The title and subtitle of Martin Bresnick's Caprichos Enfáticos: Los Desastres de la Guerra refer to a series of prints by Francisco Goya made between 1810 and 1820 and are translated as Emphatic Caprices: The Disasters of War. Goya's work plays on the ironic juxtaposition between a caprice, or capriccio -- usually defined as a whimsical, freeform musical work -- and wartime devastation, and Bresnick's music exploits the implications of such a terrible irony. (In its original conception, the presentation of the music was to ...
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The title and subtitle of Martin Bresnick's Caprichos Enfáticos: Los Desastres de la Guerra refer to a series of prints by Francisco Goya made between 1810 and 1820 and are translated as Emphatic Caprices: The Disasters of War. Goya's work plays on the ironic juxtaposition between a caprice, or capriccio -- usually defined as a whimsical, freeform musical work -- and wartime devastation, and Bresnick's music exploits the implications of such a terrible irony. (In its original conception, the presentation of the music was to be accompanied by DVD projections of Goya's images; the added visual dimension would undoubtedly affect the perception of the music and could add considerably to its impact.) The work, a concerto for keyboard and percussion quartet, was commissioned by Meet the Composer for pianist Lisa Moore and So Percussion, who perform it here. Even as a purely audio experience, the work conveys the strangeness and terror of Goya's often casually shocking imagery. Six of the eight movements take...
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