Guildhall School publishes first recordings of songs by neglected Latin American master

8 December 2023

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Researchers and musicians convened by Guildhall School of Music & Drama have issued the first professional recordings of songs by Latin America's most prolific 19th century composer, Pedro Ximénez Abril y Tirado. The 16 new recordings represent a selection of the more than 300 songs composed by Pedro Ximénez, many of whose works were lost for more than a century. Their publication contributes towards broadening the repertoire of art songs beyond the European canon.

The Songs of Pedro Ximénez Abril y Tirado (1784-1856) is available on Guildhall School’s website in English and Spanish, and features recordings by Rafael Montero (tenor and project leader) and Carole Cerasi (fortepiano), alongside the original manuscripts and sample modern performing scores (edited by Juan Conrado Quinqivi Morón for the National Archives and Library of Bolivia), as well as the lyrics in original Spanish and in English translation by Research professor and former Guildhall Principal Barry Ife. The published project also includes original commissioned commentaries by Beatriz Rossells (Instituto de Estudios Bolivianos at Universidad de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia) and Drew Edward Davies (Northwestern University, USA), a seminar report and a video conversation with the performers.

The performance research project was convened by Professor John Sloboda, founder of Guildhall School’s Institute for Social Impact Research in the Performing Arts and one of the School’s most longstanding researchers prior to his retirement earlier this year. The project was made possible by a small grant from the AHRC's Open World Research Initiative supplemented by a generous private donation through the Guildhall School Trust.

Professor John Sloboda says:

“It is an honour to have been able to support this innovative project, bringing new attention to neglected musical riches of Latin America. Born in the ferment of the independence movements of the early 19^th Century, with their unique fusion of European and Indigenous influences, this is music of genuine distinction which deserves a place on concert platforms alongside European art song of the period. I am proud that Guildhall School was able to support and realise Rafael Montero’s initiative as a Latin American artist of indigenous descent, bringing together scholars and artists on both sides of the Atlantic to give voice to – and increase our understanding of – a distinctive Andean aesthetic. Such initiatives are direct and practical contributions to the important work of decolonising classical music, through broadening and enriching the classical repertoire available to today’s performers and listeners.”