Juan Jose Castro - Complete Piano Works

JUAN JOSE CASTRO

Complete Piano Works

Various Artists



Disc 1

I-1-Toccata (Julio Ogas)

II-Sonata No.2 (Gabriel Löfvall)

2-Allegro Moderato
3-Choral/Lento
4-Allegro

III-5-Casi Polka (Julio Ogas)
IV-6-Que Titeo! (Julio Ogas)
V-7-Corales Criollos (M.Gonzalez)
VI-8-Corderitos Brincando (F.Viani)
VII-9-La Danza del Oso (F.Viani)

Disc 2

I-Suite Infantil (Dora de Marinis)

1-La Historia de Mambru
2-Ay! Ay! Ay!...Cuando vere a mi Amor
3-Sobre el Puente de Aviñon
4-Arroz con leche

II-Tangos (F.Viani)

5-Evocacion-Lloron
6-Compadron
7-Milonguero
8-Nostalgico

III-Negro Triste (Julio Ogas)

IV- Sonatina Española (Elena Dabul)

10-Allegretto Comodo
11-Poco Lento
12-Allegro

V-Preludios (Dora de Marinis)

13-No.1 Preludio
14-No.2 Duendecillos
15-No.4 Para la Chingona
16-No.5 Bal-Musette
17-No.6 Scherzino
18-No.7 Danza Guerrera
19-No.8 Historia Terrible
20 No.9 Parade Foraine

Piano:
Dora de Marinis, Julio Ogas, Marcela Gongalez, Fernado Viani, Gabriel Löfvall, Elena Dabul


Juan Jose Castro appeal as a composer is the result of his rich and eclectic style, and of his balanced aesthetic sense. His works include numerous symphonic pieces, fiIm music, chamber music, music for piano solo, bandoneon solo, voice and piano, choir, operas and arrangements of music by other composers such as Bach, Weber, and Julian Aguirre.

Castro's musical language is a very personal and original synthesis of three different musical currents: the Spanish, with its modal scales, moorish flavor and vital rhythm; the French, with Franck-like harmonies and textures, and Impressionist atmospheres, and finally the Argentinean, with its folk flavor from the countryside, and its urban tanto from the "arrabal" (outskirts) of Buenos Aires. Among Castro's most important pieces, mention is due to his Biblic Symphony (1932), the ballet "Mekhano" (1934), the Sinfonia Argentina (1934), the Piano Concerto (1941), the String Quartet (1944), "El Llanto de las Sierras" (The weeping of the hills, 1947), "Corales Criollos no. 3" (Creole chorales no. 3, 1953), and his operas "La Zapatera Prodigiosa" (The woundrous shoemaker, 1943), "Proserpina y el Extranjero " (Proserpine and the Foreigner, 1951) and "Bodas de Sangre" (Blood weedings, 1952).

As a composer, Juan Jose Castro was always committed to the Argentine avant-garde movement. ln 1929 he joined the "Grupo Renovacion" -that grouped contemporary Argentine composers- and, in 1948, the Argentine Composers Association. His pieces were awarded prizes in many ocassion. The opera "Proserpine and the Foreigner" -premiered at the "Alla Scala" Theatre in Milan- received the "VERDl" award after having been chosen among 138 pieces; "Corales Criollos no. 2" won a prize in Caracas at the Latin American Music Festival in 1953; and, lastly, the National Fund for the Arts of Argentina awarded him the Honorary Grand Prize in 1965 for his musical production