Cantos Veloces

The four movements of this work were conceived in order that the soloist can demonstrate his virtuosity. Gómez uses a style that interweaves a rhythmic and melodic discourse that simulates two voices through a fragmentation of the phrases by using large intervallic leaps while at the same time repeating some notes with different timbres and articulations. The work, premiered by Carmen Borregales during the 16th Festival of Latin American Music in 2010, generated excellent critical review from Luis Ochoa, Alfredo Del Monaco, Xavier Berenguel and Enzo Filippetti.

This is the second work by this composer for solo clarinet. This composition consists of 7 inner sections organized according to character, color, and tempo under a symmetrical criterion. It follows, as a formal outline, the development of simple, but well defined elements (interval motives, rhythmic motives, movement expansion and contraction, sequences, and multiphonics) that contrast, partner, and merge in a single cyclic movement and, at the same time, take advantage of most of the instrumentation range. Likewise, this composition was conceived to increase the repertoire for the clarinet course at the National Music Conservatory in Lima. Premiered in 1993, this work has also been part of the graduation program for some of the music schools in Alsace, France.

The great music history teaches us that there are more works with extra musical references than purely abstract works, and it is practically impossible to refrain from generating images and narratives about any kind of instrumental music. I would say that even the works that are further from earth’s influence, the Renaissance vocal polyphony, generate infinite celestial images. And talking about the Renaissance and the echo of the Gothic cathedrals, it takes us directly to vampires that are reborn when the night falls. The nocturnality is a vital point here, it is not so much about the blood they suck, which is finally a particular diet choice. Vampires are nocturnal because their theme is solitude; in a certain sense, they flee from humanity. The others, healthy, diurnal, must be possessed, confined, infected, and finally void in their otherness. Vampires do not sing, but music is essential in their movies. This could be the soundtrack of a silent vampire film; Murnau’s one, naturally surrounded by legends and mysteries, like the clarinet.

This work composed in 2006 reflects the human warmth of the populous areas of Caracas in which the Venezuelan spirit of the XXI century is captured.

“Fuego en el Bosque” is Robles’s first work for unaccompanied clarinet and was originally written in 1996 as a gift for clarinetist Abigail Goldenberg. Later, in 1998, it was revised during his residency at the University of Cincinnati and was re-premiered by the Grammy award winning Michael Maccaferri that same year on the university campus in Cincinnati.

Cinco Miniaturas (2009) was commissioned and dedicated to Carmen Borregales and Carlos Escalona, members of the “Dúo Contemporáneo de Caracas” and former students of the composer. The piece was composed in 2009 and premiered in 2011 at the “X Festival de Jóvenes Clarinetistas Venezolanos.” The piece reflects a more abstract approach by the composer, where he experiments with different ways of writing for these two instruments. Some of the miniatures (introducción, valse, and intermezzo) start with a series of chords in different registers and dynamics. The chords are abstract, but their tonal centers serve to set the harmonic and melodic layout of the following sections.