The BNews - 19-02-18 - New arrangement
The BNews - 19-02-18 New arrangement On June 3rd, Ensemble Kontrapunkte will perform my brand new arrangement of music by Silvestre Revueltas at Brahms-Saal, Musikverein Wien . It is based on sketches for a ballet called "Velorio", which means "death watch". For me it was quite a weird experience, because the music is not at all sad as a european would expect, but most of the time cheerful or grotesque. Many thanks to Angélica Castelló for translating the scenario and explaining the cultural background of this piece to me! In Mexico, death is not always taken dead serious, as one can clearly see in the way Mexicans celebrate the day of the dead . In this ballet, relatives and friends come to say goodbye to a deceased person, later angels and devils join the death watch. The guests are drinking, telling stories, dancing (the famous Mexican waltz "Sobre las olas" by Juventino Rosas is quoted quite prominently in the score - see illustration) and
