Bailongo, o Danzas de Pasión y Desdén

World Premiere: 2019, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad de Costa Rica, Alejandro Gutierrez.

Abridged Version Premiere: 2022, The Florida Orchestra, Enrico Lopez Yañez, conductor.

Recent Performances: Houston Symphony, Gonzalo Farias, conductor. September 2025.

Duration: 14 min (9 min. abridged version also available)

Commissioned by the University of Costa Rica for the inauguration of their new music building. There’s a 14 min “symphonic poem” version of this work, as well as an abridged version of 9 min that is more suitable as a “concert overture.”

VIDEOS:

NATIONAL SYMPHONY OF COSTA RICA

AUDIO of the recording by HOUSTON SYMPHONY can be provided UPON REQUEST.

SAMPLE SCORE (Click for PDF)

For part rentals please contact SYMPHONICA PRODUCTIONS.

PROGRAM NOTE

Danzas de Pasión y Desdén is a symphonic poem celebrating the rhythmic and instrumental richness found in Latin American dance music. Although it may not be immediately obvious in the score, I was somewhat inspired by two monumental works of the European repertoire, La Valse by Ravel and Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss, with the hope of writing in a similar vein for the concert music repertoire in Latin America. Those masterpieces are odes to the waltz genre; each is an apotheosis of the rhythms and gestures inherent in that Viennese dance.

In my work, however, I did not attempt to create an apotheosis of any specific Latin genre, but rather a kind of symphonic poem filled with allusions to our culture. More than a potpourri of rhythms and melodies, it is an exploration of some of the passions present in our music. The title alludes to the seductive character that dance can sometimes have, especially when performed in pairs. It suggests nuances of courtship—at times romance and at times rejection—

but always with intense passion and fervor.

I sought to create a serious work with an accessible musical language that serves as a celebration of our Ibero-American essence. An intrinsic sense of joy and exuberance is always present, contrasted with moments of melancholy and nostalgia. The orchestration is lush and constantly active, generating an almost Dionysian sensation in the listener—one that, hopefully, might compel the mind to rise and dance from its seat in the concert hall.

I dedicate the premiere of this work to Maestro Alejandro Gutiérrez, director of the Symphony Orchestra of the University of Costa Rica, and to the members of this orchestra, on the occasion of the inauguration of the new building of the School of Musical Arts in December 2019. I hope that the joy and passion present in the work will inspire the future generation of musicians who will be shaped within these classrooms.