Joaquin M. Orellana

Joaquin M. Orellana (1933-) 

Joaquin is a Guatemalan composer who studied at the National Conservatory of Music. Early in his career he considered himself as an important new composer and for many years he was a violinist in the National SO. In 1958 Orellana won first prize in the annual Central American Science, Letters and Fine Arts Competition, for his work El jardín encantado His String Trio was first performed in Washington, DC in 1965. In 1970 Orellana began to experiment with flujos sonoro-sociales, soundscapes of Guatemala, into his work. He showcased this sound in two of his most successful compositions: Electroacústica and Imposible a la X: historia en redondo (1976).

In 1982 he used magnetic tape, two flutes and other specially created instruments to create a sound that was used in his piece, Híbrido a presión. He also investigated the sonorous possibilities of the Guatemalan marimba by constructing new instruments from fragments of the marimba grande. The newly created instruments: ciclo-im, rastra-son and pandemarimbas, expanded the sound quality of the marimba. He uses one of these created instruments named sonarimba in his work Tzulumanachí. His works Evocacion profunda y traslaciones de una marimba incorporates a narrator, mixed chorus, magnetic tape and several original marimba-derived instruments.

Bibliography:

Scruggs, T.M. (n.d.). Joaquin M. Orellana. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Retrieved March 4, 2012 from: 

http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com.ezproxy.lib.umb.edu/subscriber/article/grove/music/46801?q=Joaquin+M.+Orellana&search=quick&pos=1&_start=1#firsthit
"The Art Music of Mexico and Guatemala." The Art Music of Mexico and Guatemala. The Art Music of Guatemala, 8 July 2011. Web. 2 Mar. 2012. <http://artmusicmexicoguatemala.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/joaquin-m-orellana-november-5th-1933/>.

Discography:

• Electroacústica (1976) instrumentation: flujos sonoro-sociales, recombinations on tape of ambient sound peculiar to the sonorous landscape of Guatemala.

• El jardin encantado

• Evocación profunda y traslaciones de una marimba (1984) narrator, mixed chorus, magnetic tape and several original marimba-derived instruments.

• Hibrido a presion (1982) instrumentation: two flutes, several specially created instruments and magnetic tape.

• Imposible a la X: historia en Redondo (1976) instrumentation: flujos sonoro-sociales, recombinations on tape of ambient sound peculiar to the sonorous landscape of Guatemala.

• Tzulumanachí (1974) instrumentation: sonarimba