Suite of Buenos Aires for Flute and Guitar (2009)

This delightful suite by Claudia Montero draws inspiration from the composer’s hometown of Buenos Aires, where the music evokes, in her own words, “the contrast between a city full of life, and full of romanticism”.

There are three movements, each with a different character. The first is entitled Preludio y Nanita where two outer sections sandwich the Nanita or “lullaby”. There are two main themes in the outer sections, where the first is more melodic and the second is faster and driven by accents that bring out the typical Argentinian Tango rhythm of 3-3-2. This rhythm features throughout the suite. The central lullaby features lilting triplets in the low register and a descending bass line in the guitar at a much slower tempo, giving the listener a moment of calm before the city wakes up again.

The second movement, Intermedio melancólico, is very slow and expressive, with the tango rhythm in the flute part going against a simple 2/4 accompaniment in the guitar, creating some rhythmic tension. The romantic flute part is very vocal and covers a wide range, with plenty of dynamic contrast. The music starts to slow more in the middle section before dying away at the end.

Fuguetta y Despedida (Fuguetta and Farewell) completes the suite. It starts very lively with strong, accented guitar chords, before embarking on the Fuguetta theme, which is taken up by the flute, exploiting the 3-3-2 rhythm, but now with some big interval leaps, which add to the excitement. There is a central slower section with a very simple melody before the Fuguetta comes back. A slight misprint of the tempo here, where I believe it should be 130 instead of 80.

This suite is suitable for intermediate-level players and above. It would be a great piece to add to a flute and guitar programme, or something to play before tackling more dfficult pieces like Piazzolla’s L’Histoire du Tango.