As far back as he can remember he is packing up, saying goodbye, flying away,
flying back. He remembers the people he met but sometimes is not sure where
he saw them. His father being a doctor in the Army, he grew up in different
regions of Ecuador.
He later graduated in Law while finishing his music studies. Then he lived in:
Quito
Paris
Panama
Quito
London
Rome…
…London, here and now!
In each of these cities he composed, doing his best to catch their spirit
through his music. Diversity, in terms of space as well as time, is his main
source of inspiration.
Like all the people on the move he sometimes wonders: "What if I had never
left? Would my life have been a bed of roses? How different my work would
have been?"
Contemporary music from Ecuador may create certain images in your head. Folkloristic tunes might be one of them. Forget about
these images and prejudices and discover a composer writing very unorthodox music, using clusters, glissandi, whistle tones,
singing or humming instrumentalists and special techniques of playing instruments.
In his early works Arturo Rodas is definitely influenced by the music of Xenakis and early Penderecki, but always being
curious about different and strange ways, it is difficult to classify the rest of his music. Indeterminacy may be found in works
like "Güilli Gu" and "Ramificaciones temporales", reduction of musical material in compositions like "La", "Bailecito"
and others as well as repetitive elements in his "Twenty four Preludes and a half". Arturo Rodas is curious, trying to find
new ways of expressing himself, not restricting himself to laws and dogmas of certain compositional techniques. Or to put
it in Marie Martin's words: "Diversity, in terms of space as well as time, is his main source of inspiration".
Centre Regional des Oeuvres Universitaires et Scolaires CROUS: "Presencias" for 4 hands piano, "Tres piezas" for guitar, and
"Cuatro piezas" for piano. These pieces were premiered by Giselle and Chantal Andranian (piano) and Raymond Gratien
(guitar) on 8 June 1983 at the Auditorium of the "Cite des Arts" in Paris.
Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional del Ecuador: "Arcaica" for percussion and orchestra. Played at Teatro Nacional "Sucre" in Quito.
October 17 1985. Percussion : Pablo Valarezo, OSN conducted by Alvaro Manzano.
Ensemble "Denojours", Paris: "Voudriez-vous fermer les yeux un instant s'il vous plaît?" for tape. Played in Paris and
Valencia in concerts of the ensemble.
IBM of Ecuador: "Obsesiva" for computer -produced sounds & orchestra. Played by the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional (OSN)
on 27 May 1988.
Banco Central del Ecuador: a double LP 33 RPM with 7 of my works. Among them "ˇOH...!" for piano that was written especially
for the LP, in1986.
Magazine "Cultura": recording of "Ramificaciones Temporales" for clarinet, a "coloritura" (from the Spanish "color y partitura",
colour & score). Played by Miguel Jimenez at the "Salon de la Ciudad" in Quito, 1985.
Magazine "Cultura" from the "Centro de Investigacion y Cultura": recording of the music of "Güilli Gu". 1987 by the OSN
conducted by Alvaro Manzano.
Agrupacion Anacrusa, Santiago de Chile: ˇOH...! for trumpet. Played by John Schroeder at "Instituto Goethe" on 23 October
1988.
Group "Encuentros" in Buenos Aires: "OBSTINADO" for cello. Played by Carlos Nozzi at the "Teatro Colon" on 15 September
1988.
The "Departmento de Investigacion y Creacion" from the National Conservatoire: "FIBRIS" for orchestra. Played by the OSN
conducted by Alvaro Manzano at the National Theathre "Sucre" on 12 May 1989.
UNESCO: 1989, a one-year financial sponsorship to write music.
Latin American Music Festival "Ya": "ANDINO IV" for flute. Played on 23 september 1993 at St James Church, Piccadilly in
London by Robert Aitken.
Alonso Mendoza, Mexican percussionist: "LIEDER" for solo percussion on the ..... of november 1996 at the Bolivar Hall,
London.
Institute für Neue Musik, Freiburg: "Full Moon Business" for chamber orchestra. Played at the Institute fur Neue Musik by
their ensemble on June 9, 1997.
Gary Barnett, pianist from the USA: 6 preludes for piano solo that he plays in between May-July1998 in Ecuador (premiere),
Peru, Argentine & Brasil.
Gary Barnett: a sequence of preludes that includes the first six called "TWENTY FOUR PRELUDES AND A HALF" .
Gary premiered them in several concerts around the world (USA, Margaret Comstock Hall, Louisville; France,
"Salle André Marechal" , Paris: Italy "Il punto di svolta", in Roma and the UK Royal Academy, London). Note:
preludes 22, 22 1/2, 23 and 24 have not been played yet.
Double LP: 'Rodas' in the collection Compositores ecuatorianos contemporáneos (stereo 338-040 and 338-0409).
Contains the following works: Andino III, Arcaica, Climax, Mordente, Fibris, Espacios Invertidos and Oh ...!
(for piano).
A 45 RPM record released with the magazine Revista Cultura (Banco Central del Ecuador), no.26, September-December
1986. This record contains the work Güilli Gu. "In one of the sides of the record the music plays normally,
in the other, each of the eleven fragments is announced." (Quote by Arturo Rodas)
Magazine Revista Cultura from the Departemento de Investigacion y Creacion of the National Conservatoire in
Quito made a recording of Ramificaciones temporales, played by Miguel Jiménez
ARCAICA in "Música de Nuestro Tiempo", a double record produced by "Conservatorio Nacional de Música de Quito" ,
"Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional del Ecuador" and IBM Ecuador alonside works by Guevara, Maiguashca, Estévez and
Luzuriaga. Label: IFESA ESTEREO 301-0293-A
DIAM is soon going to produce CD's with the works clients ask for. Ready now : ANDINO III, Preludes 3,4,5
and BAILECITO.
