Camiños da fin da terra | Antón Alcalde

[Edition 2011]
Scored for wind orchestra.
🏆 First Prize in the IV Galician Composition Contest for Band (second category), Spain, 2011.
ABOUT THE PIECE:
This composition won the First Prize in the IV Galician Composition Contest for Band, Spain, 2011. It was also selected as the test piece for the second section of the VI Galician Bands Contest, Spain, 2012. First performance was given by Galician Federation of Wind Orchestras (FGBMP), conducted by Xosé Carlos Seráns, at Galicia Concert Hall, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on December 30, 2011. In memoriam of Jorge Montes.
Title, Camiños da fin da terra (Roads of the end of the earth), is a 'play on words' referring to the Cape Finisterre (derived at once from the Latin finis terrae, that means literally "end of the earth"), since in Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the coast of Galicia, north-west of Spain, and the final destination for many pilgrims on the Way of St. James, name of the pilgrimage way to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great, located in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. The origin of the pilgrimage to Finisterre is not certain, but it is believed to date from pre-Christian times and was possibly associated with Finisterre's status as the "edge of the world", as well as the place to contemplate the last sunbeams of the day.
Continuing with my maxim of 'returning to the roots' and/or 'old wine in new skins,' already introduced in my previous work, Dolmen, it is resumed here under the subtitle 'Symphonic Metamorphoses on Two Galician Folk Melodies.' These melodies are 'O paxaro cando chove (The bird when it rains)' and 'O maio (The May).' Both melodies reached me thanks to Jorge Montes, who was my music teacher when I was just a primary school student and is also the dedicatee of this composition, as he greatly contributed to developing my love for music. 'Camiños da fin da terra' is presented in the form of a double-set of variations, although it also incorporates an overlay of various symphonic forms and concepts (such as the scherzo, canon, or fugato). The central section of the work, written as a polymeter of 5/4 over 4/4, functions as a link between the two blocks of variations, with each developed upon the other in a mirror-like fashion. 'Camiños da fin da terra' unfolds the virtuosity of all wind and percussion orchestra elements throughout its 12-minute duration, treated contrapuntally. The formal structure also includes a brief preface, encapsulating and presenting all thematic materials, and an extensive epilogue over a D-flat pedal, where the entire musical discourse is inexorably led, culminating in an explosion of light and color.
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