Roberto SIERRA (b.1953)
Chamber Works: Piano Trio No. 1 The Tropical (1991) [16.55]; Piano
Trio No. 2 (2002) [13.53]; Fanfarria, aria y movimiento for violin
and piano (2000) [6.28]; Piano Trio No. 3 Romantico (2008) [15.50]
Trio Arbós (Miguel Borrego (violin); José Miguel Gómez (cello); Juan Carlos
Garvayo (piano))
rec. 5-7 February 2009, Chamber Hall, Auditorio Nacional, Madrid, Spain
NAXOS 8.559611 [53.05] 
See also review at: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/Apr11/Sierra_8559611.htm
This is the third Naxos disc to be devoted to the Puerto Rican composer Roberto
Sierra. It forms part of the ever-burgeoning Naxos American Classics series.
Sierra is a figure little known in the UK although he did have a work, Fandangos,
played in the 2002 Proms. He’s also scarcely known in Europe but has been
consistently making a reputation for himself across the Pond. For me this
has proved to be my first encounter with him.
His Piano Trio No. 1 subtitled The Tropical is a good place to start.
Its rhythmic first movement (En do - In C) was inspired by “Latin Jazz elements
of the music I heard on the radio as a child”. The second movement is redolent
of hot Spanish climes and is a Habanera Nocturna – the mood is: drinks
on the balcony overlooking the cityscape at midnight. The third movement is
a brief Intermezzo religioso; the South Americans are still very religious.
This is connected to a Movimiento perpetuo in which a rhythmic semiquaver
ostinato is continuously passed between the instruments under a jagged, jazz-like
melodic line. What I like about this Trio is that it has its own distinct
profile which gives the piece an individual character and ambience.
Again the next work has its own profile and character. As you listen to the
Piano Trio No. 2 of eleven years later you realize what an eclectic Sierra
is. This is a twelve-tone work with the same untransposed row used in each
movement. Don’t be put off. The first is almost pointillistic but also highly
rhythmic. It is entitled Clave de mediodia and the clave is
the “underlying rhythmic background of the salsa”. The next movement – Espejos
- uses the row as a series of fascinatingly overlapping mirrors like a “mirage”,
the composer says. The third movement acts as a very brief Scherzo; it is
called, appropriately enough, a Juego - a game. The finale is exciting
and the composer comments that the “three instruments join in rhythms that
resemble Afro-Caribbean drumming”. The work carries over two characteristics
from the First Trio: the ostinato patterning, especially in the finale, and
an element of modern jazz and dance. It’s terrific stuff.
A brief work now fills the gap before the Third Trio. It’s a sort of chamber
overture. The Fanfarria, aria y movimiento for violin and piano was
written as part of the Copland centennial celebrations and, according to the
composer’s notes is “based on the kind of open intervals and triads reminiscent
of sonorities that Aaron Copland favoured in his work”. I don’t hear these
sounds myself but I do hear salsa rhythms in the opening section and found
the final Movimiento perpetuo as evocative of salsa music as one can
imagine. It’s brilliantly played.
The Third Piano Trio, composed seventeen years after the first, is subtitled
Romantico and has four brief movements each bearing a descriptive title.
Sierra decided that he wanted to write more lyrical and traditional work hence
the opening movement Con profunda being in sonata form. He follows
this with a Scherzo called a Veloz which is in unsettling 5/8 time.
Then follows a beautiful and finely-shaped movement Con gran sentimento
which is almost reminiscent of Romantic Spanish music. Finally there’s an
Agitado which Sierra says is based on Puerto Rican folk-tunes. It reflects
a 3+3+2 pattern and rises to a stirring climax. Appropriately enough it was
first performed in Asturias.
Rather to my surprise, I have enjoyed meeting this composer and his music
more than I was expecting. The performances are superb and the recording is
of a fine quality and well balanced. This is a disc I shall happily return
to. No doubt I will look further for this composer, perhaps the earlier Naxos
CD of Sierra (8.559623) entitled ‘New Music
with a Caribbean Accent’ might be the next place to go.
Gary Higginson
I enjoyed meeting this composer and his music more than I had been expecting.