Abel Carlevaro’s guitar works in the context of Uruguayan musical culture

Abstract

The relevance of the article is to consider Uruguayan guitar music as an important component of the modern South American repertoire. On the example of the works of famous composer and performer Abel Carlevaro connections with the folklore traditions of the country, Afro-Uruguayan genres and styles have been revealed.

Main objective of the study is to reveal the influence of Abel Carlevaro's guitar work on the development of national performing traditions and the repertoire of Uruguayan music. The novelty of the article lies in the introduction of materials about Uruguayan musical culture and guitar work in particular into the domestic musicological circulation.

The methodology includes the methods of historical, comparative, phenomenological, structural and functional analysis for the study of factual information; highlighting the elements of folk music of Creole and Afro-Uruguayan origin; genealogy of rhythmic structures of genre sources, fixation of phenomena of guitar imitation of timbres of percussion instruments; a comparison of modern music with the decorative visual roots of an ancient ritual or with a purely European (Spanish, Italian, German) attribution of ancient genres and stylistic trends.

Results and conclusions. Abel Carlevaro's work is presented as a part of the Uruguayan cultural heritage. Analogies of the processes of ethnocultural communication and the synthesis of national motifs in architectural structures and musical phenomena of the country are traced. Linguistic and genre characteristics of guitar works were investigated taking into account the positions of modern experts of local folklore, as well as the anthropological experience of Uruguayan scientists studying their musical and ritual tradition. In the process of analyzing «American Preludes» as examples of the most performed musical works by A. Carlevaro, the genre features of tango, milonga, Creole songs, genre-style allusions of baroque giga, passacaglia were determined; the signs of reproducing the timbre resources of the candombe — the titular genre of Afro-Uruguayan origin for the national culture — were revealed. The conformity of its rhythmic core to the genre canons of African music-making embodied in the tradition of Uruguayan carnivals is emphasized. Timbral imitations of percussion sounds are considered in connection with the use of specific methods of sound production on the guitar. The general stylistic and genre priorities of the Carlevaro’s guitar work are correlated with his performing and pedagogical experience, summarized in didactic, methodical, autobiographical publications and presentations in many countries of the world.