Paul Badura-Skoda: Frank Martin Fantaisie sur des rythmes flamenco

Frank Martin - Fantaisie sur des rythmes flamenco (1973) []

Fantaisie sur des rythmes flamenco (1973)

A piece for solo piano inspired by Spanish flamenco music by Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974). This live recording by pianist Paul Badura-Skoda (also the dedicatee of the work) was made at the 1994 "Raritäten der Klaviermusik" festival at the Schloss vor Husum.

Martin provided this explanation of the piece:
"The powerful and diverse rhythms of flamenco have strongly appealed to me for many years, but what interested me even more than the rhythmic effect is the expression of flamenco with its mixture of tragedy, act of providence and merriment. ... One day I discovered a sequence of chords which sufficiently provoked the dreamy, intellectual world of romanticism and which immediately expressed itself as a slow rumba rhythm. This beginning has a special character and brings the whole first part of the fantasia along with it. The gradually intensifying rhythms erupt in a frenzied flamenco rumba which stops abruptly when it reaches the climax. After a long silence a 'soleares' is introduced which, like most flamenco dances, is based on an ostinato rhythm. The word 'soleares' means solitude, a solitude which at the same time means longing, rebellion and submission to fate. The work ends in a 'Petenera', a slow dance which represents the sorrows and defiance of a woman who has been left by her lover."