Synopsis

While for Puerto Ricans, the bomba and the plena are more familiar representatives of their proud dance tradition, the musical form known as danza holds a special place in their hearts.

Danza originated in southern Puerto Rico in the early 19th century, originally similar to the waltz, but over time it absorbed Afro-Cuban influences. Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, a 19th-century Puerto Rican composer raised the danza to a cultivated artform, and accordingly he was dubbed “the Chopin of America.”

A 21st-century Puerto Rican composer, Dan Román, paid tribute to Tavárez and other earlier danza masters in a piece for cello and piano called Retrospectos, or Retrospectives. This new work premiered on today’s date in 2007 at the University of Colorado at Boulder, played by the Montserrat Duo, which had commissioned the piece.

“Each movement of my piece uses a different aspect of the Danza,” Román says. “Each movement also explores a particular composer from among the most significant authors of the genre. However, the source material is always treated as series of analytical objects that become manipulated to nearly the point of abstraction.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Dan Román (b. 1974) Retrospectos; Beth Ringel, vcl; Alex Maynegre, p. Innova 904