Garbizu, T.: Txistu and Piano Music - 6 Old Time San Sebastian Songs / Basque Suites Nos. 1 and 2 / 4 Zortzikos

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6 Old Time San Sebastian Songs (arr. J.I. Ansorena and A. Cendoya) (more info)
Composed by: Tomas Garbizu
Alvaro Cendoya, piano
Jose Ignacio Ansorena,
Recording date: 15-17 July 2008


1.   No. 1. Donostiatik Lezo aldera (From San Sebastian towards Lezo) - 02:38
2.   No. 2. Iriyarena (Music of the fettered ox) - 02:10
3.   No. 3. Ilunabarra (Sunset) - 02:57
4.   No. 4. Ume eder bat (A pretty girl) - 03:06
5.   No. 5. Aurtxo txikia (The baby) - 02:29
6.   No. 6. Pello Joxepe (Pello Joxepe) - 02:23


Basque Suite No. 1 (more info)
Composed by: Tomas Garbizu
Alvaro Cendoya, piano
Jose Ignacio Ansorena,
Recording date: 15-17 July 2008


7.   I. Kontrapasa (Contrepas) - 03:25
8.   II. Minuetoa (Minuet) - 02:52
9.   III. Fandango Boleroa (Fandango Bolero) - 03:24


Basque Suite No. 2 (more info)
Composed by: Tomas Garbizu
Alvaro Cendoya, piano
Jose Ignacio Ansorena,
Recording date: 15-17 July 2008


10.   I. Gabota (Gavotte) - 02:53
11.   II. Eibarko kontrapasa (Eibar's Fandango) - 03:06
12.   III. Ixil ixilik (Quietly) - 02:38
13.   IV. Baratzeko pikuak (The fig tree in the Kitchen garden) - 02:00


4 Zortzikos (arr. T. Garbizu) (more info)
Composed by: Anonymous Traditional Tomas Garbizu Felix Garci-Arcelus Avelino de Aguirre
Alvaro Cendoya, piano
Jose Ignacio Ansorena,
Recording date: 15-17 July 2008


14.   No. 1. Ate txukuna (A well kept entrance) - 02:56
15.   No. 2. San Juan zortzikoa (Zortziko for St. John's day) - 02:52
16.   No. 3. El roble y el ombu (The oak and the ombu tree) - 03:01
17.   No. 4. La del panuelo rojo (The woman with the red scarf head) - 03:41


Mendiko itzala (The shadow of the mountain) (more info)
Composed by: Tomas Garbizu
Alvaro Cendoya, piano
Jose Ignacio Ansorena,
Recording date: 15-17 July 2008


18.   I. Belatzarena (Dark-haired-girl) - 03:46
19.   II. Iantzi - 04:34


4 Traditional Guipuzcoa Dances (Santesteban Collection) (arr. J.I. Ansorena and A. Cendoya) (more info)
Composed by: Tomas Garbizu
Alvaro Cendoya, piano
Jose Ignacio Ansorena,
Recording date: 15-17 July 2008


20.   No. 2. Alkate sonua (March of the Mayor) - 02:00
21.   No. 3. Gazte dantza (A young people's dance) - 01:22
22.   No. 1. Ezpata dantza (Sword Dance) - 01:56
23.   No. 4. Neskatxen Esku dantza (The Young girls' hand dance) - 01:47


Agur, jaunak! (Greetings, ladies and gentlemen!) (more info)
Composed by: Tomas Garbizu
Alvaro Cendoya, piano
Jose Ignacio Ansorena,
Recording date: 15-17 July 2008


24.   Agur, jaunak! (Adieu my lord) - 03:28

Reviews

An appealing musical journey (Jan 25, 2010)
Reviewer:Dean Frey
Tomas Garbizu is so obscure that he doesn't have his own page on the English Wikipedia site. You have to go to the Basque (Euskara) version (eu.wikipedia.org) for basic information on the composer. So Naxos comes through again: presenting interesting music that most of the world doesn't know.

The music on this CD represents more than just one hour's worth of a composer's... Tomas Garbizu is so obscure that he doesn't have his own page on the English Wikipedia site. You have to go to the Basque (Euskara) version (eu.wikipedia.org) for basic information on the composer. So Naxos comes through again: presenting interesting music that most of the world doesn't know.

The music on this CD represents more than just one hour's worth of a composer's output. Through these songs and suites Garbizu provides a glimpse of a musical tradition that goes back at least to the middle of the 19th Century (the Basque Folk Revival), if not to the Middle Ages and Renaissance, when early versions of the Txistu, the three-hole flute heard in this music, originated.

I'm reminded of Villa-Lobos's collections of Brazilian folk songs: the Guia Pratico. In Garbizu's case, as with Villa-Lobos, authentic folk songs are combined with newly-composed songs in the authentic style, and they're all adapted for various combinations of instruments and voices. By the way, Villa-Lobos's songs included tunes from Amerindian, African, and European (especially Iberian) sources. I wonder if any of the old Basque songs ended up in Brazil; the first tune on the disc "Donostiatik Lezo aldera" would sound right at home in a choros from Rio de Janeiro. Indeed, the musical traditions embedded in this music are similar to the choroes, since both combine a rural, rustic music with something more sophisticated and urban.

From reading about the traditional txistu melodies, one wouldn't expect too much variety in this music. An hour-long chunk of rustic songs in the Mixolydian mode might seem a bit daunting to listen to all at once. It's a tribute to the native genius of the traditional Basque musicians, and to Garbizu's skill as a composer and arranger, that the whole programme seems so natural and yet so interesting. This is partly because of the colour that Garbizu provides through the skillful blend of three instruments: the piano (played here by Alvaro Cendoya) and the txistu and tamboril (both played, one in each hand, by Jose Ignacio Ansorena). And it's partly due to the varied rhythms of the music. It all adds up to an appealing musical journey. (read more)