Jesús Guridi - Piano musika - Piano music

Piano musika- Música para piano

Pedro José Rodríguez

Despite the fact that Jesús Guridi was the most important Basque composer of the XXth century there is very little written information about his piano music. Admittedly, he gave comparatively small importance to this instrument and even in such thorough biography as that published byJ. Mª de Arozamena in 1967 (Jesús Guridi. Inventario de su vida y de su música, Editora Nacional, Madrid, 1967) there is only a brief reference to one of his piano works “XXII Canciones del folklore vasco”–not included in this album in which he thanks Father Donostia for the review this latter had published in El Día newspaper of San Sebastián. 

Guridi and Donostia were strict contemporaries, both being born in 1886 and dying within 5 years of each other. Though at different times and places, they both studied in Paris, Guridi in the beginning of the century at the Schola Cantorum and Donostia, int he 1920s with different private teachers. Both seem to have avoided the then avant-guard musical world of Debussy, Ravel, the Six and Stravinsky. Botht heir lives and their musical careers were very different but they have in common the fact that they, with their introduction and development of musical nationalism, shaped the course of Basque music to this day. 

Of the existent piano scores by Guridi, most have remained unpublished probably because their author did not given much importance. Guridi was a keen walker who happened to have been brought up in a city, Bilbao, particularly well provided with interesting walks, quays, mines, hillocks, etc. It is thus interesting to muse on the choice of the mes for his Vasconia suite: Viejo carillon (the oldbell); Leyenda (Legend) and En el chacolí. “Chacolís” were taverns (some of the min the open air) were friends and even whole families got together to eat, dance, play cards, the game of the “rana” and drink the sharp young white wine called “Chacolí”. Bilbao seemed to have had quite a few of those venues. 

His waltz from Mirentxu consists of the piano version of the Mirentxu theme from the opera of the same name. Premiered in 1910 it was Guridi’s first big success. 

The last theme, Lamento e Imprecación de Agar, was Guridi’s contribution to a Hommage to J. C. Arriaga planned by the music critic M. Sagardia who in the 1940s and 50s asked several composers to write a work each. Father Donostia also composed his own tribute. 

These recordings were carried out at the Pablo Sarasate Higher Music Conservatory of Iruña–Pamplona and the piano used was the Steinway and Sons Nº 506460. The recordings were carried out by Xabier Mugika and Juan Rekarte at 48kHz, 16-bit.The remastering to 96kHz, 24-bit was donebyausArt records.