Carmen Thierry OBOEMIA Música Mexicana Para Oboe Solo

In the early 1980s Pauta magazine (Journal of Theory and Musical Criticism) appeared in Mexico, thanks to the interest and initiative of composer Mario Lavista. Pauta provided, for the first time in Spanish, access to information on contemporary techniques of instrumental performance. As a result of the work of a group of young Mexican musicians who decided to specialize in contemporary music, articles devoted to the oboe, the flute, the clarinet, the double bass, the guitar, the harp and strings were published in Pauta during the early years.

In 1982, along with Pauta magazine, the Da Capo Quartet was founded. With Maria Elena Arizpe on the flute, Leonora Saavedra on the oboe, Lilia Vazquez at the piano and Aaron Bitran on the cello, they recorded Between 1982 and 1984 three albums of music by Mario Lavista, Manuel Enriquez, Federico Ibarra, Daniel Catan, Joaquín Gutiérrez Heras, Rodolfo Halffter, Stephen Montague, Lilia Vazquez and George Crumb. Throughout personnel changes in the quartet, Roberto Kolb continued Leonora's work with the oboe, even after the Quartet ceased performing.

In early 1989, Guillermo Portillo created at UNAM's National School of Music the "Camerata" group, inviting Carmen Thierry to participate, since then, Carmen has premiered in Mexico and worldwide numerous works, many of them especially composed for her and for the group. For decades she was practically the only oboist performing contemporary music in Mexico. In the 2000s talented young musicians appeared continuing the work of Leonora, Roberto and Carmen.

This album is a compilation of music written for solo oboe from 1957 to 2008. The program includes works composed in a traditional language by Antonio Navarro, Carlos Chavez and Maria Granillo, compositions using contemporary techniques by Gonzalo Macias, Mario Lavista, Manuel Enriquez, Horacio Uribe and Manuel de Elías, and works utilizing new techniques and electronic sounds by Luis H. Arevalo, Manuel Rocha and Jorge Calleja.

This is an invitation to a fifty years' journey through the beautiful and extraordinary sounds of a fascinating musical instrument, the oboe.