Classical Music Library Free Download of the Week: Ginastera's Estancia Suite, Op. 8a

On a tour of South America with the American Ballet Caravan in 1941, Lincoln Kirstein commissioned a ballet from Alberto Ginastera with an Argentine subject. The composer responded with the one-act Estancia.

Choosing a typical Argentine estancia (a cattle ranch on the pampas) as his setting, Ginastera taps into the 'gauchesco' literary tradition, quoting from the epic poem Martin Fierro in numbers sung by a baritone. Gauceschos were Argentine cowboys who worked the cattle, and Ginastera quickly became the musical voice of their tradition.

The piece was first performed in Buenos Aries on 12 May 1943.

This recording is performed by the Carlos Chavez Symphony Orchestra; Fernando Lozano, conductor.

Download this work through April 11, 2008.

Comments

[M Smadi]

Thanks for the great musical service!

May I suggest an easier way to download the files? Currently downloading the mp3 files requires renaming them (because they are all names the same thing) and adding the file extension.

A zip file for download would be great!

Thanks again, I continuously look forward to your weekly offerings.

[Wirkman Virkkala]

The downloads work fine on a Mac in iTunes . . .

I appreciate this month's download a great deal. Thanks! Ginastera is one of my favorite composers. I'd welcome some of his later stuff as well. For example, his Concerto for Strings (Ormandy recorded it; it deserves more performances) is magnificent.