Located in the UK
Located in the USA
Located in Europe
- Robert Xavier Rodríguez
Piñata (for orchestra) (1991)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Programme Note
Related works:
Piñata (for wind ensemble)
Composer note:
A short, festive crowd-pleaser, Piñata — Concert Overture for Orchestra, blends Mexican folk music, samba rhythms, contemporary symphonic techniques, and American jazz. The score includes quotations of two actual Mexican piñata songs, Hora y fuego and En las noches de posadas, which are traditionally sung at fiestas, such as birthdays or at Christmas time.
After a bustling introduction, the music graphically depicts the swaying piñata, a brightly decorated clay pot filled with candy suspended on a string (in this case, two solo violins). As the excitement builds, there is a series of mighty orchestral whacks at the piñata, which eventually breaks open in a triumphant coda. The work may be presented in concert form or as a ballet.
— Robert X. RodríguezJointly commissioned by the El Paso Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, Piñata is regularly performed on subscription, youth, and family concerts across the United States.
Piñata (for wind ensemble)
Composer note:
A short, festive crowd-pleaser, Piñata — Concert Overture for Orchestra, blends Mexican folk music, samba rhythms, contemporary symphonic techniques, and American jazz. The score includes quotations of two actual Mexican piñata songs, Hora y fuego and En las noches de posadas, which are traditionally sung at fiestas, such as birthdays or at Christmas time.
After a bustling introduction, the music graphically depicts the swaying piñata, a brightly decorated clay pot filled with candy suspended on a string (in this case, two solo violins). As the excitement builds, there is a series of mighty orchestral whacks at the piñata, which eventually breaks open in a triumphant coda. The work may be presented in concert form or as a ballet.
— Robert X. RodríguezJointly commissioned by the El Paso Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, Piñata is regularly performed on subscription, youth, and family concerts across the United States.
Media
Orquesta Filarmonica de Jalisco; Hector Guzman, conductor
Scores
Reviews
...the blockbuster of the concert, a kaleidoscope of color, rhythms, textures and dynamics, it elaborated on the hi-jinks of breaking a piñata. There [were] hints of Leonard Bernstein's jazzy show tunes, Latin Syncopation, massed brass, a riot of percussion with marimba, xylophone, blocks, bells, drums and a delicious violin duet in the strings that held the piñata. It left us wanting more.
Discography
- LabelAlamo Classics
- Catalogue Number001
- ConductorChristopher Wilkins
- EnsembleSan Antonio Symphony
