Program notes
Many times I have been asked how I would describe my music and, eventually, I have come to accept that it is closest to what people call Latin American music. I grew up surrounded by the fusion of cultures that shaped Venezuela: the European tradition brought by Spain, the strong African presence, and the aboriginal Indian heritage. These streams all meet in our popular rhythms and dances, and they have become the backbone of my musical language.
I am also strongly attracted to modality. Much of my music sets up a constant confrontation between modal sonorities and a more dissonant, contemporary harmonic world. Rather than resolving that tension, I like to let both coexist and rub against each other, as if the various cultural layers were all present at once.
Pájaros de tres alas takes its title from an image of impossible flight: birds with three wings. The music alternates chant-like passages—almost like a free, Gregorian line—with highly rhythmic, dance-driven sections in compound meter. At one point the melody is left completely exposed, without any accompaniment, like a solitary voice in an enormous space. Later, the full orchestra bursts into a 3/8 dance whose pulse alludes playfully to the “rhythm of the Trinity.”
— Efraín Amaya
Instrumentation & duration
Instrumentation: Full orchestra (also available in a wind ensemble version).
Duration: ca. 7:10.
Audio
Two recordings of Pájaros de tres alas are available below: the original orchestral version and a band / wind ensemble version.
Orchestra version
Band / wind ensemble version
Purchase options
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For rental of orchestral parts, please visit our Rental & Licensing page.