por el cielo va la luna - Máster Project María Luisa Cuenca

"Por el cielo va la luna" (the moon goes through the sky) is a verse from the "Romance of the Moon, Moon" by Federico García Lorca, a Spanish poet and dramatist murdered in 1936 and a leading figure in today’s concert. The moon is a very recurrent
element in García Lorca's work, always acting as a symbol of death.
Programme:
Thierry Alla (1955-2023)
Offrande (2021)
Bára Gísladóttir (*1989)
Sveigja (2022)
María Luisa Cuenca (*1999), Julián Segovia (*1998)
la voz de su amo (2024)
i. nana
ii. saeta
iii. zapateado
iv. kyrie
“la voz de su amo" refers to the label (Spanish version of His Master’s Voice) that published the LPs "Colección de Canciones Populares Antiguas" (Collection of Ancient Folksongs). Ten songs were transcribed and harmonized by Federico García Lorca and recorded between 1931 and 1932, with Lorca himself on piano and Encarnación López Júlvez, known as La Argentinita, on vocals. These ten songs made possible this piece, an interdisciplinary project for saxophone and electronics that combines music, poetry, and performance/scenography. It has been created together by María Luisa Cuenca and Julián Segovia and pays homage to Federico García Lorca and the event of his death.
Lorca’s work is referenced constantly throughout the piece. We hear him in the poems; the music is based on some of the folksongs: "Las Morillas de Jaén," "El Café de Chinitas," "Zorongo Gitano," and "Nana de Sevilla." Lastly, Lorca’s universe is present in the elements of the scene, all of which are meaningful in Spanish popular culture.
The materials for the electronics were sampled from the original recordings of the songs, from myself playing saxophone, and from us playing a psaltery. They work as a “background” for the saxophone in a very free, improvised way, but none of our parts would make sense without the other.
"Nana" is inspired by Lorca’s lecture “Las nanas infantiles” (Children’s Lullabies). He claims that Spanish lullabies are different from European ones: they are all, no matter where in the country, full of sadness and tragedy, and they seem, in a way, to offend the babies’ sensibilities.
A "saeta" is a song from Catholic Spain, specifically from Andalusia. These songs are dedicated to statues of saints, virgins, or Jesus Christ during the Holy Week processions. Since the 19th century, saetas have incorporated elements from flamenco, especially from seguiriyas. This movement aims to emulate these songs and their solemnity.
"Zapateado" is a popular dance from Andalusia, where the dancer creates a wide variety of sounds, articulations, rhythms, and timbres with their shoes. In this movement, we translate the concept of the zapateado flamenco to the saxophone and the electronics.
A "Kyrie" is a musical setting of the Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy), the first sung prayer in the ordinary of the Mass. The Kyrie in this piece dates from the 11th century and belongs to the Monastery of Silos in Burgos. In this piece, the Kyrie is played over a recording of the Spanish artist and performer Ocaña singing the melody of Lorca’s "Zorongo Gitano."
María Luisa Cuenca - Saxophones
Julián Segovia - Electronics (la voz de su amo)
Moritz Werner - Electronics (Sveijga), sound design
Héctor Sobrino - Lights
Zürcher Hochschule der Kunste - Konzertsaal 1
June 7, 2024
Many thanks to all who came to support my work. Many thanks to all who watch this now, I hope you enjoy. And many thanks to all who were with me in the way. Gracias ❤️

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Artista!! Fue espectacular! ❤