José Cura’s “Concierto para un RESURGIR“

In 2020, during the pandemic-induced hiatus, I stuck my acrylic nails back onto the fingers of my right hand and, for the first time in 25 years, started playing the guitar again. Given the time that passed since I was last proficient, my reencounter with the challenge of technique was hugely frustrating, so were the muscular aches and pains, but my efforts reaped their reward: “Concierto para un Resurgir” was born. In fact, as many of us did, I also took the opportunity of that long reclusion to do a little spring clean of my drawers, and that’s when I found the early draft of a guitar Study written in 1989. That Study became “Alborada”, the second movement of “Resurgir”. The first movement is based on an “ostinato” chôro rhythm over which the guitar performs all sort of variations of the melodic leitmotiv, with a fusion approach between Brazilian folk and Jazz. The “Chôro” is followed by a “Batucada” (an “unruly” dance mostly known for its connection to the Carnivals of Brazil), and the “Batucada” is followed by a short “Saudade” (the Brazilian Sarabande, sister to the Blues), before a compressed “da-capo” resumes the movement. The third movement, “Ronda”, is based on a relentless exchange between the different orchestra sections and the guitar, of a “renaissance like” melody, and its resulting secondary lines - this exchange is done by using a “quasi rondeau” form. I would like to point out, for those who will recognise the melody, that Resurgir is crowned by a two bars tribute to Joaquín Rodrigo’s famous Aranjuez concerto, which appears out of nowhere at the end of the third movement “cadenza, before the “coda” which leads towards the conclusion of the piece. Music by Jose Cura Guitar, Rovshan Mamedkuliev Estonian National Symphony Orchestra Conducted by José Cura November 2021 (this demo is strictly non-commercial)