GuitarCoop presents
Quaternaglia – 25 Years
Memorial Para un Regreso
Javier Farías – Homenaje a Pablo Neruda (2017)
Dedicated to Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet
Chrystian Dozza • Fabio Ramazzina • Thiago Abdalla • Sidney Molina
I – Brava Mar
II – España en el Corazon
III – Exilio
Memorial para un regresso (homenaje a Neruda)(2017), dedicated by Chilean composer Javier Farías to Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet in celebration of the group’s 25th birthday, is the concluding work of the cycle “Seis Miradas por Latinoamerica,” conceived by the composer as an homage to the Latin American recipients of the Noble Prize in Literature. The work, written for four guitars, has three movements: I-Brava Mar, the relationship of the poet Neruda to the Pacific Ocean and the Chilean coast, II-España en el corazón, his role as human rights activist in the Spanish Civil War, and III-Exilio, the persecution to which he was subjected by the Chilean regime in the 40s (subject, also, of the recent film Neruda).
Javier Farías (Chile, 1973), Winner of important composition competitions in Italy (“Michele Pittaluga”) and in Spain (“Andres Segovia”), Farías was recently awarded Harvard University’s prestigious “Fromm Music Foundation Award”. For his most recent project, “Seis Miradas por Latinoamerica” – with works dedicated to each of the six Latin American recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature (the Chileans Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda, the Guatemalan Juan Ángel Asturias, the Colombian Gabriel García Márquez, the Mexican Octavio Paz, and the Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa) – Farías chose Quaternaglia to dedicate a piece inspired by the work of Pablo Neruda.
Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet (QGQ) is acclaimed as one of the world’s top guitar ensembles. Composed of Brazilian guitarists Chrystian Dozza, Fabio Ramazzina, Thiago Abdalla, and Sidney Molina, QGQ is recognized for its artistic excellence and for its significant contributions to the expansion of guitar quartet repertoire. Over the past twenty-five years, the group has established a wide canon of original pieces and ambitious arrangements through collaboration with composers like Leo Brouwer, Almeida Prado, Egberto Gismonti, Sergio Molina, Javier Farías and Paulo Bellinati.
The quartet first attracted the attention of international criticism when it was awarded the “Ensemble Prize” at the Havana International Guitar Contest in 1998. Since then, the group has regularly performed in various notable guitar and chamber series in the United States and the world. Following the group’s California debut, the Los Angeles Times wrote: “an aura of purity pervaded the concert of the Brazilian guitar quartet…[it] met all the requirements with equanimity and intelligence.”
Quaternaglia’s discography includes the albums Quaternaglia (1995), Antique (1996) – for which the group received the “Carlos Gomes Prize”– Forrobodó (2000), Presença (2004), Estampas (2010), Jequibau (2012) – nominated for “Prêmio da Música Brasileira” – Xangô (2015), as well as Quaternaglia (2006), a DVD recorded live.
The quartet has performed in fifteen American states including Arizona, California, Illinois, Ohio, New York, Mississippi, and Texas, in countries like Portugal, Spain, Australia, Cuba, Uruguay, and Argentina, and in seventeen Brazilian states. Quaternaglia has also conducted Master Classes and lectures at various institutions including Yale University, the Jacobs School of Music (Indiana University at Bloomington), and the Coimbra Conservatory.
For Quaternaglia, the second decade of the 21st century began with a tour of six Brazilian states followed by orchestra appearances under Isaac Karabtchevsky and Leo Brouwer at Sala São Paulo, Theatro da Paz (Belém), and Teatro Nacional de Cuba.
Besides recording twenty-five original Brazilian pieces among the nearly fifty dedicated to the quartet, Quaternaglia is especially well-known for its interpretations of Villa-Lobos and Leo Brouwer, as well as for renditions of Renaissance and Spanish music.
Based in São Paulo, Brazil, the musicians of Quaternaglia Guitar Quartet use four custom-made guitars by renowned Brazilian guitar maker Sergio Abreu.
“Quaternaglia is a state-of-art-ensemble; they are melodically and rhythmically vital, virtuosic and exciting, individually beautiful in sound, and capable of enchanting sonorities. The performances are preternaturally exact in their synchronization while still sounding spontaneous.” Soundboard, USA
Produced by GuitarCoop
Images: Eduardo Sardinha, Maria Cajas | Drone images: Gabriel Villas-Bôas | Editing / Art Director: Eduardo Sardinha
Sound Engineering: Ricardo Marui | Musical Producer: Henrique Caldas | Sound Editing: Thiago Abdalla
Production Assistants: Gabriela Ramazzina, Lilah Kuhn, Mariana Bueno
Recording at: Pinus Studio (September 14th, 2017) and MAC-USP (October 16th, 2017)
Guitars: Chrystian Dozza (Sérgio Abreu 2012 n.621), Fabio Ramazzina (Sérgio Abreu 1990 n.197), Thiago Abdalla (Sérgio Abreu 2002 n.463), Sidney Molina (7string – Sérgio Abreu 1997 n.359)
Thanks to: Artematriz | Special Thanks: MAC-USP – São Paulo Contemporary Art Museum (Brazil)
Fotos: Eduardo Sardinha
