Buzzing Rueda, buzzing Rueda, you'll come a-buzzing Rueda with me

Still warm, my newest CD released by NAXOS with (almost all) piano works of Jesus Rueda is creating a buzz. Honestly, perhaps this IS the CD that all piano lovers in Spain (and many abroad) have been waiting for these years. Anyway, I'll keep it short this time, since you can check it out at : http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572075 . And I'll paste my article in the booklet of that CD here. Hope you enjoy the new 21st century pianistic adventure !


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Jesús Rueda (b. 1961)
Piano Music

A recording of Jesús Rueda’s piano works is long overdue. Rueda is today unquestionably the foremost living Spanish composer for the piano. Although he has never been a performer, his understanding of the resources and potential of the piano is nevertheless broader than that of most. His pianistic masterpieces would not have existed—as he himself openly acknowledges—had it not been for his intensive studies of the pianism of Chopin, Liszt, Ravel and Prokofiev; but it is his highly individual language that makes his music not only so new and radical, but highly expressive and communicative. He has successfully produced a mesmeric blending of ‘classical’ and contemporary elements: his compositions might ask the instrument to whisper in utmost secrecy or, in Walt Whitman’s words, to sound its “barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world”.

This ‘Rueda’ pianistic soundworld was launched with his First Piano Sonata, composed in 1990–91. Entitled Jeux d’eau, the sonata is clearly influenced by Ravel, its nine-minute gorgeous wash of sensuous music evoking radiating light, sweeping surges and powerful torrents of water. This is Rueda the master draughtsman at his most shimmering and seductive. The subtle use of pedal should always be observed by the pianist in order to take full advantage of the extensive palette of colours.

More than a decade separates Rueda’s first sonata from his Second, entitled Ketjak. This time—even more virtuosic than the first—the influences are jazz and Balinese Kecak dance rhythms, and I am so profoundly grateful for the honour of being its dedicatee. The motif of the whole piece is introduced in the very first bar, roaring in the lower registers of the instrument. This motif develops in many different ways throughout the piece, trembling with a textural density spanning from hollowness of unearthly splendour to dense cascades of pummelling electric charges.

The 24 Interludes are sophisticated short pieces which immediately engage us. The majority stem from true life experiences, and they contain the most ravishing musical expression Rueda has hitherto articulated. Their wealth of expression ranges from the most poignant anguish to the most ecstatic rapture and even ironic wit. Some were conceived and developed in Rome—where Rueda lived 1995–2000—evoking impressions of the city (Movimiento, Niebla, Grazioso, Corrente, Sospeso, Dibujo). Others are musical gifts for the new-born babies of close friends (Canción de cuna, Berceuse, and for my own baby daughter born in 1998: Il filo di Alicia sull’acqua). Rueda does not hesitate to look back in time, and in some numbers he indulges the inextinguishable romantic urge: Chopin is directly inspired by Prelude No. 16 of the great Polish composer; Vision is a Lisztian study borrowing the title from one of his Transcendental Etudes; Prokofiev’s ghost appears in Toccata; and Rueda was possessed by Scriabin’s spirit while writing Campo de Estrellas. Notturno in Bali depicts the fearful 2002 night when the terrorist bombs exploded in Bali; Seikilos is based on an old Greek epitaph; and Rueda conjured up impressions of his close friends in Retrato, Omaggio, Registros separados and Corale. These exquisite pieces sometimes also serve as studies or sketches for a larger future work.

Mephisto (1999) is one of the pieces originating from my invitation to a number of Spanish composers to write a ‘hommage’ for the seventieth birthday of Luis de Pablo, who had once been Rueda’s teacher. The piece’s gestation took place while Rueda was travelling in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Modelled on Liszt’s famous first waltz, it is certainly a terrifying tour-de-force for any pianist, fiercely erupting in a Dionysian catharsis in the third—and final—section of its five-minute countdown to the apocalypse.

Being a great composer, Rueda understands the piano so well that he can write—as composers of the past have done—(very) simple and highly attractive pieces for children to play. In 2003 he started writing these Inventions, dealing with basic piano techniques and ranging technically from the very simple to the moderately difficult. In this recording we hear nine of them. Bouncy Black is for black keys in intervals of a second, and Inner Piece is its counterpart for white keys. Then there is the Ligetian “blocked keys” technique in Watch Your Steps, the unending cascade of notes in To Be Continued and amusing rhythmic games in The Happiest Seconds. Rueda continues to add attractive short pieces to the approximately fifty he has already written; Inventions is thus an essential contribution to the musical education of the young.

Ananda Sukarlan

Recording Jesus Rueda's "Ketjak"

So, Rueda's Sonata no. 2 "Ketjak" has highly enthused the public that I am asked to immediately record it. A CD of Rueda's piano music is of course long overdue, as he is, with Santiago Lanchares, the most important composer for the piano from Spain today. Lanchares' CD of his complete piano works (well, complete means until 2003) won the Best Recording of the Year last year, so a CD of Rueda should have at least the same impact, especially because Rueda has this sort of Scriabinesque passion in his music which appeals to the romantic music fans. Anyway, am planning a short period of rest and doing composition these 2 weeks, but I see that this is the best time to record it since it is still "in my fingers" as we say . And it will be good for my second performance of it in Mexico in September, since practising for a recording means meticulously dissecting the piece and really "assimilate" it . Also I would like to record Nancy van de Vate's beautiful piece she wrote in 2003 commemorating the Bali terrorist attack, "A Balinese Diptych" ; it will be released next year in Vienna Modern Masters, but since I am entering the studio recording, I'd better record it now. So, these 2 days I worked on and finished my piece "Psalm 148" for SSAATTBB choir, sent it to Vox Angelorum (who commissioned it) this morning and now back to my piano, boisterously practicing those exhilarating Ketjak rhythms. Again, my gratitude to Jesus Rueda is beyond words for writing this incredible piece of music. Am really, really honoured to be its dedicatee .

World premiere of Sonata no. 2 "Ketjak" of Jesus Rueda

YES !! I just premiered it about 5 hours ago in this historical place, La Residencia, in Madrid (Ravel, Poulenc, Stravinsky once did their Spanish premeires here). Very happy , although not really 100% satisfied, but hey, it's the first performance, right ?. Jesus Rueda's Second Sonata "Ketjak" (yes, it's based on the polyrhythms of the Kecak dance of Bali) aroused great, GREAT interest of the public. I hope they get it : not only its virtuosity, lots of noise, brilliance, ebullience .... but also the impressive mastery of the great composer in manipulating the musical material and the really solid structure of the piece.
Jesus Rueda is THE composer of the piano of today from Spain, and one of the best composers in the world, so expectation was high . And it's been 10 years since he wrote his -- equally successful -- First Sonata. But yes, I feel happy , after lots of work (from his and my part), at last it has been premiered with my interpretation as I expected, more or less. I hope to play it in Monterrey (Mexico) next September and Rome (Italy) next October. And more, and more, and more. I am sure this masterpiece will grow and have a life of its own. I am proud beyond belief, obviously, to be the dedicatee of this great piano work.
And a very nice concert as well. The "elite" society of music of Spain were there : David del Puerto (who just happily came back from New York, having his Second Oboe Concerto performed for the first time in the US), Santiago Lanchares and his wife, the critics Arturo Reverter, and of course Jesus Rueda himself being admired by the ladies ....

Now am going home, and I have to finish my composition for SATB choir, "Psalm 148". It is commissioned by the Vox Angelorum Choir in Jakarta and its director, Henry Sutjipto. My idea is to write really a happy (which, in my musical terms means "funky") piece, and I know some churches in Indonesia are not really eager to have a funky (and loud !) piece performed in their churches ... but I just want to write what I feel and believe. Why can't we be happy pronouncing "Laudate Dominum !" ? And I think God wouldn't mind at all people listening to a happy piece ....