Carlos Guastavino - Mis Amigos

Carlos Guastavino (1912 - 2000) - Mis Amigos (1966)

I. Luisito, de la calle Concordia: Allegretto [0:00]
II. Nelly, de la calle Rio IV: Andante cantabile, un poco sostenuto [2:41]
III. Ismael, de la calle Teodoro Garcia: Andante sostenuto [5:29]
IV. Pablo, del Aeroparque: Andante un poco mosso [8:30]
V. Fermina, de la calle Aranguren: Allegretto cantabile [10:14]
VI. Gabriel, de la calle Andonaegui: Allegretto semplice [11:53]
VII. Alberto, de la calle Posadas: Lento [13:28]
VIII. Casandra, de la calle Galileo: Larghetto [15:43]
IX. Damian, de la calle Malabia: Andante Giusto [17:46]
X. Alina, de la calle Lacroze: Allegro [19:21]

Martin Jones, piano (2008)

Mis Amigos, or My Friends, by Carlos Guastavino is a set of 10 short pieces, each one portraying a specific person, similar in concept to Elgar's Enigma Variations.

"In 1966 Guastavino followed up Las Presencias with a further musical portrait-gallery. In Mis Amigos (My Friends) we are on first-name terms, but each of the ten characters is also associated with a particular street in Buenos Aires. The forms and textures of these pieces are simpler, sparer, as Guastavino refines his 'late manner': there is hardly an unnecessary note. The individual numbers hardly call for individual comment, so clearly-defined are they in themselves. Whether real or imaginary, the friends pictured within are depicted with unfailing affection and sympathy. Some sadness (in G minor) envelops No. 3, 'Ismael'. No. 7, 'Alberto', is apparently an aesthete, to judge by his voluptuous and finely-graded harmonies. No. 8, 'Casandra' is marked un poco misterioso, extraño, antiguo and consists of nothing but a rather hypnotic tune over soft left-hand chords: this mysterious foreign woman breathes the air of classical antiquity. No. 10, 'Alina', is a slightly bigger piece, rounding off the whole set with a vivacious dance."

(source: Chandos)