The "Five Orchestral Pieces" by Joaquin Rodrigo chosen for this recording range from 1924 to 1982, the last year in which Rodrigo wrote compositions for orchestra. "Cinco Piezas Infantiles" was the first of Rodrigo's orchestral scores to make an impact: "Reading the score makes one's hair stand on end!" (E. L. Chavarri) "These five children's pieces are made to please grown-up children who enjoy games of sounds and rhythms." (R. Brussel) "Per la flor del lliri blau" [For the flower of the blue lily] is a symphonic poem, based on a Valencian legend. Though the idiom of the piece is part of the European late-Romantic tradition, the voice is unmistakeably Rodrigo's own and demonstrates how easily Rodrigo integrates popular Spanish styles of music to great effect, as also seen in "Palillos y Panderetas" and "Homenaje a la Tempranica" - a homage to a famous zarzuela, the Spanish form of light operetta. During a visit in Texas, Rodrigo had made the acquaintance of some astronauts and had been allowed to touch some stones from the moon. He was thinking about this event when he wrote "A la búsca del mas alla" [In search of the 'beyond'] some years later. This piece begins and ends somehow lost in space - in the beyond.

Classical Music