Songs, Elegies and Dances - Antonio Lauro composed the Suita Venezolana in 1963. As the title suggests, it is a suite, a series of dances in imitation of the older form, only now the familiar dances of the baroque have been substituted by characteristic dances of Venezuela. The opening Preludio is followed by an energetic Danza negra in 6/8, a more lyrical Cancioní in 2/4 and a waltz (Vals) in a rugged 3/4 rhythm. - Alfonsina y el Mar (Alfonsina and the Sea) is one of the most famous songs by Latin American composer Ariel Ramirez. The song relates the story of the Argentinean poet Alfonsina Storni, who sought her death by walking into the sea; here the music acts as a counterpart to the melancholic theme of this song. - Edmundo Vasquez also drew his inspiration from the rich Latin American musical tradition, amply portrayed in the ethnic elements used in Auzielle. - Although Roland Dyens is French in culture, he successfully imitates in his music the stylistic characteristics of Latin American music. The overall character of Tango en Skaï is that of a popular dance, the tango. The piece, however, abounds in virtuosic passages, a feature that makes it very challenging for any guitarist to play. - Alexandros Kalogeras (b. 1962) composed Seven Visions in the Shade of Azure for Apostolos Paraskevas, on the occasion of the Second Guitar Congress-Festival of Athens of 1993. The sounds used are exceptionally Greek in color, like the clear blue of the sky and the sea that the title suggests. The piece is in the form of a rondo, seven variations on the same motive, and technically very challenging. In A l'Aube du Dernier jour (Dawn of the Last Day), Francis Kleynjans relates the story of someone who is about to be executed in the guillotine during the French Revolution. The programmatic elements of this music are quite obvious to the listener: the piece starts with the sound of the seconds passing while in the cell, creating an atmosphere of suspense. The dawn comes and bells are heard; the guard opens the cell door (scratching), the steps of the guard (light strikes on the wood) blend with those of the prisoner, as the music becomes more and more anguished. The piece ends with the abrupt sound of the guillotine. - Cuban guitarist and composer Leo Brouwer (b. 1939) is one of the first artists who have succeeded in fusing in their music the typical dance rhythms of his country with the avant-garde techniques of modern western music. The title of the first composition, La Espiral Eterna (The Eternal Spiral) alludes to the spiral of the universe, which becomes musically illustrated in the characteristic sound of an idea that continuously turns round itself. These minimalistic tendencies obviously stem from the composer's influences during his years of studies at the Juilliard School and the Hartt College of Music in the U.S., and are apparent in many compositions of this period. The piece ends with six seconds of complete silence. - Elogio de la Danza (The Praise of Dance) was originally written to be choreographed and performed with the participation of a dancer. Here the composer returns to his experimental compositional approaches: the music begins with a single note (E) which returns many times throughout the piece, acting as a tonal and rhythmic ostinato, while the irregularity of the rhythm constitutes another important element of the work. A strike on the bridge, another feature characteristic of the second part of the piece, and an anguished last chord bring the work to a close.