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- Gabriela Lena Frank
Ritmos Anchinos (2006)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
Commissioned by Carnegie Hall through The Weill Music Institute in partnership with the Silk Road Project, Inc.
Programme Note
Ritmos Anchinos is dedicated to my grandfather, Máximo Cam Velazques (1911-1968).
It has taken me a long time to appreciate the scope of Perú’s multicultural history. As the American-born daughter of a Peruvian woman, I had primarily long been aware of Perú’s Native American and Spanish past, and it’s only recently that I’ve begun to try to understand its twofold African legacy from the Moorish-influenced Spanish conquerors and their West African slaves. More personal to me, though, is the Asian presence due to a great-grandfather who left China in the late 1800s to open a country store in the Andean mountains. Old family photos and my mother’s memories bespeak my Chinese forbearers’’ presence in such highland and coastal towns as Colquipocro, Chimbote, Piura, and Moro. Across continents and over several generations, the tendrils of my Asian legacy touched me as a young girl growing up in California as chifa, Chinese-Peruvian stir-fry, was something often prepared in the kitchen by my mother…
In Ritmos Anchinos (Anchino Rhythms), I embark on my first piece writing for traditional Chinese instruments. (True to my habit of coining nicknames, “anchino” came to life while composing, and it is a hybrid between chino (Chinese) and andino (Andean)). The three movements of this work are:
I. Harawi para Colquipocro: This opening movement is in the style of an indigenous melancholy mountain song traditionally done on a solo quena bamboo flute, the harawi. This harawi is inspired by a photo of my mother’s half-Chinese father in the Andean mountain town of Colquipocro in which my grandfather is seated to the far left of two of his colleagues. In the background can be seen a Quechua Indian, perhaps a worker in the mines.
II. Charangos de Chincha: This more lighthearted movement reflects my time visiting Chincha, a coastal town (with a Chinese-sounding name!) known for its Chinese and African population. The charango is a small mandolin-like instrument adopted by the Indians that can sound very similar to the Chinese pipa. Brief allusions to Indian zapoña panpipes are also made.
III. Kachampa: This final movement is inspired by the kachampa, an indigenous dance of combat. I allude to the erquencho, a strident clarinet-like wind instrument from the Southern Andes that can sound similar to the sheng.
— Gabriela Lena Frank
It has taken me a long time to appreciate the scope of Perú’s multicultural history. As the American-born daughter of a Peruvian woman, I had primarily long been aware of Perú’s Native American and Spanish past, and it’s only recently that I’ve begun to try to understand its twofold African legacy from the Moorish-influenced Spanish conquerors and their West African slaves. More personal to me, though, is the Asian presence due to a great-grandfather who left China in the late 1800s to open a country store in the Andean mountains. Old family photos and my mother’s memories bespeak my Chinese forbearers’’ presence in such highland and coastal towns as Colquipocro, Chimbote, Piura, and Moro. Across continents and over several generations, the tendrils of my Asian legacy touched me as a young girl growing up in California as chifa, Chinese-Peruvian stir-fry, was something often prepared in the kitchen by my mother…
In Ritmos Anchinos (Anchino Rhythms), I embark on my first piece writing for traditional Chinese instruments. (True to my habit of coining nicknames, “anchino” came to life while composing, and it is a hybrid between chino (Chinese) and andino (Andean)). The three movements of this work are:
I. Harawi para Colquipocro: This opening movement is in the style of an indigenous melancholy mountain song traditionally done on a solo quena bamboo flute, the harawi. This harawi is inspired by a photo of my mother’s half-Chinese father in the Andean mountain town of Colquipocro in which my grandfather is seated to the far left of two of his colleagues. In the background can be seen a Quechua Indian, perhaps a worker in the mines.
II. Charangos de Chincha: This more lighthearted movement reflects my time visiting Chincha, a coastal town (with a Chinese-sounding name!) known for its Chinese and African population. The charango is a small mandolin-like instrument adopted by the Indians that can sound very similar to the Chinese pipa. Brief allusions to Indian zapoña panpipes are also made.
III. Kachampa: This final movement is inspired by the kachampa, an indigenous dance of combat. I allude to the erquencho, a strident clarinet-like wind instrument from the Southern Andes that can sound similar to the sheng.
— Gabriela Lena Frank
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