Enrique Iturriaga's "Pregón y Danza"
In colonial times, when Perú was under the administration of the Spanish Kingdom, food vendors would walk down the streets of Lima, the main city, singing aloud a song that represented the good they sold. Each product had their own characteristc song. This custom has survived until today and it is still posible to hear some of these songs, called "pregones", in Lima. So did Enrique Iturriaga back in the 50's, when walking after dawn across the foggy streets of our city, and he decided to write a piece which depicted that atmosphere. He composed "Pregón y Danza" for piano in 1952, which is now firmly stablished in Perú's piano repertory. The title relates to the composition's two movements: the first one based on a peruvian ¨Pregón", and the second, a dance.
Pregón
Form: Ternary
An harmonic reduction of the introduction will ilustrate the some of the techniques used in this piece (measures 1 - 10, including the first chord of the A section):
The composition uses what Stravinsky called "antitonalily". This means that tonal elements are present, but their tonal implications have been weakened by the composer. The tonal center of the piece is A. It's tonic chord is an A mayor-minor chord. Most chords have six notes, and can be interpreted as triads and added 9ths, 11ths and 13ths. Funcional chords are present (like V/III, which appears at the begginig and the end of the introduction), but they do not progress by fiths, so they do not resolve their implied harmonic funtion. Cadential movements of the bass by fiths are avoided, and replaced by minor thirds or tritones (like in this example).
The first two bars of the introduction present two contrasting elements: a three-octave unison in the middle-high register and a five-note dense chord in the low register. This elements are used to introduce a contrast of light and dark sonorities, which will be useful to depict the atmosphere of foggy and dark streets present in section A. At bar 10 a quarter-note dark ostinato is introduced in the left hand, while the remainings of light sounds disapear in the right hand. A "pregón" melody is introduced in bar 12. This pregón will be used as an ostinato too. The pregon is reapeated 6 times, raising its register. Both ostinatos (left hand and right hand) lead to a climax on bar 24. The hole A section is constructed over an A mayor-minor chord, and 11ths and 13ths are added as the tension caused by the ostinatos raises. Subsidary melodic lines do also increase their activity toward the climax, increasing poliphonic complexity.
B section starts at bar 27. Two measures are left for respiration. A toccata-like sixteenth-note figuration starts at bar 29 in the left hand, while the pregon melody is used in cannon in the right hand. At bar 33 the sixteenth-notes are replaced by eight-note triplets, and later, at bar 35, by eigth-notes. The cannon fades away at bar 33. Since bar 33 tension has been disolved rather than acumulated, in oposition to what happened in section A.
The final section brings back the quarter note ostinato, but the Pregón, which does return too, is not used as an ostinato. The hole section is supported by a D harmony (the third omited in the first 4 bars), but only the 9th has been added. The atmosphere is clearer, yet still ethereal. Again, tension is disolved rather than acumulated, preparing the listener to the next movement.
Danza
Form: Ternary
Peru has a rich popular tradition. The second movement of "Pregón y Danza" gives us a sistesis of popular dances from Perú's andes and coast. The movement opens with a furious dance writen in 5/4 meter. This meter can be found often in music from the andes, such as huayno. The harmonies reinforce the section's tonal centre, but there is also a clear presence of its mayor-minor dominant chord at bars 56 and 60, which will become the tonic chord as the piece reaches back its original centre. The following section's tonal centre is A. This new section explodes some of the rythmic energy acumulated in the previous stage. A development section follows, which elaborates material of the first section. In this section a tipical feature of "marinera" (a dance from the coast of Perú) is introduced: a mix of 3/4 paterns and 6/8 paterns. It can be observed at bars 78 and 84.
A climax is prepared in this section, but aborted at bar 86.
The next section (bar 87) preserves the 3/4 + 6/8 mix, but its charachter is softer. It does also call for a climax toward 102, but the tension is disolved in the transition that follows. The transtition does also prepare the 6/8 meter of the following section by introducing a 2/4 meter on bars 110 - 112.
Section B (bar 113) opens with a quotation of another peruvian dance: a "triste arequipeño". The mixture of 3/4 and 6/8 continues. At bar 113 the right hand plays 6/8 and the left 3/4. They swith to the oposite in the following bar, and so on until bar 124. There the conclusive section of B starts, and the climax of the movement is reach at bar 128.
The repeat of section A stars at bar 134. Some structural changes have been made to retain the listeners attention. The development section has been placed before the second section, and the third section has been supressed. The second section, which tonic center is A, contains now a quote from the movement's climax, giving us a sintesis of the A and the B sections. The materials of this section extends into the concluding section that starts at bar 160, written over an A pedal. This pedal over the dominant note could make us think of returning back to the tonic, but the music fades away instead, not resolving the pedal, and thus returning to the piece's original tonal centre.
Pregón
Form: Ternary
An harmonic reduction of the introduction will ilustrate the some of the techniques used in this piece (measures 1 - 10, including the first chord of the A section):
The composition uses what Stravinsky called "antitonalily". This means that tonal elements are present, but their tonal implications have been weakened by the composer. The tonal center of the piece is A. It's tonic chord is an A mayor-minor chord. Most chords have six notes, and can be interpreted as triads and added 9ths, 11ths and 13ths. Funcional chords are present (like V/III, which appears at the begginig and the end of the introduction), but they do not progress by fiths, so they do not resolve their implied harmonic funtion. Cadential movements of the bass by fiths are avoided, and replaced by minor thirds or tritones (like in this example).
The first two bars of the introduction present two contrasting elements: a three-octave unison in the middle-high register and a five-note dense chord in the low register. This elements are used to introduce a contrast of light and dark sonorities, which will be useful to depict the atmosphere of foggy and dark streets present in section A. At bar 10 a quarter-note dark ostinato is introduced in the left hand, while the remainings of light sounds disapear in the right hand. A "pregón" melody is introduced in bar 12. This pregón will be used as an ostinato too. The pregon is reapeated 6 times, raising its register. Both ostinatos (left hand and right hand) lead to a climax on bar 24. The hole A section is constructed over an A mayor-minor chord, and 11ths and 13ths are added as the tension caused by the ostinatos raises. Subsidary melodic lines do also increase their activity toward the climax, increasing poliphonic complexity.
B section starts at bar 27. Two measures are left for respiration. A toccata-like sixteenth-note figuration starts at bar 29 in the left hand, while the pregon melody is used in cannon in the right hand. At bar 33 the sixteenth-notes are replaced by eight-note triplets, and later, at bar 35, by eigth-notes. The cannon fades away at bar 33. Since bar 33 tension has been disolved rather than acumulated, in oposition to what happened in section A.
The final section brings back the quarter note ostinato, but the Pregón, which does return too, is not used as an ostinato. The hole section is supported by a D harmony (the third omited in the first 4 bars), but only the 9th has been added. The atmosphere is clearer, yet still ethereal. Again, tension is disolved rather than acumulated, preparing the listener to the next movement.
Danza
Form: Ternary
Peru has a rich popular tradition. The second movement of "Pregón y Danza" gives us a sistesis of popular dances from Perú's andes and coast. The movement opens with a furious dance writen in 5/4 meter. This meter can be found often in music from the andes, such as huayno. The harmonies reinforce the section's tonal centre, but there is also a clear presence of its mayor-minor dominant chord at bars 56 and 60, which will become the tonic chord as the piece reaches back its original centre. The following section's tonal centre is A. This new section explodes some of the rythmic energy acumulated in the previous stage. A development section follows, which elaborates material of the first section. In this section a tipical feature of "marinera" (a dance from the coast of Perú) is introduced: a mix of 3/4 paterns and 6/8 paterns. It can be observed at bars 78 and 84.
A climax is prepared in this section, but aborted at bar 86.
The next section (bar 87) preserves the 3/4 + 6/8 mix, but its charachter is softer. It does also call for a climax toward 102, but the tension is disolved in the transition that follows. The transtition does also prepare the 6/8 meter of the following section by introducing a 2/4 meter on bars 110 - 112.
Section B (bar 113) opens with a quotation of another peruvian dance: a "triste arequipeño". The mixture of 3/4 and 6/8 continues. At bar 113 the right hand plays 6/8 and the left 3/4. They swith to the oposite in the following bar, and so on until bar 124. There the conclusive section of B starts, and the climax of the movement is reach at bar 128.
The repeat of section A stars at bar 134. Some structural changes have been made to retain the listeners attention. The development section has been placed before the second section, and the third section has been supressed. The second section, which tonic center is A, contains now a quote from the movement's climax, giving us a sintesis of the A and the B sections. The materials of this section extends into the concluding section that starts at bar 160, written over an A pedal. This pedal over the dominant note could make us think of returning back to the tonic, but the music fades away instead, not resolving the pedal, and thus returning to the piece's original tonal centre.
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