Venezuelan Treasures for Piano Volume 1

Federico Ruiz finds constant inspiration in the rich popular and folkloric music of his country, the very thing that first attracted Clara Rodriguez to his compositions. They first met in 1993 and she became acquainted not only with his music, but, through it, discovered the precision and the soft expressiveness of each of the numerous rhythms of Latin America and the Caribbean. His music is a sophisticated synthesis of Latin American styles that, amongst many other traits, expresses the subtle interface between ‘classical’ and ‘popular’ music of the continent.

I met Federico Ruiz at the Latin American Music Festival of Caracas in 1992. There I had the opportunity of speaking to him about my concern of creating a repertoire that included Venezuelan composers with pieces not only inspired by the music from the Venezuelan plains, but that represented the Caribbean part that we also have in our country. The next day Federico gave me his Pieces for Children Under 100 Years of Age, and I immediately included about them in a recital that I gave a week later at the Museo del Teclado (Keyboard Museum) of Caracas.

Those pieces fascinated me because of the venezonality they present, the diversity of the themes, their joy and depth; I observed with great interest that there were also some dedicated to other Latin American countries such as Colombia, Cuba and Peru; apart from the finesse, delicacy and imagination of pieces like “Encuentro de Antonio y Florentino” Encounter of Antonio and Florentino, “Sueño Mágico” Magic Dream, “Vals para Dulcinea” Waltz for Dulcinea, “Virgen de la Soledad” Our Lady of Sorrow there are others like “Chaplin” Charlot, in foxtrot rhythm and “ Valles del Tuy ” in the style of the joropo tuyero.
From that first contact, Federico and I established a constant and fluid communication and I feel very honoured by his friendship.

He kindly listened to my suggestions and produced the oriental joropo called “Joropo-Estribillo” as the final piece in that children’s collection.
Studying this material we find that they are miniatures that, when interpreted, must express exactly the idea suggested by the title, the historical or literary references and of course the idiom proposed by the author. You must be very precise in the way you play each one. Each one is a whole world of expression. There is magic in such concise pieces and it is amazing how much energy each of them take from the performer!
I also found it fascinating to have come into contact with the well-known composer of the music of Venezuelan films such as Miguelángel Landa’s “Los años del pánico”The Years of Fear through “Paseo de dictador en motoneta” Dictator Rides a Moped for example and the “Cinematographic sequence” from the film “Cuchillos de fuego” Knives of Fire which bears witness to the close collaboration that Federico Ruiz has had with the filmmaker Román Chalbaud.

With the formidable richness that I saw in them, I thought that I had to continue exploring the creative mind of Federico Ruiz as well as his very open and adventurous spirit.

Clara Rodriguez