I composed “Tierra y sol” in 1996, with the sonorities of many traditional instruments typical from the Andes mountains on my mind. The blend of pitch and noise in their spectrums, the articulations, the intonation, the way the musical phrases are played by peoples (non-professional musicians) from the country or the streets of some cities of South America, attract me to compose this piece.

All sonic materials were derived from ancient Andes’ woodwind instruments like quenas and mohoceños; cross-culture musical instruments like charangos, and even the classical guitar (introduced to America during the Spanish colonization); and from the voice of a folk singer, still living in the mountains.

With “Tierra y sol” I am trying to reflect not only the sonorities from the Andes mountains, but also the pace, the mood, the different way of changes, the hopes (or non-hopes), the times of the people’s vital cycle there, on the higher places of the Andes mountains (north of Argentina and Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador). This piece is for me a kind of connection past-present-future, or primitivism-hyper technology, or south-north, or simple-complex, ….. and maybe a self-examination of my (our) style/rhythm/focus on life.

“Tierra y sol” was commissioned by the International Computer Music Association for performance on the International Computer Music Conference of 1996, held in Hong-Kong, where it was premiered.

Source: 2003