Works for solo violin by Argentine composers code: TR050410 This compact disc is the first recording wholly dedicated to works for solo violin by Argentine composers. Was performed by Alejandro Drago. World Premiere Recording repertoire

This compact disk -of which we may say with certain pride that it constitutes the first recording wholly dedicated to works of soloist violin of Argentine authors- is the beginning of the series Argentine Classics of our label Tradition. We intend to carry out a work of investigation and dissemination, recording works that together will form a repertoire accessible to musicians and music lovers in Argentina and abroad. In many cases, localizing the scores of Argentine works —mostly autographical manuscripts— is a complex job, since the material is usually widely scattered and not well preserved, when it has not been lost for ever. We believe that one of the causes for the little dissemination of our heritage of classical music originates in the lack of a music industry interested in rescuing it. In that sense, the Republic of Argentina is lagging far behind as compared to other Latin American countries such as Mexico, Brazil and Venezuela, to name but a few. We hope our contribution will help, at least partially, to redress this failure.

We should underscore Alejandro Drago's enthusiasm since the beginning of the project, when we selected the program, deciphered the manuscripts and attempted to delve into the trajectory and the esthetics of each composer; it was fascinating work not only due to the diversity of contents, but also because we knew we were making inroads in a very particular and practically unknown repertoire. This enthusiasm increased when we discovered that the compilation we had made exceeded the duration of a CD, for which reason we have plans to publish a second volume sometime in the future.

The repertoire for soloist violin presents certain peculiarities related to the nature of the instrument. According to pedagogue and performer Carl Flesch (1873-1944), a piece for soloist violin is a sort of work against nature. The violin is not a polyphonic instrument, although with an adequate and ingenious treatment from the composition and the performance may produce more than satisfactory results. From that perspective, the European repertoire contains significant works: Johann Sebastian Bach's Sonatas and Partitas (1685-1750), the Fantasies by Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) and the Capricci by Pietro Locatelli (1695-1764) represent a peak within Baroque.

In the first half of the 19th Century we have the surprising findings of Nicoló Paganini (1782-1840) and later the Sonatas and the Preludes and Fugues by Max Reger (1873-1916), works that combine a chromatic language framed within new neobaroque forms of an intricate harmonic intelligibility. The 20 th Century opened up new possibilities and greatly expanded the repertoire with pieces such as the Six Sonatas opus 27 , by Eugene Ysaÿe (1859-1931), in which the author includes many innovations such as quarter tones and chords with more than four sounds; other novelties are observed in Bela Bartók's Sonata (1881-1945), in the more recent Pièce pour Ivry (dedicated to Ivry Gitlis, 1971) by Bruno Maderna (1920-1973) and in Sequenza VIII (1976) by Luciano Berio (1925-2003). Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), Darius Mihaud (1892-1974) and Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) likewise made their own and significant contributions.

In Argentina, the attempts of obtain musical scores for soloist violin previous to the 20 th Century have been fruitless. However, we maintain an ongoing search that could produce positive results in the future. Beyond the probable existence of some piece dating back to the 19th Century, the work of some local virtuoso, the oldest antecedent we have found is a piece called Brujerías (Witchcraft) by Enrique Mario Casella (1891-1948), possibly from the beginning of the 1930's, the score of which is supposedly lost. The oldest piece recorded in this CD belongs to Juan Carlos Paz (1897-1972).

In our country the history of violin goes back several centuries, starting with the period of the Jesuit missions, the work of the Indian luthiers that were trained in them and the almost mythical personality of Saint Francis Solano (1549-1610).

We could classify the material presented in this CD into three groups: works with rhythmic or melodic material of a criollo or American origin (Giacobbe, Altube, Gianneo); works without American references (Paz, Prelude by Gianneo) and works with influences of popular urban music (Anad, Bruno-Videla). A careful listening will allow us to perceive interesting flows and mixtures of languages, so that Giacobbe's criollism at times presents the roughest dissonances, while the abstract dodecaphonism of Paz is compensated by a simpler writing, both in terms of violin technique and in formal aspects. Gianneo brings together both trends and treats the dodecaphonic series with more licenses than Paz, while the remaining works pose the post-modern concept of a return to tonality, the return to the American roots and the exploration of Tango.