If you asked the man in the street what music from the Andes was about, he'd probably reply it was pan-pipes and ponchos. And if you asked for the name of a piece, you might eventually get El Condor Pasa by Simon and Garfunkel.
And yet. deep in the body of this music, El Condor Pasa there are the first opening notes, in octave unisons, clear as a bell. And why not - they're gone in a flash as the scene is set and the music moves off to something similar yet completely different. This undeniably catches the genre purely on guitar.
This is not a work from someone trying to cover «another style« in his portfolio - on his travels, Mr Carbajo has been immersed in this type of music and its craftsmen and writes with authority rather than mimicry. The result is a very accessible quartet in which the rhythm is lively and catchy without being unfeasibly complex or cumbersome.
The rest of the piece is nicely written with a pleasing amount of fingering and performance indications. Set in conventional SATB orchestration, Guitar 4 has a much livelier bass-line than is usual, and the parts above it share a similar rhythm, though only Guitar 1 goes up into the ninth position. There are some simple time signature changes that might trip up a day dreaming player, and there are some lovely chords behind it all; I can't resist E minor and A in succession.
Overall, it's probably suited to an ensemble between Grades 5 and 7 but it's a lovely and atmospheric piece that entirely lives up to its name.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
