8 pp., $7.95, Presser Order number 494-02828 (PWYS-92)
Listen to:
La Catedral de Taxco, performed by Carlos Pérez (MP3, 3.34MB) used by permission.
The composer says:
Both pieces were inspired by beautiful cities in America and Europe. Taxco Cathedral, also named Santa Prisca, is located at the state of Guerrero, Mexico. Built in the year 1759, this majestic, pink-stoned, colonial styled church shows a typical “churrigueresca” façade. Having the goal to get closer to the religious and spiritual character of this ancient Cathedral, I decided to mesh medieval and contemporary sounds. On the other hand, having composed this piece almost totally within a graphic writing, it gave me the flexibility of getting inside these old musics, so intimately related to the imposing temple. Through the piece, we will hear sounds simulating or evoking church bells, Gregorian Chants, indigenous melodies, the horns of automobiles cruising nearside the Cathedral, even touches of Flamenco music that can be identified with the “churrigueresco” style of the old building. I would like to point out that this work was written to honor the Cathedral and the Taxco International Guitar Festival, directed by Juan Carlos Laguna. The piece is dedicated to Chilean guitarist, Carlos Antonio Pérez. The city of Perugia, like Taxco, is built on the tops of hills. In Perugia’s instance, it elegantly descends toward the Tiber Valley. Its beautiful urban helmet, identified by a nucleus of Etruscan origin, is encased by medieval walls. The piece I present to you, a solo for guitar, like the city’s architecture, is characterized by frequent and sudden contrasts. It is dedicated to Leonardo de Angelis, a current Professor at the Conservatory of Perugia.
Composer and guitarist Ernesto Cordero (born in 1946 in New York and raised in
Puerto Rico), began his higher studies in 1963 when he entered the Conservatory
of Music in Puerto Rico and he continued at the Royal Conservatory of Music in
Madrid, Spain where he earned a diploma in 1971. Subsequently, he did
post-graduate work in composition with Roberto Caggiano in Rome, Italy from 1972
to 1974 
and
with Julian Orbón in New York from 1977 to 1978. He first studied guitar from
1961 to 1964 with Jorge Rubiano and he later worked with several teachers, most
importantly Regino Sainz de la Maza in Spain in the 1960s and Alírio Díaz and
Claudio de Angelis in Italy in 1972. Since 1971 he taught composition and guitar
in the music department of the University of Puerto Rico. In addition to his
activities as composer, performer and teacher, Ernesto Cordero was music
director since 1980 to 1997 of the International Guitar Festival of Puerto Rico.
He is in demand throughout the world as a distinguished participant in leading
competitions and festivals.
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