Wednesday 20 February, 2013

Presentation of the fifteenth and final volume of the Basque Composers Collection

Carmelo Alonso Bernaola is without a doubt one of the indispensable names of 20th Century music.

Carmelo Alonso Bernaola (Otxandio, 1929-Madrid, 2002) is without a doubt one of the indispensable names of 20th Century music. An unequalled figure which the Basque Symphony Orchestra has wanted use to close its Basque Composers Collection, a 15 volume review of Basque music from the last century and a half.

Carmelo Bernaola's contribution not only radiates in its production, in which he knew how to capture his own language, but also by having been the maestro and example of many of the next generation musicians which excel today in the music scene, among them Juanjo Mena himself, musical director of this recording.

Besides the undeniable historic value of his work, it is also worth noting Carmelo Bernaola's relationship with the Basque Symphony Orchestra: as a composer, he was given the Orchestra's first commission, in 1985, launching a prolific policy of commissions which today continues being the Orchestra's symbol of identity, as demonstrated by the Tesela Project. In addition, the Orchestra has taken his work to the Miramón Matinées, Musical Fortnight, Musikaste, etc. As conductor, he occupied the OSE podium on various occasions, among them a concert at the San Sebastián International Film Festival (1983) and the recording of the album "Armonías Vascas" (1985).

From Jesús Guridi to Carmelo Bernaola, the Collection. Jesús Guridi and Carmelo Bernaola shake hands, they are the beginning and the end of the Basque Composers Collection. Between one and the other, from 1997 to the present, the Collection has brought together a significant sample of the productions of composers which, between the 19th Century and the beginning of the 21st, have written the history of Basque symphonism, adding great pages to our cultural heritage which are already part of this country's rich musical tradition.

In addition to promoting creation through commissions to composers and the live dissemination of the Basque musical heritage, guaranteeing its sustainability through recordings is one of the fundamental core ideas of the Basque Symphony Orchestra's activity.