Música Contemporânea para Violão : Suite nr.1, Antigua, by Brouwer: "a portrait of the artist as a young man".

... I began to compose from the instrument, that is, I started being a guitarist

Leo Brouwer*

Suite 1 - Antigua

Leo Brouwer (1939-) composed Suite nr. 1 in 1955, which he called "Antigua" by following the forms of early music in its four movements. It’s a work for a while without registration in his Catalogue and still few presented and recorded. Although proposing traditional forms, it shows essentially Brouwer already connected to the modern – here he was only 16 years old.

Background - Brouwer himself has said in reports of scholars on his output (such as Paul Century and Diane Gordon) that at the beginning of his career he wanted to have a sharper guitar repertoire on hand, with works such as the greatest names in the history of Modern music – Debussy, Falla^**, Bartók, Stravinsky – his first compositions would be linked with this referential.

The British guitarist Graham Devine recorded Suite nr.1 (by Naxos, volume 4 – Brouwer's) and the young composer aim is endorsed in the CD booklet: "With this composition he embarked on his musical journey to fill in the gaps he perceived in the literature of the guitar. Written in the form of a baroque suite, the music is closer to the neoclassicism of Bartók or Stravinsky”.

On Isabelle Hernandez book^*** (2000, p. 13), guitarist Jesus Ortega (1935-) recounts about his friend Brouwer phase. Commenting on this Suite, Ortega recalls Brouwer's commitment to composing this work, and his intention to do in the old style (he also mentions a possible Allemande). During this period, Leo Brouwer made duet with Ortega, they even realized analyses, arrangements, Continuous Bass and presented alongside with other instruments.

The Brouwer’s initiation of writing for the guitar was assisted by making such arrangements. Interestingly, it was his guitar teacher, Isaac Nicola, who gave him encouragement to compose. His habit of doing arrange and studying compositional processes of nearer authors had contributed to assimilate structures, materials and forms within the musical composition, not only by the interpreter as he was.

Suite nr. 1 - presented in four movements, follows the pattern of some suites from a prelude and its fugue, a central work of slow tempo like the Sarabanda and the finale more moved with a Giga. The indicated tonality is C Major, crossed by dissonances that expand the harmony.

Prelude - written in two-voice, one of them in ostinato in the bassline. Section A has a ritornelo that ends in a different way and goes to a modulating B section - in A flat major, with many dissonances of minor seconds, and scales that make a transition to A’ with a codeta in a complete cadence, ironically with a final dissonant chord. The Prelude seems somewhat overture bordering the authors mentioned above, but also something of Prokofiev, especially the almost martial ostinato.

Fuga - The composition continues two-voices and in C major, being the theme of the fugue generated from the bass voice of the Prelude. The Fugue develops and modulates, falling again in the A flat Major; the exercise of dissonances was re-presented as in the Prelude, with motifs in second minor; there is a resumption of the initial idea also with a codeta, but unlike the Prelude, here the finale is tonal.

Sarabanda - From all the movements, that is the one that has a discourse closer to the original model. Written in two-voice, with many ornaments and well-elaborated dynamics, it has polyphonic treatment better done and moments of imitative counterpoint. The formal arrangement, however, contrasts with the sonority, which is the most atonal of the four movements. (Sarabanda video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzWz9zS8u6s)

Giga - it has the formal tempo of the gigue compound metre; the initial cell is approximated to the Gigue from the lute Partita BWV 997 by JS Bach****. The process is very modulating in the opening of the Giga; the tonal ground on C Major now refers much more to the dominant G major. The initial section is repeated, but with a different ending, in the direction of dissonant chords section in a fixed position and ostinato. Modulation continues and enters into section B of the work, un poco menos (poco rubato) more associated with the subdominant Fa Major - the mood of the work changes in this segment, almost a barcarola. This contrasting section is reoriented to Tempo I which reintroduces A section and modulates again to end with a codeta with perfect cadence in a strong C major.

Portrait of the young artist - Confirming what has already been said, we realized approaches with Bartók and Stravinsky on two fronts in Suite 1: - Brouwer's concern for experiencing harmony with modern extensions, with certain moments of atonality; - the use of ostinato times, not only by those named authors, but also Prokofiev and Milhaud. The modulating manoeuvre almost integrally in the work demonstrates the will to prove the theoretical knowledge added to his means of the interpreter/arranger (this is the year in which Brouwer graduates in Conservatory Peyrellade and makes his debut as soloist), through openings and subsequent reappearance of the idea that has generated the movement, that is, he has well well-defined concepts about tension/resolution and the theme / development / theme recapitulation. At the same time, he tries the dissonance - the substrate that gradually becomes a sign of his juvenile poetics.