Three categories of Argentine traditional elements are evident in Alberto Ginastera’s sonata for guitar, op. 47.
Characteristics of the criollo guitar tradition and of the guitar itself play important roles in the construction of the piece. Elements of the andino cantos de caja, the baguala, and the vidala are used in the development of important thematic material as well. Finally, the malambo and other criollo dances generate the rhythms of the energetic closing movement.
This according to Alberto Ginastera’s use of Argentine folk elements in the sonata for guitar, op. 47 by Mark Grover Basinski, a dissertation accepted by the University of Arizona in 1994.
Today is Ginastera’s 100th birthday! Below, Manuel Espinás performs the sonata.
BONUS: The composer with one of his more temperamental critics (click to enlarge).
