BOOKLET

We find ourselves surrounded by music, although, at times, we don't even realise it. And we are even less aware that some of the songs we know, even those that have accompanied us during important moments in our lives, were born from the imagination and pen of women. Sometimes, the names of these female authors, from different eras, parts of the world, and styles, have been unjustly excluded from historical discourse. Fortunately, some of the melodies they created are part of our collective imagination. This is why projects like the album you hold in your hands, titled Y el canto de todas (And the Song of All Women), are so necessary, with the purpose of recovering a selection of musical pieces authored by women.

Women are gaining more visibility as part of the musical landscape in the public sphere, and since the origin of human history, they have embraced various roles, from performance and teaching to patronage and composition. Precisely in regard to the latter, referring to artistic creation, we are fortunate that for decades now, the legacy of female composers has been recognised thanks to flourishing research, the growing presence of compositions written by women in Western concert programming, and the development of musical projects like this one.

In this regard, the public has become accustomed to hearing works by female composers connected to classical music, especially from the 19th and 20th centuries, whose works are increasingly frequent in concert programmes. Examples include the German Clara Schumann (1819-1896), the French-Spanish Pauline Viardot-García (1821-1910), or the Mexican Guadalupe Olmedo (1854-1889), among others. However, beyond the academic realm, women have rightfully held an important place in traditional popular music, as they have been vital agents in the performance and transmission of oral repertoires. They have also achieved outstanding prominence in the creation and performance of urban popular music, in genres as diverse as bolero, tango, or singer-songwriter music. Precisely, on this musical journey, dear listener, you will find a delightful and interesting selection of songs, mostly in this contemporary style, created by women from Latin America throughout the 20th century, now revived through exquisite versions for solo guitar and orchestra.

Female Voices Rising Through the Guitar

Many of the songs included in this album are part of the soundtrack of our lives, though we may not know that a woman was the one who gave them life. After all, who hasn’t been captivated by “Bésame mucho” in moments of intimacy or sung the verses of “Gracias a la vida”, now a universal humanist anthem? Even without knowing the names of their creators, or even having heard some of the songs included here before, there is no doubt that we will be irresistibly drawn to their catchy melodies and seductive rhythms, some of them inspired by folk traditions, made even more hypnotic by the interpretation of the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of the prestigious and skilled maestro Serhiy Khorovets.

The repertoire of this delightful recording project comprises twelve pieces, most of them composed as vocal melodies with instrumental accompaniment within the framework of urban music in the mid-20th century – with the exception of compositions by Teresa Carreño and María Luisa Anido, which were originally academic works for piano and solo guitar. Since their inception, many adaptations have been made, usually keeping the voice as the vehicle for the text, which has undoubtedly stirred empathy and a sense of social and individual identification, typical of popular music. However, until now, no one had recognised the potential of the guitar as a solo instrument in a grand orchestra, replacing the human voice in the melody. While the guitar has been widely used as part of the accompaniment in countless versions, here, the plucked string instrument becomes the protagonist, assuming the voice of these women to elevate and reclaim them through evocative performances that allow us to journey through various Ibero-American countries.