Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Symphonieorchester Concierto München conducted by Carlos Domínguez Nieto.
I - 0:00
Rueda's "Viaje Imaginario" (Imaginary Journey) was completed on January 1998, while Rueda was composer-in-residence with the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE). It bears the subtitle "Francisco Guerrero in memoriam", being dedicated to the memory of his mentor and teacher, who died on October 1997. This fact links the work, according to the author, to the motet Delicta Juventutis, which Pierre de la Rue wrote in the 15th century on the death of Philip the Fair, in which the author uses descending gestures to evoke sadness.
The composer explained the inspiration behind the piece: "I remember we were staying in an old spa hotel in Cestona, in the Basque Country, and that the orchestra had the entire place to itself. The main lounge and the huge rooms reminded me of the legendary hotel in Kubrik’s The Shining. The long evenings I spent composing and the night-time walks I took in the mountains and by the river left an indelible mark on the character of this work. I was inspired by the unconditional support of so many young musician friends and of my publisher, Llorenc Caballero, but chiefly by memories of my teacher Francisco Guerrero, who had died three months earlier."
By developing the extremes of registers and, above all, by combining the sounds of different instruments, Rueda here creates indeterminate sounds, similar in a way to the world of electroacoustics. At the beginning, an exploration of opposing registers brings us the sensation of space; this is then gradually filled as he superimposes chords that fluctuate in an enveloping, ecstatic sound. A trumpet call drags us out of this gentle flow to take us into a plastic world of reflecting light and shade. In the end, the chords fade away to leave the cellos’ last note hanging in nothingness. "Viaje imaginario" is, to a certain extent, structurally similar to Ives’ "The Unanswered Question" and Lutosławski’s "Interlude". It also has, as one might expect, a marked funereal tone.
Picture: "The Entire City" (1935-6) by Germain painter Max Ernst.
Sources: tinyurl.com/ywpadtel and tinyurl.com/yofu5que
Unfortunately, the score is not freely available.
Symphonieorchester Concierto München conducted by Carlos Domínguez Nieto.
I - 0:00
Rueda's "Viaje Imaginario" (Imaginary Journey) was completed on January 1998, while Rueda was composer-in-residence with the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE). It bears the subtitle "Francisco Guerrero in memoriam", being dedicated to the memory of his mentor and teacher, who died on October 1997. This fact links the work, according to the author, to the motet Delicta Juventutis, which Pierre de la Rue wrote in the 15th century on the death of Philip the Fair, in which the author uses descending gestures to evoke sadness.
The composer explained the inspiration behind the piece: "I remember we were staying in an old spa hotel in Cestona, in the Basque Country, and that the orchestra had the entire place to itself. The main lounge and the huge rooms reminded me of the legendary hotel in Kubrik’s The Shining. The long evenings I spent composing and the night-time walks I took in the mountains and by the river left an indelible mark on the character of this work. I was inspired by the unconditional support of so many young musician friends and of my publisher, Llorenc Caballero, but chiefly by memories of my teacher Francisco Guerrero, who had died three months earlier."
By developing the extremes of registers and, above all, by combining the sounds of different instruments, Rueda here creates indeterminate sounds, similar in a way to the world of electroacoustics. At the beginning, an exploration of opposing registers brings us the sensation of space; this is then gradually filled as he superimposes chords that fluctuate in an enveloping, ecstatic sound. A trumpet call drags us out of this gentle flow to take us into a plastic world of reflecting light and shade. In the end, the chords fade away to leave the cellos’ last note hanging in nothingness. "Viaje imaginario" is, to a certain extent, structurally similar to Ives’ "The Unanswered Question" and Lutosławski’s "Interlude". It also has, as one might expect, a marked funereal tone.
Picture: "The Entire City" (1935-6) by Germain painter Max Ernst.
Sources: tinyurl.com/ywpadtel and tinyurl.com/yofu5que
Unfortunately, the score is not freely available.
