Juan Pedro Esnaola (Buenos Aires 1808 - 1878) is considered to be Argentina’s first professional composer being his work classified into religious, orchestra and parlor music.
Its sources of publication include Antología de compositores argentinos by Alberto Williams; Boletín Musical; La Moda -Gacetín semanal de Música, de Poesía, de Literatura, de Costumbres- y Mefistófeles -Semanario de Música, Teatros y Novedades-.
His memory specially persists based on his review of the Argentine National Anthem. Published in 1860, it was adopted as “the authentic form of its music” by Decree 10,302 of April 24, 1944. The subject merited a special work by Guillermo Gallardo, published in Buenos Aires in 1962, under the title Juan Pedro Esnaola y el Himno Nacional (Juan Pedro Esnaola and the National Anthem).
An inventory of the works of Esnaola published in 2002 mentions the existence of fifty nine compositions for voice and piano, one for voice and guitar and one for voice, piano and guitar 1. Besides, according to Guillermo Gallardo, a Colección de Canciones con acompañamiento de Piano Forte (Collection of songs accompanied by fortepiano) is preserved in the family files. In it, out of forty eight manuscripts, twenty have no author indication. Those that are dated are in rigorous chronological order 2.
Esteban Echeverría (Buenos Aires 1805 – Montevideo 1851) had for Argentine writing the same importance that Esnaola had for music, although they followed very different paths. Echeverría, a philosopher, politician and poet, was an enemy of Rosas, Governor of Buenos Aires, and died in exile. Esnaola lead a peaceful life until his death in his hometown. Carlos Vega mentioned as another difference that while Echeverría thought of a poetry that felt the Argentine soil, its men and scenery, Esnaola remained faithful to the European styles. However, the collaboration of these two great spirits “resulted in the first attempt at Argentine lieder ”3.
This work comprises the eleven songs that Esnaola composed between 1835 and 1841 based on Echeverría poems.
1 García Muñoz, Carmen; Stamponi, Guillermo. Juan Pedro Esnaola. Su obra musical. Catálogo analítico-temático. Buenos Aires, Editorial de la Universidad Católica Argentina, 2002.
2 Gallardo, G. Juan Pedro Esnaola.Una estirpe musical. Buenos Aires. Ediciones Theoria, 1960, p. 76.
3 Vega, C. Juan Pedro Esnaola. El primer gran músico argentino, en Revista del Instituto de Investigación Musicológica “Carlos Vega”. Buenos Aires, 1997, n° 15, p. 32-33.
The instrument was built in Hamburg, Germany, by J. H. Traumann and it is a typical example of the oblong piano of the end of the first half of the 19th Century. Since there are no records, the date was estimated based on its characteristics.
It maintains some of the particularities of the primitive pianoforte, while already incorporating some of the innovations leading to the current instrument. Based on a requirement for more volume and timbre, the diameters and tensions of the chords increased, which required the addition of a half frame, heavier hammers and a more developed mechanic, which was called "repetition action”.
This instrument belongs to the National History Museum. It was donated in 1965 by Mr. V. Ordóñez and his wife Beatriz Gallardo, together with other items that had belonged to former foreign affairs minister Angel Gallardo (1867-1934), nephew and godson of Juan Pedro Esnaola.
The current condition of the instrument is very good. It was restored by Jorge V. González and María Paula Olabarrieta between 2004 and 2005. Norberto Broggini performed on it after it was restored, in a concert dedicated to the works of Esnaola on July 10, 2005, that was held at the Auditorium of the National History Museum, and the recording of this CD was the second time it was used again.
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