Confines. Works for guitar by Pepe Evangelista

Confines, Sochantre, and El Peregrino enamorado are inspired respectively by the books of Quinito L. Mourelle (Confines), Álvaro Cunqueiro (As crónicas do Sochantre), and Wenceslao Fernández Flórez (El bosque animado). These works highlight the importance of the relationship between music and literature in the composer’s aesthetic ideas, a relationship that transcends mere descriptive and mimetic elements, distilling atmospheres, concepts, and actions into pure musical ideas. Thus, they present a personal and subjective interpretation of the literary works that inspire the compositions. Despite the temporal distance between the compositions El Peregrino and Confines, we can perceive a stylistic unity in the musical language. We can also detect a preference for simple forms, instrumental recitative as a structural and expressive component, profound knowledge of the instrument, and clarity of writing. On the other hand, the quest for essence and the idea of ‘saying more with less’ in Sochantre and Confines contrasts with the voluptuous lines of some movements in El Peregrino enamorado. This sheet music collection cannot conclude without highlighting Pepe Evangelista’s great passion, both as a performer and composer: jazz. Composed for classical guitar, Variations on a Piece by Charlie Parker takes the renowned work Scrapple from the Apple as its starting point and presents it in a style of broken, expressive lines and wide intervals reminiscent of Manuel María Ponce. It includes melodic turns derived from jazz and a unified discourse that culminates in a long, energetic, and dynamic variation, evoking the intense improvisations of the great saxophonist.