart, followed by a strepitous chord in the middle register, marked fortissimo. The main feature of this piece is the constant use of melodies in octaves, with a similar accompaniment in the left hand. 68 Con energia > Example 24, 4th mov. mm. 1-22, main theme This movement has sonata form, and it is correctly structured with its themes A in tonic, E minor, from mm. 1 through mm. 76; theme B, in G major, the relative, has derived material from 69 theme A, but it is calmer and lyrical. The syncopation of the beginning is also present in theme B and throughout the whole movement. The movement is written in sonata form, and the material of the development is derived from the main themes A and B. Example 25, 4th mov. mm. 71-88, theme B. The structure in terms of climactic sections in this movement is similar to the first movement, where the development section leads to a dramatic and grandiose climax in the center, which resolves in the transition to the recapitulation. 70 The central section is the most virtuosic, as the texture becomes thicker. In it, Soro employs techniques such as imitation, broken octaves, polyphonic lines, and a rich variety of harmonic progressions. (lF - - - - - - - - - - - - -, Example 26, 4th mov. mm. 221-238, development 71 Example 27, 4th mov. mm. 299-310, development 8""- - - - - - - - - - - - ' 8""- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ Example 28, 4th mov. mm.317-328, development 72 The coda starts in measure 245. The same closing section seen in the exposition appears more expanded now, with more virtuosic passage work. The indication piú mosso appears in measure __. The character is invigorating and drastic, and a sense of urgency and anguish can be perceived in the sharp staccatos, the anxious leaps, and the rapid passage work. --------- - -- . . . - M.D. M .D. if if if a tempo s.i Example 29, 4th mov. mm. 473, 297, coda 73 Its texture and virtuosity, although less complex, recall the fourth movement of Chopin’s piano sonata no. 3 in B minor, Op. 58 Example 30, Chopin’s Sonata No. 3 Op. 58, 1st movement. 74 Conclusion As can be seen in a brief description of the technique and style employed in Soro’s Sonata no. 2, there are several elements typical of the romantic tradition in Soro’s piano music. It also discloses the proximity of the composer with authors like F. Chopin, R. Schumann, and C. Franck, E. Grieg, some of the most prominent representatives of the Romantic period. In contrast to what Santa Cruz and other critics said about Soro’s music, it is evident that Soro did not cultivate a marked Italian style. His piano, chamber, and orchestral music is closer to the music of the German tradition, where absolute music dominated the field of composition. Soro did not compose operas either and dedicated prominently to symphonic and piano music. Soro worked on the three sonatas in consistency with that style, based on tonality, distant and modal, modulations, virtuosic passages, and a generous use of the registers of the keyboard. The Italian influence is more obvious in his early opuses composed during his years of study in Milan, and the songs he wrote around 1926, which are in Italian language79. Soro’s music has been performed constantly since his revival in 2009. It is mainly due to the efforts of Roberto Doniez, and the dozens of musicians, as Chilean as foreign, who have become interested in exploring and performing Soro’s music in live concerts, professional recordings, and music conferences. In 2023, a variety of projects about Enrique Soro have been presented: the totality of his music for two pianos recorded by pianists Svetlana Kotova and Danor Quinteros; a video recording of his “Second Piano for the Sonata Op. 14 no. 1 by L. V. Beethoven” by pianists Luis Alberto Latorre and Tamara Buttinghausen, and the performance of in his String Quartet in A major in Uruguay by Tosar Quartet. Also, his role as a prominent figure in the music 79 “Catálogo”, Fundación Enrique Soro, accessed October 8, 2023, https://fundacionenriquesoro.cl/obras_cat/canto-y-piano/. 75 history in Chile has been fairly recognized by new generations of musicologists. They have explored the connections, events, and ideologies of the Chilean music reformation, along with exposing the aesthetical and social biases that were used against Soro and his colleagues in 1920, clarifying the contributions that Soro and others did in the music field and the reasons of why their music has been ignored and not included in official accounts. Soro’s music is emotional, profoundly expressive, and constitutes a patrimony of the composition of Chile. 76 Carmela Mackenna (1879–1962) The only biographical report about Carmela Mackenna is the one written by Raquel Bustos, in 198380. Bustos, a Chilean musicologist, developed her work at the Universidad de Chile Conservatory (UCC), writing for the Journal of Chilean Music (Revista Musical Chilena). Then, in 2012, a new version of this biography was published in “The Woman Composer and Her Contribution to the Development of Chilean Music”, a book that tells the lives and music contributions of woman composers in Chile. In it, Bustos updated some paragraphs about Mackenna that first appeared in the article of 1983. Bustos also mentions that Mackenna’s biography was reconstructed thanks to the information provided by Maria Eugenia Cuevas Mackenna81, the composer’s niece, in “a few encounters” with Bustos82, which are undated. According to Bustos, Cuevas lived with Carmela Mackenna for two years in Berlin, where Mackenna had her residency. It is unclear if Maria Eugenia Cuevas provided information for the 1983 article because it is not listed in its bibliography, while this statement appears in the 2012 book only. Also, historian Vicente Salas83 mentions Mackenna’s music work in his book “Music Creation in Chile: 1900-1951”, published in 1952. Carmela Mackenna was a Chilean pianist and composer, who belonged to a high-rank family in Chile. Her parents, Alberto Mackenna and Carmela Subercaseaux, were both members of influential families in the country. The Mackennas were related to landowners, officers, and 80 Raquel Bustos: “Carmela Mackenna Subercaseaux”. Revista Musical Chilena (January – June 1983) 37, no. no. 159: 50 - 75. https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1571. 81 According to Bustos, Maria Eugenia Cuevas passed away in 2010. 82 Raquel Bustos: La mujer compositora y su aporte al desarrollo musical chileno, (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile), 59, https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396 83 Historian of the Universidad de Chile Conservatory. 77 the military. In keeping with the traditions of aristocratic families in the early twentieth century, it was expected that Carmela would be educated in various disciplines, but also that she would not pursue a professional career. Mackenna took piano lessons since her childhood and later with Bindo Paoli, at that time professor at the CNM, which is at present the Universidad de Chile Conservatory (UCC). Later, Mackenna married Enrique Cuevas, a dentist and a politician. After their marriage, he served as mayor of the city of Valdivia in Chile between 1907 and 1909. During those years, Mackenna was very active as a pianist; she performed at venues such as the Teatro Alemán de la Unión (Union German Theater) and in other private circles. Bustos indicates that Mackenna performed works such as the sonata Appasionata by Beethoven and a version for four-hands of Wagner’s Tannhauser overture with pianist Luisa Hopzalfel in one of these events84, which informs the pianistic level Mackenna had. When Enrique Cuevas was assigned diplomatic duties abroad, the couple started traveling, visiting countries such as the United Kingdom, Uruguay, and Paraguay. In 1926, the Cuevas-Mackenna settled in Berlin, Germany, where Enrique Cuevas retired from his diplomatic activities. During these years, as Raquel Bustos points out, the Cuevas-Mackenna home became an important venue for Chilean intellectuals and artists: pianist Claudio Arrau, poet Pablo Neruda, visual artist Tótila Albert, and others frequented their house. Bustos assures that Arrau might have played Mackenna’s music at private concerts, due to the eight pieces composed by Mackenna found in Claudio Arrau’s catalog, located now at the Claudio Arrau 84 Raquel Bustos: La mujer compositora y su aporte al desarrollo musical chileno (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile), 60, https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396. 78 Museum in Chillán, Chile. The scores date from 1931 to 1936 and contain Arrau’s comments and indications85. The marriage Cuevas-Mackenna dissolved at some point (the exact date of their divorce is 1934, according to historian Constanza Arraño) and Mackenna stayed in Berlin, where she continued studying piano with Conrad Ansorge, a pianist, teacher, composer, and pupil of Liszt, and composition with Hans Mersmann, ethnomusicologist, composer, and conductor. As shown in Mackenna’s music catalog, collected by Bustos, and in Bustos’1983 account, her earliest composition was written in the city of Valdivia in 1909, a piano solo piece, followed by her first art song, Melodía, composed in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1920.86 It was only after 1929, however, that she began composing in earnest. Between 1929 and 1943, Mackenna developed a consistent compositional output, ranging from small forms such as preludes and songs to more complex forms such as music for choir and orchestra. She composed in a variety of genres, chamber music being the most common, between 1929 and 1936. Her first song cycle, called Lieder, for voice and piano, dates from 1929; it was followed, in 1930, by Poema de Amor, the first setting by a Chilean composer of a poem by Pablo Neruda, the well- known Poem No. 15. According to Bustos, the song was premiered in Berlin (date unknown); in Chile, in 1975 by pianist Cirilo Vila and Hans Stein; and in 1994 by soprano Ahlke Sheffelt and pianist Elisa Alsina87. In the following years, Mackenna composed many works for both small and large ensembles: sonatas for violin and piano, piano pieces, string quartets, etc. A better view of her output can be seen in the following chart: 85 Ibid, 61 86 Raquel Bustos Valderrama, “Carmela Mackenna Subercaseaux,” Revista Musical Chilena, vol. 37, No. 159 (January-June 1983): 68. https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1571. 87 Raquel Bustos: La mujer compositora y su aporte al desarrollo musical chileno (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile), 66-67, https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396. 79 1929 Lieder for voice and piano 1930 Poema de Amor (Love Poem) with words by Pablo Neruda; Sonatine for violin and piano 1931 Die Wage (music for voices, choir and soloists, narrator, and percussion); Preludes for Piano; Sonata for Violin and Piano 1932 Serenade, Trio for Flute, Violín, and Viola; Canto de Cuna (Lullaby Song) 1933 Klavierkonzert (Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra); Kleiner Tanz for piano; Prelude and Fugue for Piano; Silvester Abend for Voice and Piano (text by Tótila Albert); Lied mit Klavier: Ueber meine Wimpern geht” for Voice and Piano 1934 Mass for a Capella Choir; Variations for Piano 1935 Duet for Violoncello and Piano; Suite Chilena para Piano (Chilean Suite for Piano); Zwei Gesänge (Two Songs); Zwei Kleine Orchester-stücke (Two Small Pieces for Orchestra) 1936 Deux Poémes de Paul Verlaine (Two poems by Paul Verlaine); Musique pour deux pianos (Music for two pianos); Tantum Ergo for feminine voices a capella 1940 String Quartet, Live-work Trust for voice and piano 1941 Soledad for voice and piano 1942 Ave Maria for voice and piano; String quartet (2); Danza (Dance) for piano; Fuga no. 2 for piano 1943 Mass for four voices Influenced by her composition teacher Hans Mersmann, Mackenna started to write for larger ensembles. During the years she studied with him, Mackenna wrote the Klavierkonzert (Piano Concerto with chamber orchestra), which was premiered in 1934 by the Rundfunk- 80 Sinfonieorchester Berlin (The Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra), conducted by Heinrich Steiner with Chilean pianist Armando Moraga as soloist. In the same year the work was premiered by the Orchestra of the National Association of Composers in Chile, under the conducting of Armando Carvajal with piano soloist Herminia Raccagni.88 This piece was again performed in 1942, in a concert organized by the Institute of Cultural Extension of the UCC and performed by composer Juan Casanova (probably conducting)89. Mackenna gained international recognition when she was awarded the second prize of the International Competition of Sacred Music in Frankfurt with her Mass for a Capella Choir (1934), premiered by the Choir of the Frankfurt Cathedral in 1936. According to Vicente Salas, the work was also performed in France and Austria90. In 1935 Mackenna wrote “Two Pieces for Orchestra”, which was premiered in Chile forty years later, under the conduction of John Carewe. A chronicle of that concert written in the Journal of Chilean Music from 1975 described Mackenna as “practically unknown in Chile”, and that the pieces were made of a “serious orchestral texture” in “neo-baroque style, more intellectual than sensorial, based on counterpoint techniques of dissonant harmonics”91. Raquel Bustos indicates that Mackenna continued traveling after her divorce, visiting North America, Belgium, and Cairo92. She returned to Chile in 1942 and continued composing for different genres: songs, piano pieces, a string quartet, and another mass for four voices, her 88 Raquel Bustos Valderrama, “Carmela Mackenna Subercaseaux,” Revista Musical Chilena, vol. 37, No. 159 (January-June 1983): 51. https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1571. 89 Raquel Bustos: La mujer compositora y su aporte al desarrollo musical chileno, (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile), 63, https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396. 90 Vicente Salas Viu, La Creación Musical en Chile, 1900-1951 (Santiago: Biblioteca de la Universidad de Chile, 2001), 139 91 Editorial, Comité. 1975. “Orquestas sinfónicas Chilenas”. Revista Musical Chilena (July-September 1975) 29 no. 131: 116-120. https://revistamusicalchilena.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/11396. 92 Raquel Bustos: La mujer compositora y su aporte al desarrollo musical chileno, (Santiago: Ediciones Universidad Católica de Chile), 62, https://buscador.bibliotecas.uc.cl/permalink/56PUC_INST/bf8vpj/alma990005859070203396 81 last, dating from 1943. There are few traces of her life after that year. Apparently, she retired from composition, although because a few works in her catalog lack dates, we cannot be certain when exactly she stopped composing. Bustos describes Mackenna as a religious person; intelligent and very private. According to Mackenna’s niece, Maria Eugenia Cuevas, Mackenna could never overcome her mother’s death, which occurred right after giving birth to Mackenna, and the fact that she never became a mother. “I never said mother, and no one called me mother…” was a repeated phrase of hers. Mackenna’s catalog, according to Bustos, comprehends 45 works. Carmela Mackenna passed away in Santiago, Chile in 1962, at the age of 81. Carmela Mackenna’s piano music: the Klavierkonzert Carmela Mackenna was primarily a classical pianist and a composer. As mentioned previously in her biography, she studied piano privately from an early age, continuing later with Bindo Paoli in Chile and Conrad Ansorge in Germany. In Bustos’ catalog from 1983, there are several piano pieces composed by Mackenna. Her first piano piece dates from 1909, titled “Music for Piano” which is incomplete. As can be seen in the chart of Mackenna’s compositions, she wrote a major work for piano, the Klavierkonzert (Piano Concerto) in 1933. She also wrote a set of preludes (1931), the Chilean Suite (1935), Music for Two Pianos (1936), and small pieces such as a prelude and fugue, two fugues, a military march, and a dance. I will comment on the Piano Concerto and its musical characteristics before addressing Mackenna’s songs in depth in the following chapter. As seen earlier in Mackenna’s biography, the Piano Concerto was premiered two years after its composition by the Berlin Radio National Orchestra with Chilean soloist Armando Moraga and conductor Heinrich Steiner, and in Chile by the Orchestra of the National 82 Association of Composers with pianist Herminia Raccagni and conductor Armando Carvajal. Both premieres happened in 1935. It was performed again in Chile in 1942 by conductor Juan Casanova. The Piano Concerto features strings, flute, bassoon, oboe, clarinet, horn, and percussion, and it has three movements: Mit Energie und Breit (with energy and bright), Andante, and Finale, and it is in the key of E-flat major. Mackenna employs extended chords, dissonances, chromatic melodies, polytonality, and keys of distant relationships. There are interesting characteristics in the solo part: virtuosic passages that are highly contrapuntal, dissonant, and imitative. Its main theme is very melodic, but other passages show the piano as a percussive element that dialogues at times with the percussion and the rest of the orchestra. 83 Htl-E,.,..,. . iin4 l>=it , ... ior. .& .. - - r.-.. ~ ;,, . k ~ - iJ .f mr f ,..- , - i-... • -' •· . - r."I • - -, i} I - I - - t:\ - ' - - -~ - 1'1 I I .,.- • - I -- ) ,...._ "'· f_ _.,,,-, ..... 9 '~ tt - ' - ' ,, " , . J f - l'-s ~ rn - , .... tJ J ·- - f- i---.. ~ - - 1-'·if J -- i-- !Nil£ ,':;,11~ unct Z,-,.,if. fl I @~ ~,10 - /(l,u1 If! ':"\ "I lh,t Efn~rgt"e und lm,il' ~ J, 10 8 - ,, ;, -':'I I, - . ' .:. . C" ~ -- fiol. . It.I J - -r,.p vt5!"--'-._ f - --, ·~ I'.. ,....,_ r.\ - --V - tJ - 1• ! - ~V':',-_.; - y ' i---.. -.:. -.... _ ';"\ -- ~ -~ .:. -V , - ~ ~ -r -r k ■ ~ - - - .,,, f ' ;,;=--:V"'!"~~- -- f- - - - -~- - !:"I ,-· . Cello . ~ ~ - - -- - - -r -> - f ' ~~~9.-..:..,,=- i-- :r '-:'I ' r ,~ ,. -r -r ~ J-1m I 1 - ..' .Vit ~ , .,. ~ •••"-• ~ft,-A ~J". /J -- Example 31, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, mm. 1-6 84 lA , - - Fz. ,. ~ .... 06 . ., tJ -,. !. . n ,- ---- -~ C_ ~-- J • -. ,_ .:. ~ - L = ~ ltl =f l :::::===-- ~ - ' I ' ,. llo , ., u - - - z.y. ..... c~ }0 , 126) 1x . ~ .,.,..._ - - 3 - 11-..,., -,.,.---_ ~ ~ -. - n - -~ - {'". J ~ ::.if-~ i~ ~ 3~ cresc --=::::::::::' :::=::::=-- -. - . -· ' -. ~ -. ~#_._b~•~ - ~ "- . fjil . ♦__./ ~ ' ' ~ IJ J . 3- . - _v - - ' ~-f' ~ [ ':' • m,f -::c;:::;;- v•~ I ' , A J . . , ..J..-, . - .:. n• v ~ - n ,n_ - ~ - -r m.f :P- y ..,__.,,, ' I . ~ k ~ -- - ~- m,f ' u V -61- I . .:. ♦ - 3 .,,-.:. r • ' a ll. - - - - - - > mf - . ...-• .,,-------.-. ... .: 1,:0~ #- . - • ~ ~ '5J . - ~ I - =.f 3 Example 32, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, mm. 6-8 85 As Bustos indicates in her report about Mackenna, the first movement is in sonata form, and the main theme presented in the piano part (see example 32) that features triplets expands progressively and returns much later, in measure 105 (example 33). .,__ ~ ,f/ar. 6 6 ~ Kl~t J 3 Example 32, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, solo part, mm. 9-20 86 Example 33, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 1st mov. mm. 105-107 The development section employs different textures and as Bustos points out, that is a formal indicator that the piece is in a new section. The development lasts around 60 measures and features block chords, octaves, and sixteenth notes. Example 34, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, mm. 144-146 The recapitulation starts in measure 169, until measure 183. From that measure until the end, the triplets of the main theme prevail with indications of scherzando, making the piece more virtuosic. 87 1em_pp J! Example 35, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 1st mov. mm. 169-171 Example 36, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 1st mov. mm. 169-171 The second movement, Andante, is similar in the treatment of the harmony and it also employs the texture as an indicator of a new section. Example 37, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 2nd mov. mm. 5-8 88 /{!,iv. Example 38, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 2nd mov. mm. 9-16 Ru?tr9e.r- er 7'es;riyq "· ,r~ l(la..; Example 39, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 2nd mov. mm. 40-45 The third movement, Finale, is technically challenging and demanding for the soloist, as well as the orchestra. The indication for the quarter note is 116. Like the other movements, is highly contrapuntal, and many of its sections remind the music of Igor Stravinsky. The percussion is present in this movement too. 89 81 Rnale d16 I ,.,. -~-..~ - "_: : - - - - I• ~ -- - ~ - ' ~ 'f'l. - ti .P u 7irur •· - ~ . l. ::----. . . /Jb. - It/ J p s,h,. .i,;irl . s~A,. ---t (f?,a,r. ' tn-.ll ., f .. p--~ - • 1 - . ~-:. 1{,,1:::1"' ,,-,,,,. ,a,,l.. '---·· ~ . ~ -~ - - - .- I' j V I' --- '! -====: '!' I ~ - - - i... . ..b .. flt17'n , in (J - f p mmmt l . , -~ ·-f♦f#•## ♦f-f' ....... ♦ .. PP ==--==:: # + -# f • -# I+ Example 40, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 1-4 Example 41, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 9-11 90 Example 42, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 42-46 This movement also features contrasting sections with different materials and changes in the tempo and the meter, a typical characteristic of Mackenna’s music. It is in sonata form. Example 43, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 58-60 Starting measure 72, the recapitulation starts with a solo in the piano for several measures, featuring virtuosic passage work of octaves, scales in sixteenth notes, and block chords. g,.,_ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ ,11 j Example 44, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 82-82 91 Example 45, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 85-87 ' . ~ ., - h . i-~.-.• • I ., _r - C -~ • ....b i . ~- -==t:::! --=:I - ---= Cl'esc _l'Dt:O d .]JOCD I • ~. _l; ~ j;t ~ ~ ~ ~! i-- r,.....-- c.-=-' c..--r-- c,.....i:::-' [:....-' ,,·m ile I/• //r fJ .P --: ~ - - - - - - c-,.esc _reo t!l.. _pdCO si"-milr " JIf, -- 14.J . . -.P ':' ':' crerc. poco .. _,!)Dl"D simile __., /10 ' . .P - - - t:!"7'~S'C ~ocit« '1?«J" . . Jim ile . - , . . . .:. - .- - - - - - ,w - - . C C C C C C 'lo I' C 1'"•t'C -2«" al '_Z)«o ~.X - .P 11, Example 46, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 131-133 92 -e: -------------:..a. e,,,. Fl. I., n'f - f Ob, - - I" - 1'/f - - J - -.Q. - -I _._ tl.u -- ti . rii - - J- ' '\ ' - ~ -rit -. - - .f 11, :!. n(! - I" ' ,:r• rit - - J > r,r - .f.f _._ - - - - 111t.1 . ~ fi _. r il-- ~ - ✓}' - ~ '"i .., ~ I'.. -I ~1~ ~ c=;::::::F JI[ - - - --= - ~ rit - --=- - ff .. 1: ~ Jlf -- lti ?'if - - - - ff f?o'la ~- - I 'l'il _ ff - ~ eeuo -:: - -------- -- rit - - ff '!!:, """'' ~ _}431 - - ' Jl, l'if ~ I - - - If j Example 47, Mackenna’s Piano Concerto, 3rd mov. mm. 152-153. 93 To conclude, with this work Mackenna consolidated her reputation as an advanced composer. The Piano Concerto was written the same year as her song Canto de Cuna (1933) which will be analyzed in the next chapter. Similar features in terms of harmony and rhythm are also present in her earlier work Preludes for Piano from 1931. In these works, Mackenna started to experiment with modern techniques close to the neoclassical style of composers such as Hindemith and Stravinsky, although always maintaining her own style. 94 The Songs of Carmela Mackenna Mackenna’s compositions for solo voice and piano were composed during a roughly fourteen-year period. At first hearing, Mackenna’s songs seem very different from one another. Her early songs—written between 1918 and 1929 —are tonal, with key changes that stay close to the home key, and her piano textures employ simple chords that accompany the voice. Many of these early songs are also based on German folk texts. Mackenna’s later songs—between 1933 and 1936—use a more complex compositional language. They feature extended chords, the use of ninths, sevenths, fourths, and fifths, as well as virtuosic passages for the piano. Harmonically, Mackenna moves away from Classical and Romantic key relationships, replacing them with chromatic modulations to distant tonalities, although keeping a tonal center for each piece. Equally, the vocal parts in these songs feature large and chromatic melodies, and they are generally more dramatic and declamatory than the stable and gentle melodies of her earlier songs. Finally, the texts to these songs come from contemporary and Symbolist poetry. In general, over the course of her song output one senses a major shift from a Romantic compositional language to a more Impressionistic, modern, and non-tonal approach, although Mackenna did not abandon tonal music. I decided to investigate her songs because I realized that Mackenna was mainly perceived as an expressionist composer and that the analyses of her music concentrated on her instrumental music. As will be seen in this chapter, Mackenna’s style is much more varied and richer than some reports have pointed out. Still, despite this stylistic shift, an examination of fourteen songs she wrote between 1918 and 1942 (Melodia, the four songs of her collection Lieder, Poema de Amor, Canto de Cuna, Silvester Abend, Zwei Gesänge, Deux Poémes de Paul Verlaine, Ave Maria, and E eu fleurant) 95 reveals several musical signatures that unify her style. For all the diversity of her song output, in other words, it contains a common set of features that define her unique compositional voice: unexpected modulations, irregular phrases, piano interludes, motivic dialogues between voice and piano, and expressive melodies. Some of these songs have been engraved in modern notation by a professional editor for this project, and others are still in their original edition or are manuscripts. Melodía (1918) Melodía (Melody), is the first song that appears in the catalog in Bustos’ report. There are two different copies from different sources at the National Library: the first score has the stamp of copyist Massanet Goula93, a pianist and editor from Montevideo, Uruguay, with the date 1918 with a pencil. The other score has the name of another publisher: B. Calcavecchia, apparently from Montevideo as well. The Massenet Goula score has corrections of notation and has added rhythms made with a pencil, specifically in the first three pages. It is unknown if Mackenna herself did these corrections, and when. Although, the lyrics and the structure of the song it is the same as the Calavecchia edition. The essence of the song is the melancholy reflected in sorrowful text that talks about an abandoned love, as well as the minor, subdominant, and dominant chords that are present during the piece. Also, as early as 1918 for Mackenna’s composition career she already used asymmetrical meter, like 5/4, which are in measures 4 through 7. The text of the song is the first verse of a poem by Jose de Esproncedo, a Spanish poet of the Romantic period. It is in the key of 93 Carmela Mackenna, Melodía, 1918, Carmela Mackenna Archive, Biblioteca Nacional de Chile 96 D minor, and it starts with a brief introductory cadence in the piano part, although instead of the tonic, the opening chord is B-flat, followed by a perfect cadence. The piece recalls the lyrical arias of the Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini, where the voice has a predominant role, and the piano is written in a more supportive manner rather than having its own material. The song is divided in two sections; the first is marked Lento y expresivo (slow and expressive). After the piano introduction in 6/4, the vocal part enters in 5/4, turning back to 6/4 in m. 8. The first section features two phrases of eight measures, which are similar, but there are slight variations in rhythm and register. J ~ ~~- ~~'U-ed~ . /1 ~ I _, - 1 j J . . J j.J I r ) I • - ~ 1' ' ~ -.......... ,, - . .l ' - - . ·•~f _ A'14' t A• 0,.. P~ ,,,1 0 - ....... n ....• -I -,1'\.L .. I'll. ~ 11 / ~ I I _, ----------- ---..... .,I - ---- I I / .A. ~ t · -i :f:. ~ Example 48, Melodía, mm. 1-5 97 ,, ., .......-:::- , __________ Example 49, Melodía, mm. 6-11. The second phrase is more dramatic because it uses higher pitches and it escalates to a climax with forte dynamics in m. 10, which is then resolved in m. 12 with a quasi-plagal cadence 98 (ii half-diminished 7-i6), thus ending the first section. The piano plays block chords with similar rhythmic figures to the vocal part. In the second section, the character changes to Maestoso and there is another introduction by the piano. The texture in the piano becomes thicker and it employs the lower register more often, and the range extends to three octaves (in section one the register in the piano is narrower). ,, , .) ,, - h - /) --- - 'a&/utf#"' "' a - ~ lIJ I I -✓ .. - .. ~·. 0 (J. • - ~~ ., . -•- -,,.-. . .,. T :..:.l :.:: i 1 ~- ♦ -------- JI • •• • .I 99 Example 50, Melodía, mm. 12-17 When the voice enters in measure fourteen, there is a Neapolitan chord (E-flat) along with the word “Ay” (“alas”), which emphasizes the drama of the fifth line of the text, which is even more sorrowful than in the previous lines que de aquellas horas de alegría, le quedó al corazón un solo gemido (from these hours of joy, the heart was left with only a whine). The song ends with another plagal cadence (ii7-I). The text says from measure 18: And the tears that the eyes deny to the pain, tears are of gall that floods the soul. - - ------- ==- ~ - ------ .A 100 Example 51, Melodía, mm.18-24 Lieder (1929) The four Lieder from 1929 are carefully crafted, deeply expressive, and highly lyrical. Indeed, in many ways, the songs seem to channel an earlier Romantic style; the melodic and harmonic language sounds almost Schubertian with its subtle chromaticism, folk-like melodies in the vocal part, and sections in distant tonalities through enharmonic modulations. The connection with the Romantic Lieder extends to the texts as well, which are largely borrowed from German folk songs, the only exception being the final song, (“Winter”), which uses a poem by one of Mackenna’s contemporaries, the German poet Theodor Daubler (1876–1934). Throughout these songs, Mackenna employs expressive tools to unify the music and the text: the piano becomes another voice, another character in the poetic scene; it is also a sort of guide, a thoughtful companion to the voice. The music, both in the voice and piano accompaniment, reflects the emotional states of each phrase, stanza, or line. Mackenna’s approach to harmony is particularly expressive, even as she evokes the Romantic style from a hundred years earlier. All pieces have a tonal center, but many harmonic episodes occur, with modulations to neighboring or distant tonalities from the tonic. These harmonic subtleties enrich the expressivity of each song. For example, song no. 1, the G-major Morgenlied, is only eleven measures long, but in those measures Mackenna tonicizes D major and E minor, the latter with a dramatic and unexpected B7 chord (m. 7), which leads to the high point of the song. These rather sudden modulations could be seen as an example of the “abruptness” of the music, referenced by Bustos, but I hear it as a sign of how she injects even the shortest song with drama, and how she uses the song as an introduction for the three next 101 pieces, signaling that we are about to hear a sweet and colorful song collection of great invention. Ruhig p l'I u - ,..._ Voice ~ .. -= - -· - - - - - . - , ~ r Steht auf -ihr lie- hen Kin - der- lein der Mor - gen-stem mit -l'I u .-. -- - - -- - - ------ ~ ;'- r u u I jliessend .J-..J J. : : I -- - -- -- -· I r I --==== ===- --==== cresc. f frei gleich als ein Held und > f rit.- - - - - - - - - - - - , 9 l'I u ...- ------------- ~ - - '. ~ I .. leuch - tel durch die gan - ze Welt. > j > rit.- - - - - - - - - - - - ' 9 l'I u I I I 1- r7 I - I ·- -. - - - - - ~ I I p L-- ~ cresc. sf r- u > f ~· ~ -- .J J ..J I I : - I I - I >- f Example 52, Morgenlied 102 Her melodic language in these Lieder also shows her inventiveness as a song composer. Three melodic hallmarks stand out especially: 1. The piano accompaniment often anticipates, prepares, and announces the color, tone, and emotional state of each phrase. 2. The contrary and parallel motion between the piano and the vocal part, with similar rhythmic elements is an essential characteristic of this set. A third subtle voice in the piano is often employed as an echo; this voice can be found in the treble, the tenor, or the bass. The piano part also becomes more polyphonic at times. For example, in no. 2 and no. 3 (Sub rosa and Volkslied) simultaneous melodic elements are found in the piano part. These elements blend with the texture of the voice, creating a rich dialogue between both parts. 3. At first sight, the music might look rather simple, yet there are so many subtle melodic elements in the score that learning this repertoire could be challenging for pianists and vocalists. This element is undoubtedly linked with the expressiveness of the word, along with the expression of modulating harmonies and polyphonic texture. Both performers must listen to each other carefully and create a consistent, crafted musical dialogue. 103 p I.Mil - ten im Gar - ten 2.Das Ros-lein glanzt so 3.Komm ich ins lCiim - mer - -------e u- u- r r 11Vp--==:: isl ei_n scho - nes Pa- ra-dies ist so schon an zu - sehn dass ich mocht drin - nen fein wie Gold und E- del-stein, war so fein ii - ber - giildt, dass es mem Herz er- lein find nicht mein Ro - se - lein, als ich her um mer sah, sitzt ein schon Jung-frau Example 53, Sub rosa, mm. 1-8 104 p 3 Voice Wenn ich ein ~ ------------- Piano 4 -,, ~ __, - • H " - - -- - - ~- -· ~ - - -· - ~- - - .. ~ w I ~ I Viig- lein war ___ und au-ch- zwei Fliig - lein hatt flog ich zu dir. /I J.I - -.... ~ A I u r u r r - .. r .., . f r r-r p . .-:- ~ I I I . : ., ' n -I - I Example 53, Volkslied, mm. 1-7 105 p I\ l ===- . ===- Voice ~ --- - . - ~ r - . - -~ ~ ~ -~ -~ - - -- - - -tJ I I I Ge - dul - dig isl der Wald __ be - hut - sa mer der Schnee I\ _-, --- tJ ---- -- 1...--- -... ------ 1...--- -----pp ----- -- ... - I I I I I I I I I I - --- ., ~ r; ., ., r; r; ., ., r; u u u u 6 I\ I ~- . - I - - tJ - - am ein - sams - ten das Reh. I\ l I I I ·- t·'" - ---~ - -~ - - -~- - .. -.J - - - & --==== ====- .. I I I I I I I I I '"~ I ., r r ., ~ ~ r • I - - - ~ ~ - ~ & ------------& ------------~, u u F' Example 54, Winter, mm. 1-9 Poema de Amor (1930) According to Bustos Valderrama’s catalog, Poema de Amor is the third vocal work for piano and voice written by Mackenna. It should thus be considered part of her early compositional period. This statement becomes evident when one analyzes the textures in the score, especially in the piano part. Her following song opuses—the Zwei Gesänge (1935) and the Deux Poèmes de Verlaine (1936)—show a richer dialogue between piano and voice, as well as greater harmonic experimentation, whereas in these two songs the sense of motion and the expressive phrasing in the music are assigned mainly in the vocal part. 106 Poema de Amor is a love poem by Chilean Nobel Prize winner poet Pablo Neruda. Mackenna was the first Chilean composer to use Neruda’s texts in a song. She musicalized three of the four verses of the poem. The piano part is simple, with melodic and chromatic turns that add new colors to the chords, which use harmonic structures characteristic of the Western Classical and Romantic tradition. For example, in the beginning of the piece there is a perfect cadence in mm. 1–3, as well as the modulation to the dominant and the subdominant (A and G) both in major and minor modes. As stated by Maria Luz Martínez in her work about Chilean song of the nineteenth and twentieth century, Mackenna’s Poema de Amor follows the structures of Classical and Romantic styles with modulations to close and distant tonalities. Martínez indicates that the structure of the piece reveals Mackenna’s compositional process, as some melodic aspects repeat or imitate, as it happens in measures 1 and 2 and other sections of the piece94. Calme-expressif et sans rigueur J= 120 Me gus-tas cuan-do ca - llas _ Piano ------------ Example 55, Poema de Amor, mm. 1-4 94 María Luz Martínez, “El repertorio lírico en la República de Chile durante los siglos XIX y XX como paradigma de la influencia europea en la creación lírica latinoamericana (PhD diss., Universitat de Barcelona, 2017), 467 107 Mackenna’s style also fits the type of setting performed in Chilean aristocratic and bourgeois circles in the second half of the nineteenth century, initiated by Isidora Zegers and José Zapiola these meetings were called “tertulias” (musical gatherings where live music and dances were performed); and continued in the twentieth century with the meetings organized by Luis Arrieta and Miguel Besoaín from 1899 to 1933 (although these tertulias were dedicated to chamber music rather than dance). In general, the piano part uses half-note chords, with some brief solo episodes that feature rhythmic figures such as eighth notes and triplets (and usually they are piano solos). Poema de Amor has baroque-like cadences and modulations, that consist of rapid changes in tonality, a feature from this style. This kind of modulation occurs several times in the piece, as seen in mm. 15–18 (from A minor to A major); mm. 23–27 (A major to G major); and 39–47, where the music goes through seven different keys (D-d-c-g-B-flat-g-G). On a larger scale, the piece is set on the traditional harmonic plan of I-V-IV-I, which resonates with the German Classical style that Mackenna embraced in her early works. 108 --=-=::: =-=- -= :::::=-I\ " u I I r - y pa-re - ce ~ be - so -le ce rra- ra la-ho ca __ I\ " I u - .. - ~ Ci l I - .. ~· - 7 -= ==- ~ii J .. ~ ~ I /4:'\ : ~ 18 I\ .. C-o-mo I\ " ..2.... I '---" Example 56, Poema de Amor, mm. 13-18 22 mer- ges de las co - sas lie - nas de! al - ma mi - a r ~ n - . -- - - ~ ~ - - ~ ~ ~ tJ I r I ~ I ~ - Ma- ri - po-sa de sue- no __ le pa-re-ces a - mi alma y tc pa re - ces_ a la pa- I\ .. I I " ~ - u -· - " -~ d tt- j -- - - ~ l : - -- - - ,_ I I II Example 57, Poema de amor, mm. 22-31 109 The song has a ternary form of ABA’. The first and last section (A and A’) are more stable harmonically speaking, while more dramatic modulations occur in the B section. The vocal part employs ascending and descending scales of eighth notes, syncopated figures, and quarter notes. The higher note in the song is a B note in measure 33, on the word “melancolía” (melancholy). There are a few spots where Mackenna writes in the high register to enhance the expressiveness of the text (the first phrase in the vocal part reaches an F-sharp, then in mm. 33, 38, 42, 47, 62 and 63.) Mackenna’s writing in this song prioritizes the expression of the texts by assigning the melody more importance through a less complex piano part and long phrasing in the vocal part. ---=== ===- 3i - ===-u - u ~·· =t la - bra _ me- Ian-co - Ii - a y es- tis co-mo dis - tan - te ~ II u - l~l t:1' I ~u Example 58, Poema de amor, mm. 32-33 Example 59, Poema de amor, mm. 37-38 pp - -=== L =- u - J I dC- ja- me que me ca lie __ con el si - Jen - cio tu - yo I\ ... ....!.... lu ~ - · r ., I 9• - pp I 1---1 I j I I I I I Example 60, Poema de amor, mm. 45-47 110 Canto de Cuna (1933) Canto de Cuna (Lullaby Song) is a much more introspective song than the previous Poema de Amor. The texture is in a low register and the bouncing triplets of the lullaby are on bass clef in the piano part. The dynamic is pianissimo, and the melody above the triplets stays within a relatively narrow range, beginning on E and rising stepwise to an F# a 9th above, before falling back to B. I\ tJ pp m.d.., , ,.--,--~ HJ- --=== .. I I J ti:.[ J ~ ti..J ~ - : i I ' I i I ' I i I ' I i I ' I ......--1---' ......--1---' ......--1---' ......--1---' 5 pp I\ tJ I I I I I I duer meni-iio duer me duer me ni iio duer me un I\ u ,. !I~ ,J/ ---I -- ~ " I HJ ~..J ~ : j~ 1 ~I ~ I j~I ._..-3:::::--' ....-1 ::::---' ....-1=------' ....-3:,....-, Example 61, Canto de Cuna, mm. 1-8 The tenderness and intimacy of the song are related to the register; there is a melancholic and warm atmosphere throughout the whole piece. The vocal part continues with the dreamy and warm atmosphere set by the piano in m. 5, which wanders around the middle register. In measure 12 the melody in the piano part is placed above the vocal line in terms of register, which has its own melodic line. This unveils the contrapuntal nature of the piano in this song. 111 9 cui-da de m'al - ma pu - ra ___ y por tu cuer - pe - ci-to tu ,___J --, .!. ,-J - ,--J - ,---J - ~ ~ L__-/ , cresc. dim. ~ n - - -- . -~ " ~ -~ - - - - - ~- u I I I I I ma - dre ve - la no le - mas ni - no duer - me /'I cresc. ,,,.,-----...__ dim. J ~- u" r, u ,, --- - - - - J - J J v -~ 1--- < ,-J - ,--J- - (~). . I~ : I \ -J -J ~- ~- ~ ~ '---3 ---...J I ===- ~ I .__-3 =----' Example 62, Canto de Cuna, mm. 9-16 The structure of Canto de Cuna is A–B–A/coda, where A section is 18 measures, and contains three phrases starting in the vocal line. The first part of the song is calm and serene, although ambiguous, since the tonal center E oscillates between its major and minor mode. B section comprehends mm. 18-44 and features a change in the tempo in measure 23, where the vocal line enters in the tonality of A minor marked mezzo forte. In this section the music becomes more passionate due to the change in the tempo, dynamics, meter, and texture of the piano. For example, in m. 32 the material of the piano part is transformed through rests and figures of subdivision in the triplets, giving a bouncing effect that differs from the one seen in section A. 112 The melody in the vocal part also departs from its tranquil and stable motion of the beginning to ascending and descending triplets throughout the B section. ,., ruhiger ~ ~1~ ~1~ ~1~ .•u - , , , ,~ ~ ~ ~ .". --y 'ii- -,J .. ='-=---"' .__/ ~ < ==-- pp I I ~1~ .--1 -- - - ,, - -- - ~ I I I '----"' - - ~ p ,----1 ~ ,....___ 3 --, ,--3 __, Si /lo - ras de sue iio __ te doy mi re - r---- 3___, '----- 3---.., ~ 3 - ~ 3 ----' Example 63, Canto de Cuna, mm. 29-36 A section and that coda are the last five measures. It is a closing section, where the bouncing triplets work as a brief recapitulation as they return to tempo primo with the words duerme, duerme (sleep, sleep). Both the piano and vocal part return to the texture seen in A section, where the bouncing triplets in the piano part and the half notes in the vocal part appear briefly to end the song in the same peaceful way it began. As in other pieces, one distinctive element in Mackenna’s music is the “bridge” section on the piano part. In this song, we see a four-measure bridge in mm. 19–23; also, at the start of section B (mm. 32–34). In these bridges, the piano plays different roles: • changing or maintaining the character of the piece. 113 • announcing a new section. • displaying an important modulation or echoing the vocal part. ,-3 -----, r- 3 ---, cresc. ,---3__, ,---3__, ,______ 3 -----, 21 I\ ~ ,~ .---3 ~ I ~ i,~ -- i . el < -==== i--==== dim. 3 - I ,--- I ~ I - -- - - - -- ~ r, - - -- r r, ~ I I ~____v I '--- 3 - Example 64, Canto de Cuna, mm. 17-22 The song has a sense of warmth that one usually relates to a lullaby song, although there is a somber and melancholic sound that can be related to Mackenna’s use of texture in low and middle registers of the piano and the voice, adding a mysterious air to the piece. Silvester Abend (1933) Silvester Abend (“New Year’s Eve”) and Uber meine Wimpern geht (Over my eyelashes goes) correspond to the same piece, although they are registered and titled with different names both in the scores and at the Chilean National Library. While two manuscripts of Silvester Abend 114 are written by hand, Uber meine Wimpern geht is printed on the same style and type of paper as the Lieder from 1929, so it could correspond to the same printed edition. This is a song about the feelings at the end of a year. The text is by Tótila Albert, a visual artist who frequented the Cuevas-Mackenna gatherings at their house in the thirties in Germany. The song has a clear tonal center that is felt only at the beginning and end of the song, similar to what Mackenna does in Canto de Cuna. Although the texture of this song is more complex as the piano part is richer, recalling neoclassical techniques that were on trend in the 1930s in Europe. Mackenna creates a dreamy effect in the song using pedal in the piano part, phrases in the vocal part that are asymmetrical, the use of chromaticism, and the textures in the piano that guide the harmonic path of the voice. Its development indicates a more free and modern way to approach tonality in comparison with the Lieder. The song has three sections that are mainly divided in relationship with the pauses in the vocal part and for the verses of the song, as well as harmonic modulations. The first section comprises mm. 1–9, the second mm. 10–17, and the third mm. 18–26. 115 t&1 I +--~~ -_ ~ ¥- t u... l... I 7 ~ ~ i-v . ~ s 7=t ~ ; i ·~- --; f ~ • j:z =- :. l1 + t' ~ • fM,L, d_.,._ - t,. --~ A. - ""- ~ ~ r-- ~. .=::..._j "'4---< c,,,,,... .~ --.. t::1 ~ .t: ... ___; • ·- I ~ -" -~_ wt- .-~.-~ L µ-I ,/I;- - ~ ~. ""'r 1-\.- J I I t:..=i ..._,. ~ f.,_. .t. • __f t -•w J. _"t I I -- . . I I I __, I I Example 65, Silvester Abend, mm. 1-8 The texture in the piano part consists of sixteenth notes in legato. These figures accompany the first six measures of the song and reappear in other measures in shorter motives (like in mm. 12 and 21). The harmonies smoothly transition from F major to G minor, and then to G major. The first section ends in an ambiguous cluster chord that combines G minor and C minor. These modulations, so characteristic of Mackenna’s style, are enhanced by chromaticism and a lack of a strong tonal center—all of which creates an overall unsettled feeling in the song. The second 116 section is the climax of the song; as in songs such as Der Knabe and Clair de Lune from 1935 and 1936, chromatic modulations to distant tonalities create an effect of surprise. The use of parallel octaves in the left hand also helps to project a heavier sound in the piano part, which connects Mackenna’s music with Impressionistic or Modern music, the common styles of the early twentieth century in Europe. This section is characterized by the lack of sixteenth notes during the first five measures of the section. The third section is also freely modulatory: starting in D minor, moves from there to G major, B minor, and F major, all the while chromatic melodies float above. 117 ......--__ f Example 66, Silvester Abend, mm. 9-16 118 Example 67, Silvester Abend, mm. 17-25 119 Zwei Gesänge (1935) Even though this opus features the same language as the four Lieder, Zwei Gesänge is a very different set of songs, where the piano becomes even more pronounced and crucial for the musical dialogue between both instruments. The piano textures are thicker, the vocal part is even more declamatory, at times even jagged, and the harmonic language is more experimental. New harmonic techniques emerge in the Zwei Gesänge that did not appear in the four Lieder: most strikingly, Mackenna extends the harmonic possibilities by using fourths, fifths, sevenths, and ninths, which predominate in this song, as well as in Silverster Abend, Canto de Cuna, and Deux Poèmes de Verlaine. Still, a careful study of both sets of German-language songs suggests that there are common threads that bind them together, fingerprints of Mackenna’s musical language: the melodic nature of the lines, present both in the piano and vocal part, with clear slurs and articulation; the subtleties of chromatic elements as means of expression; and the anticipation of the character for each song in the piano part, often times in the way of introductions. In terms of harmony, the tonal center of the songs is well established at the beginning and at the end as well. Both opuses also embrace a sort of baroque-like atmosphere that invokes the spirit of the affections. Each song represents a mood, a color, and evokes Schubertian and Brahmsian textures. For example, Sub Rosa and Volsklied have melodic lines and character similar to Schubert’s songs, such as Die Rose D745b and Heidenröslein D257, while in Zwei Gesänge the textures show resemblances of Brahms’s Von ewiger Liebe op. 43 no. 1 and Vier ernste Gesänge op. 121. 120 l\llissig, zarl. II M Singstimme. tJ =-------~ ~. Es !~ck_ te schO_ne " .. f; ~f-F~ f. ~ - Pianoforte. ' .., :P ==-- II ~ .... - ~----. - -- =- PP ------ tJ - ..... - - tJ War. ,;1t,, mich An d~s Licht zu wa _ g'e n, da brann _ ten wil _ de AU- ~ I ' I tJ =- I ---------r ::::: ~ ...... -; A U t- A.~. t- ,.--. :.:.:._::_: I J----1\- •~ · r--- 1 ere ,,.~ t) ---- ,.._..,,,, ~ ~ ~--- - Example 68,, Schubert's Die Rose D745b mm 1-10 l~nu .Edlen ~on Mosel gewidmet . II Lieblicli. J = ••· Jj .. Singstimme. 'tJ r &h ein Krah• Jn I\&_ l~- stehn, Ro"-1ein ·a~f der Hei . den, Knr._b e spracb, ich bre _ che_ dich, Rijs_ldn au! der Hei den, Und der wil _ de Kna _ be_ brach 'aRoa.leln auf der Hei den; JI Jj ~ ' " " I. ..1 I. .., - - . . Piu.oforl•. l pp - - - - - Example 69, Schubert's Die Rose D745b mm 1-4 Singstimme Pianoforte dun -kel in Wald und in Feld! A _b end schon ist es, nun schwei _ get die Example 70, Brahms’ Von ewiger Liebe mm 1-11 121 In the first of the Zwei Gesänge (Der Knabe), the interaction between the voice and the piano suggests a sort of recitative. As can be seen from the first measure, the piano sets the “energy” and the color of the piece. In ausdrucks-vo/1 3 .1\ . = =- ..L... ~ ~ ~ I .. • letz - ten Fer ncn, WO dcr dunk - klc strom in Wol-ken- mee- re mun dct 3 I\ I - : - ·- - ~ ~ ~ - --= =- - 3 : .. - -= - --.,. Example 71, Der Knabe, mm. 1-5 Then, after the voice has finished the first phrase, the piano responds and initiates another section before the voice enters again with the second phrase (for example, m. 9, before the second section starts; mm. 15, 23, and 26). These brief interludes often are made of descending or ascending scales, rapid figures, and last about one or two measures. 122 15 cresc. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Na - her kommt es! Example 72, Der Knabe, mm. 15-16 -- - - f (zuruckhalten) 23 ter ru - fen. Kro - nen blu - ben aus der Example 73, Der Knabe, mm. 23-25 Other relevant characteristics of the song include: a) irregular meter: the song changes constantly between 3/4 and 4/4, creating a sense of expansion of the piece. 123 b) the use of parallel octaves, fifths, and fourths in the piano part: this creates a non- tonal relationship with the voice, which is always quite melodic and cantabile; the voice navigates through enharmonic sounds of C minor, while the piano echoes the melody built in chords of fourths, octaves, or fifths. c) a dark, dramatic, and melancholic, expressed by the unrelenting use of C minor: although distant modulations occur, the “mood” always returns to this dramatic key. In general, the tonal plan of the second song (Die Frau) is similar to that of Der Knabe; a somber C minor is sounded very clearly in the first four measures of the piano. As in Der Knabe, the piano sets the stage, and from then on it interacts in inventive ways with the voice, sometimes preparing upcoming melodies in transitional interludes, other times engaging in dialogue with the voice, and by shifting the texture from rapid notes to block chords. Formally speaking, the first two lines of the first strophes are separated by four and two measures of a piano interlude, respectively (mm. 1–4 and 7–8). 124 rit.- - - - - - - - - - -, a tempo 4 3 '--' Wa - rum isl Er-wa - chen im - mer schmerz ___ rit. _ _________ , a tempo 3 das Example 74, Mackenna’s Die Frau, mm. 15-16 Then, for the rest of the strophe, there is a longer vocal line until m. 21, where the piano seems to come back to a kind of recapitulation with a pedal G in the bass, instead of C, as marked at the beginning. 125 23 I\ Wenn mich nicht 23 II I I - I I • tJ I cresc. r .. mp ,,_ I L I ' -r-.- - - -__J Example 76, Mackenna’s Die Frau, mm. 20-25 The voice follows the piano in a recitativo style, where the piano does not participate until m. 31. The dialogues continue between both parts until the end of the song, which closes with an open cluster chord, and a G long note in the vocal part as well (mm. 41 and 42). 126 - - - -- I - -~ -- - . ..~ ~ --- .. - ,I ,_ -· - k-- -~ u I I I e-kel-te ver dei - nen Ru - gen, die mich an - lu - gen wie al - le Ru - gen, 26 f, - .. ,,,, u - - - -- l ". . - -- - ... - - -- 30 j~ - -- I - '., - ·- ,. ,- ,_ .' .' ,_,_ ~ - ~ -~ u ~ l-J ",,- -- de - nen ich ver - trau - te ,,,--...____ 30 -j~ ii I I I I . --- - - -- -------------------- .-. ,,_ - - - - , , u ~ r- -T •- -Q -·. I I r I --~ - - - -~ . - --. .--. ,,-. -:. - --- --- Example 77, Mackenna’s Die Frau, mm. 26-32 Deux Poèmes de Verlaine (1936) The Deux Poèmes de Verlaine are two of only three songs by Mackenna that set French poetry. (The other is En e fleurant de la mainfrele, an undated song.) As Mackenna belonged to a family of the Chilean aristocracy, it is very likely that she learned and spoke this language when she was educated in Chile, and probably when she traveled along with her husband, too. Close to Zwei Gesänge in compositional period and style, in Deux Poèmes Mackenna uses the piano as a resource for anticipation and as a setter of the mood. The textures are varied, with many more phrases when the piano sings out alone, becoming more discreet when it 127 accompanies the voice. In both songs, Clair de Lune and Il pleure dans mon coeur, Mackenna uses subtle imitations between piano and voice. Characteristic too is the constant change of meter, which serves to expand or tighten the spatial perception of time, especially in Il pleure dans mon coeur. In this song there are fifteen changes in the meter, which serve the expressivity of the text. The meter varies between time signatures of eighth notes through quarter notes. The expansion and reduction of the meter creates natural fermatas and longer phrases, while it helps to enhance the text. For example, the opening phrase from mm. 5 –13 has three changes in the meter and conveys the first four lines of the poem. In Claire de Lune, the change of meter to 3/4 in m. 17 creates a sort of hemiola starting with the previous phrase in m. 16, thus accenting different beats of the following measures and giving a less stable rhythm before the vocal part enters in m. 21. 128 5 pleu - re dans mon coeur __ comme ii pleut sur la vii le n 3 9 11 I ------,----------... 3, .--,1 t. 3 I 3 Quelle est cet - te Ian gueur __________ qui pe - ne - tre mon coeur? n- - I - •. I I Example 78, Il pleure dans mon coeur mm. 5-11 Example 79, Il pleure dans mon coeur m. 12 129 libre 19 p 3 -fl - ,I ,_ - u 3 3 Tout en chant-tan! sur le mo - de mi• fl r-, I ,_ .~. . ·- -~ ~ ~ ~ ~ u ' ~ ~ -, , • !'- .-. .. - -- -- -r;;I .!.. .!.. .!.. .. . - L ~- I ~ .. --- - -- - ----- - -- - -, -- --- I - ---~, - I ------- ~ "" Example 80, Clair de Lune, m. 16-21 Seeing that Paul Verlaine was a French Symbolist poet, it is only fitting that Mackenna would employ musical techniques characteristic of Impressionist musical settings of his poetry, especially planning chords, legato phrases, modulations to distant keys, and rich chromatism. These features recall Debussy’s musical language in particular, with, however, more neo- classical elements in the piano texture, such as recurring musical motifs, chords close to each other, clear melodies, contrapuntal passages, and more declamatory lines in the vocal melody. In terms of harmony, Mackenna employs distant tonalities in both songs, which enhance the freshness of this music: as an example, in Clair de Lune the music travels from a quite stable C 130 minor key (enriched with numerous chromatic elements) to remote keys such as G-flat and D- flat. Il pleure dan mon coeur likewise travels from the home key of C minor to distant keys such C-sharp minor and A major (in mm. 23 and 25, for example). adlibitum 25 p ~ 11 ,.. I I - rn ~ >---\ - ·- p - -I .,.... ... . ~ I ---;-- deuil est sans rai - son. A quasi cadenza A I .....!..... 3 j j w " -- M~ ~ u 1 11- . . 19- 6- '61- '7 p ~ " I. \ c> - :::: L • ~ JO ~ - n 1 ~ 3 I - I I I Example 81, Il pleure dans mon coeur mm. 5-11 In Clair de Lune, the piano line is very melodic, and has varied rhythmic figures and several articulation markings. The piano also anticipates the melody in the vocal part, and both parts respond to each other with variations of the melody and rhythm; here is yet another example of Mackenna’s knack for placing piano and voice in dialogue with one another. As in Poema de Amor, Mackenna uses the piano to create “bridges” or introductions between sections, where the instrument continues the melody of the vocal part by echoing it while at the same time creates a sort of introduction for a new section. The vocal line moves very freely in this song, depicting the poet’s search for his soul in the text, where he invites all types of distractions to feed it through dance, music, and masquerades. The second stanza talks about easing his soul with the sound of melody, while the third stanza describes the beauty of the moonlight and its connection with the poet’s soul. 131 In Il pleure dans mon coeur Mackenna uses rhythmic elements in the piano to create musical effects that reflect the words. At the beginning of the song, sixteenth notes in triplets emulate the rain and the tears that open the first lines of the poem (Il pleure dans mon cœur, comme il pleut sur la ville.) The triplets in ascending and descending motion are present throughout the whole song, with some interruptions of static half-note and quarter-note chords in mm. 26–28 and 33– 34. The song also features recitative-like textures, where the voice is left alone for one or more measures and the piano accompanies it with chords or remains in silence. These moments enhance the declamatory style of the poem, which describes feelings of despair and anger. For example, in mm. 26–31 there is an ad libitum section where the piano accompanies with half- note chords while the vocal line moves through different rhythms with the vowel “a.” This section is marked “quasi cadenza” and it occurs right before the recapitulation. ad libitum p - .~.. -tJ - - T i,...., j deuil est sans rai snn. A -- quasi cadenza " -2_ ' j j j ltJ ,r , II"' - - . ~ .. ' .~ ,~ 'd- ' ,P -,~ p .:. .- - 11- ~,~ j I I 2~ ' ----- --.. --,._ -...- --- - --- Tempo I ~ mp tJ 7 - r I - C'cst I\ ' l~ , • ~ I I : -- ~ Example 82, Il pleure dans mon coeur mm. 25-31 132 Ave Maria (1942) Ave Maria was composed in the city of Zapallar, Chile, in 1942, after Carmela’s return to her homeland after several years of traveling and her years in Berlin. It is not certain if this piece is the last that Mackenna wrote, but it is the last one that appears in Mackenna’s catalog made by Bustos. There is a tendency to assume that Mackenna’s work was evolving and embracing exclusively European techniques such as Neoclassicism and modernism, but Mackenna maintained a personal style that is reflected in her several songs, written in four languages, styles, and forms. Although it seems to be one of the last songs written by Mackenna, does not sound more modern than the previous songs here analyzed. It is tonal, and harmonies are classical and romantic in style. It is also the only song written in Latin, which could reveal Mackenna’s connection with religious music, which started early in her career when Mackenna won the second prize for the Mass for a Capella Choir in Frankfurt in 1936. The song is in the key of G minor, and its structure is built of two phrases, nine measures each. The extra measure in the first section (nine instead of the standard eight measures), and the lack of pauses in the vocal part until measure ten create a sense of vastness and continuity, which are supported by the text. The first verse of the prayer has three lines (“Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum/Benedicta tu in mulieribus/et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus”) and for each line Mackenna sets three measures. 133 V I .P. • Ma . .,.; . I I Cl pie - ~a ~ I I I, r I I I I I -- I ii . ti.I J 1 I I I I I 7 l _1 \ I Example 83, Ave Maria, mm. 1-5 In the second part of the song Mackenna employs a change of meter (from 4/2 to 5/4), although she maintains the structure of three measures in the first line (“Sancta Maria, Mater Dei”). The next two lines (“ora pro nobis peccatoribus and nunc et in hora mortis nostrae”) are set in three and a half measures and two and a half measures respectively (from mm.14–18) while the final “Amen” is one measure. 134 . _; I . l' b,s I . .o . ri - \>vs , ~t ,,In J. 0 . r a p1to l'IO - Pfc c.o - \:. nv\c , ' I I ~ - = J .; r I - - " _, I r - t - --!... I .. ·I a · f" ;, t -r \- " 1ti + . I 7 ~ I \ r~· :I ' I " / . nos - \:..ne • ho - mor \:.. 15 t'~ n I I . ~ ~ - - . -e- - - -J ) - I ~ ~ I I I I I I I : - - ... -~- I l" I \ I ~-a n ' . - ,, • -I Men,. B ~ n V ... - / CQpiQ•m2 ,J .2.. l . ~ c~ , ~ ~ Example 84, Ave Maria, mm. 14-19 Harmonically speaking, Mackenna uses mostly chords related to G minor in a conventional way, whereas there is a strong presence of one particular chord (ii; also, ii7 a few times) throughout the song. This chord gives the song an air of melancholy and solemnity. The dominant chord (V/V7) appears several times but never resolves in the dominant; instead, the cadence is interrupted by other chords (mm. 2–3, 4–5, 10–11, 12–13, etc.) The vocal part has a limited range of six notes. The song stays within the keys closely related to D minor throughout the song, although there is an exception in m. 13 where a B-minor chord appears. This does not affect the harmonic structure of the song, but it provides a significant moment of tension in the word “Dei” (God) 135 since this chord is not expected. This drastic turn is quickly suppressed by the return of B-flat in the next measure (first in the bass in the piano part, then in the vocal part). - I I ' . I ~ - : . - ,I ti - 0 I la t '~r i I -- - I ~ . ~ ) J .. .. I , I I • . - - - . - - Example 85, Ave Maria, mm. 12-13 Overall, there is a sentiment of sorrowness, melancholy, and solemnity in the whole song. En e fleurant (date unknown) Although it lacks a composition date, this song seems to belong to Mackenna’s early compositional period. Written in French, a language that Mackenna spoke as part of her aristocratic education, the song presents a harmonic structure that is simple and charming; the music phrases oscillate between the tonic A major and the dominant E major. Despite the simplistic harmonic approach to what seems to be an early piece, we can observe already the distinctive features of Mackenna’s music: irregular phrases, constant changes in the meter for expressivity purposes, and short interludes in the piano part that connect sections between each other. The first vocal phrase consists of nine measures that follow a brief cadence from dominant to the tonic in the first measure and eighth notes in the piano part. This section features a dominant-tonic harmonic structure, resolving finally in the tonic in measure ten. 136 r ~ r ;._ . )}. - -•- t A• .I'~ "•A•- Y,. . f,, - ' - A d .. - • !' ,.7 -- •_ T. ~+·-- - 1' · --~ -/j -~ - I l' - ------ ! -- ' '! - ,1.:.i•- - ~ --=- r I) ""·· ,. ., .: •. 2 { - • .. .. :-.~ -· . ,e_ '."f _ ,,"-:.,. .. ~ .... .., -•A .... . .1-. ( l.P. i, - t1 J. ;I 7 . --- ----4... !- '-..!......,. - .. I .. -- -........ . . _---..._ ~ - I ·"' .. c.tM - . ) . , ~ ·~~ ~.t. -~- - )'~ . ,.~, . .. ~"--• i.~• • ,,.y. ~; a~ P:. J. - A..1.1./t ---...... ,J: :::::::------. - ,..,,,-,. - IJ I .- - l!te.,. -_,,.-;-:;--~ ~ -Ii- .;-: Example 86, En e fleurant, mm. 1-9 The second section has a five-measure phrase that modulates to D major immediately. In the third section (starting in m. 18) the piano part guides through the harmony to A major again in m. 24. There is a fermata in m. 22 in the dominant chord before it resolves to A major. 137 This song is characterized by simple textures in the piano part, eighth notes, chords in triads, and imitation of the main melody, along with conventional melodies in the vocal part. ,: •• !}. 111- ..... . P. • ~ - .. . -' r. ·-- r. ,.--.... ...---.... I ;....,J r. - .p. . " . ~Jl ,,.,- I':\--=,, - IJ r ~-P .ft~ f+il t es+ "~ Oe ?M ~~•:a;~ :i.,m,..t ' (1 - ~~ • ~& ,,,- r.'I A",H ~ ....- -.--.~ ';' - ';' "'/ r-=-- 1' .'I .;. I .. .:. • - I I r----.. Example 87, En e fleurant, mm. 10-19 138 Conclusion In these fourteen songs, several characteristics coincide between the different opuses, such as the role of the piano as a narrator or as another voice at times; sudden melodic and harmonic turns; changes in the meter, and expressive melodies in both vocal and piano parts. What is most fascinating about Mackenna’s songs, in my opinion, is the significance given to the voice part, in which the text, the phrasing, and the breath of the singer are the most important. It can be also appreciated the varied styles in which the piano part is written, serving exclusively the literary and poetic meaning of the songs. The choice of authors, ranging from folk songs to contemporary and anonymous writers, provide a colorful palette of styles, featuring five languages. Besides, Mackenna never abandoned tonality, and her songs are a demonstration that she was not pursuing an evolution of her style in terms of compositional techniques. She worked with the techniques she thought were the right ones for her ideas. Her songs are certainly varied, especially when it comes to their harmonic language, but a careful study of these songs reveals that Mackenna developed a consistent language and style, which drew upon elements from the Baroque, Classical, Impressionist, and Neoclassical periods, always conveying the profound expressiveness of the text through the richness of the elements in the score. 139 Reflections on the Chilean canon and pedagogical approaches to the Piano Sonata no. 2 by Enrique Soro and Carmela Mackenna’s Songs Although Soro and Mackenna lived different lives (Soro was a renowned composer that led for over a decade the musical movement in the early twentieth century, and Mackenna was an aristocratic woman who traveled constantly and who studied music privately), their music has been omitted from the Chilean musical canon. As shown previously in the chapter about this canon, although Soro is considered in some way canonical by Luis Merino for the circulation and reception of his main works such as the Piano Concerto and the Symphony in A major, these pieces and others were harshly criticized following the reformation. They were often associated with the Italian style that was opposed to the avant-garde style promoted by Santa Cruz and his friends. This perception about Soro’s music served to construct a biased view of his contributions to Chilean music. In the case of Carmela Mackenna, stylistically her music is close to the music of Domingo Santa Cruz, Jorge Urrutia Blondel, and the late works of Pedro Humberto Allende and Alfonso Leng. Even Jorge Urrutia Blondel studied with Hans Mersmann (same teacher as Mackenna’s in Berlin) in the decade of 1930, but there was no contact between Mackenna and him. The few mentions of her music could respond to the fact that the Chilean canon needed to raise their own heroes in the national territory, and Mackenna’s career was concreted abroad. When the Chilean canon is addressed, it is important to acknowledge that through numerous articles, public events, books, and memories, an official voice dictated what was Chilean music and what was not. This happened for decades. After the reformation of the CNM in 1928, the official voice of the new UCC spread the aesthetic views in which Chilean classical music had 140 to be valued and recognized. The canon excluded expressions from composers such as Soro, Giarda, Sepúlveda, Mackenna, and others, through constant criticism or by ignoring their achievements and contributions. This ostracism was reinforced with the creation of the Journal of Chilean Music in 1945, which conveyed the opinions and judgments of the people who kept the institutional power. The reformation meant that a group of musicians who were developing a musical activity in Chile from the late eighteenth century were simply erased or mentioned in pejorative ways. Specifically in the case of Soro, his reputation, constant work, and recognition by the public and by some political figures, helped him to prevail in the Chilean and international scene, although it was mostly due to his efforts that he kept an active composition career. The establishment of the UCC did not consider him a valuable voice in composition; therefore, he was only required for administrative duties, like the position he held as a consultant of the Institute of Musical Extension of the UCC in 1942. The public recognition that former President Pedro Aguirre Cerda gave Soro in 1940 might have helped in obtaining this position. Mackenna’s music was ignored primarily for being a woman; secondly, for having her music career outside Chile and for not having studied with Chilean composers (those who studied with Santa Cruz, Leng, and Allende had considerable visibility in the Journal of Chilean Music). The reincorporation of the repertoire of both composers into history will contribute to decentralizing the musical production reported in the early and mid-twentieth century, allowing new generations of students and teachers to perform and study these works more often, along with reflecting on the history of our ancestors. In a pedagogical context, I will comment on certain aspects to consider teaching this repertoire at colleges, universities, academies, and institutions of music education. Regarding 141 Soro’s Sonata No. 2, it has a long duration: about 30 minutes. Both the first and fourth movements are virtuosic and feature thick textures and complex harmonies. I propose, to introduce the work in a music program, assigning one or two movements of this sonata, instead of the whole piece. For example, the first movement can be played as a single piece or paired with the second or third movement. The second and third movements also could work as a combination and could work separately as well. The Andante Sostenuto is a great example of working lyrical lines and rich polyphony with the students, mixed with interesting romantic harmonies. The third movement is a convenient choice for a virtuosic piece of light character, not long enough to present major technical issues in an advanced student. The fourth movement could be performed as a single piece, for its extension and technical challenges. It is important to acknowledge the unique music style of Soro. This can be accomplished by listening Soro’s music and analyzing the common features between pieces. For example, the music instructor could introduce Soro’s pieces by assigning smaller pieces composed in Soro’s early period. There are waltzes, mazurkas, romanzas, and other pieces of small format. Also, there are several recordings of Soro’s chamber and orchestral music on platforms like Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook, and good-quality recordings accessible to listen to online. Mackenna’s songs are varied and are written in several types of techniques: romantic, classical, modern, impressionistic, and neo-classical. Some of them are challenging for the pianist and the singer, thus it is recommended to work on the songs with a professional singer in case of a collaborative piano lesson, or with a professional pianist in case of a voice student. The piano part is simple in some songs, like her cycle “Lieder” or “Poema de Amor,” although they require an aural sensitivity to connect with the singer’s breathing and phrasing. The songs are not 142 square in their expressions; on the contrary, they suggest freedom and malleability. Her variety of languages in which she wrote (German, French, English, Latin, and Spanish) fits the requirements of music curricula for collaborative piano and voice students, which demands the study of different styles and languages in art song. The most accessible songs to approach Mackenna’s work are: Melodía, Lieder, Poema de Amor, En eu fleurant, and Ave María. More complex songs are Canto de Cuna, Silvester Abend, Zwei Gesänge and Deux poems. There are few non-professional recordings of Mackenna’s songs on digital social media platforms. In May 2023, and thanks to the award Cykler Song Scholar created that same year, I recorded four songs by Mackenna (Canción de Cuna, Poema de Amor, and Zwei Gesänge), along with soprano Dr. Camille Ortiz and bass-baritone Dr. Craig Phillips, both faculty at the School of Music and Dance of the University of Oregon, becoming the first professional recordings of Mackenna’s songs. The songs Zwei Gesänge were world premieres. There is no information on other recordings or performances of these pieces. The four video recordings are available on YouTube on the channel Art Song Augmented, and they will be also available on Spotify at the beginning of 2024. There is also an entry about Carmela Mackenna on the website Art Song Augmented which provides different sources of information about the composer, along with the recordings: https://www.artsongaugmented.org/carmela-mackenna Future research comprehends the completion of Mackenna’s songs edited in modern notation. There are eighteen songs written by Mackenna that are available at the Music Archive at the National Library in Chile; and other scores are located in the city of Chillán, at the Claudio Arrau Museum. Mackenna’s copyright condition is controversial: while there are no heirs and 143 there is no owner of the copyright, Mackenna’s music is considered public. At the same time, Chilean laws established that a composer’s work does not become part of the public domain until seventy years after her/his death. However, as the law belongs to Chilean territory, publishers outside the country like Cayambis Music Press have edited some of her music online, ignoring the copyright’s condition. Soro’s music is located at the Enrique Soro Foundation, and a significant portion of his works have been digitalized for free use. Roberto Doniez, the foundation’s president, is an eager collaborator and has been engaged in multiple projects funded by the Chilean government and public institutions to promote Soro’s legacy. 144 Conclusion Enrique Soro and Carmela Mackenna are fascinating and unique composers. Exploring their different sides as performers, travelers, and hard-working creators, has opened many different possibilities for the promotion of Chilean music. In the case of Enrique Soro, as I already mentioned on the previous pages, there are collective efforts to promote his music. Several renowned artists have recorded Soro’s work, and many scholars are interested in researching about him. In the near future, I will offer a critical and performance edition of the piano sonata no 2, co-editing with Felipe Copaja, an eager engineer and cellist who has dedicated in the last five years to edit Soro’s music along with the Enrique Soro Foundation. We also hope to distribute free copies of the edition to music institutions in Chile and abroad. About Carmela Mackenna, I would like to comment that when the four songs were finally posted on YouTube in June 2023, several people from different backgrounds, reached out to me to ask about her music, especially female musicians. There is a mysterious period in Mackenna’s life where it is not certain when she stopped composing, and there is an impressive amount of music scores that have not been studied yet. The majority of Mackenna’s scores are located in the Music Archive of the National Library in Chile and some others are at the Claudio Arrau Museum in the Chilean city of Chillán. Personally, working on Mackenna’s songs made me connect with her through the texts, the varied languages, and the style of the songs. Many composers of the twentieth century had very different facets, while also cultivating a marked style. Soro, for example, was mainly a romantic composer; although he explored several music genres such as Chilean folklore, and modern and impressionistic styles. It is fair that when we talked about Soro we were able to recognize his distinctive characteristics, as well as 145 Mackenna's. If we do not question what was written 40 years ago (like the official reports about their music), or if we performers do not read what our musicology colleagues write in the present, it is more difficult to rethink the legacy of composers like them, and others who are underrepresented in the music academia. I am currently working on eighteen songs by Mackenna, in the process of transforming these scores to updated notation. Parallelly, I plan on recording the totality of her songs. My goal is to offer a performance and critical editions of works by underrepresented Chilean composers to encourage the study of these and other works by composers from marginalized communities, and eventually, include more of their works into the curricular program in music schools and conservatories. There has been a bias regarding Soro’s and Mackenna’s music that responds to differences in the aesthetics and musical currents between them and progressive composers of their era, and that is one of the reasons why their work has been relegated as music “from the past,” or music described inexpressive, or non-Chilean. Another fact that affects directly to Mackenna, is the bias against female composers and their ability as music creators. In terms of Chilean music promotion, publishing their scores would acknowledge their relevance for the development of Chilean and Latin American music in the early and middle twentieth century. It would be inspiring (and reconciliatory in personal terms with the young piano student I was), to bring attention to Soro, Mackenna, and other Chilean composers, as well as other Latin American composers that I did not have the chance to study. These pianists and musicians cooperated, shaped, and worked for a music education system in post-colonial Chile in the twentieth century, a country that was seeking to improve music education, that was flourishing with ideas about art, concerts, and musical life. Chile was developing and growing not only in Santiago the capital, but in other cities of the country as 146 well. Music that had international projection, was acclaimed, and considered worth performing during those years. It is crucial to raise awareness about these composers who were relegated to a secondary place in Chilean history. In the case of Soro, it is curious to realize why a few works survived and the others remained anonymous; they exist, but they are not present nor discussed in music programs in Chile. How the Chilean Canon operated with Soro was praising him for being an old bridge between the past and the modern era, excluding him from the contemporary scene, even though he kept composing until an advanced age. Mackenna was treated similarly: a couple of chamber works for strings and piano are performed in Chile less than often while other pieces are completely unknown and unheard. What if Soro’s three sonatas were performed more often? Could we program recitals that feature the wonderful music of Schubert and the creative and diverse songs by Mackenna? Given the technical difficulties that these works may present, they could be assigned to piano and voice students depending on their musical and technical levels. In my opinion, it is necessary to research our history, considering all the facts and not only the one that remains in the collective consciousness as official. There are many perspectives and historical facts that need to be presented, discussed, and included in the official history. This is the most significant way we, as musicians, can embrace our history with veracity, respect, and appreciation. 147 Bibliography 1. Arraño, Constanza, “Mackenna, Carmela”, Intérpretes y Conciertos Doctos en Chile, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, last modified May 10, 2023, http://basedeconciertos.uahurtado.cl/public/bio/46. 2. Barraza, Jeraldo. “Integral de las sonatas para piano de Enrique Soro”, Enrique Soro. María Paz Santibáñez (piano), Svetlana Kotova (piano), Armands Abols (piano), Roberto Doniez Soro (productor ejecutivo). [2 CD] SVR Producciones, Valdivia: Ministerio de las Culturas, las Artes y el Patrimonio. 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