Abraham Tena Manrique: Complete works for piano solo (2004-2019)
Same artist
Da Vinci Classics
Physical and Digital Release: 16 February 2018
Abraham Tena Manrique presents his own piano works, tracing a personal musical language through lyrical reflection, contrasting forms and the expressive possibilities of the keyboard.
Composer and pianist: Abraham Tena Manrique
Catalogue number: C00067
Barcode: 0793597816252
13.67€
Abraham Tena Manrique: Piano Works · 18 tracks
Abraham Tena Manrique, composer and pianist. Track timings verified on Spotify; total duration 68:55.
Abraham Tena Manrique (b. 1973) is a Spanish composer and pianist. He studied at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona with Antonia Casas Botellé, and subsequently travelled from Spain to New York, working with pianists including Herbert Stessin, John Bloomfield, Peter Basquin and Julie Jordan. These encounters contributed to his development as both a performer and a composer. He has performed with the George Sand Piano Duo and with his sister in Dúo Tena Manrique.
Among his projects is a philosophical and musical exploration of Nietzsche and his music, developed with Professor Gregorio Luri. This led to Parafraseando a Nietzsche, Op. 21, an intimate work shaped by Nietzsche’s thought and presented at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona.
Since 2012, increasing numbers of musicians have performed his works for solo piano, piano four hands, piano and clarinet, and other chamber ensembles. Performances have taken place at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Jávea International Festival in Alicante, the Pere Pruna Civic Centre and the Reial Cercle Artístic in Barcelona, and the Sala Rodrigo at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, as well as in Tarragona, Menorca, Lugo, Palma de Mallorca and Mérida. His music has also been performed in London, Birmingham and Albania. His works are published by Editorial Boileau and Da Vinci Edition.
In 2016, Editorial Boileau published his octet Séneca, commissioned by Sergio Espejo, pianist of the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir (OCNE). The work was premiered by OCNE soloists on 1 March at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, following a recording for RNE’s programme Estudio 206. In 2015, Boileau had published his string quartet Don Quijote, Op. 22a, and the corresponding trio for piano, violin and cello, Op. 22b. A performance by soloists of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC) was planned at the time of the original biography.
In May 2017, he was working on the cantata The Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, commissioned by Sergio Espejo for the OCNE’s Satellite Concerts at the Auditorio Nacional. His work Khárôn was selected by the Catalan Association of Composers (ACC) and the Federation of Iberian Associations of Composers (FAIC), of which he is a member, for the Música d’Ara season. The series received support from the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Department of Culture, the performers’ association AIE, Barcelona’s Institut de Cultura and the SGAE Foundation, with collaborators including Catalunya Ràdio, Radio Clásica, the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and ESMUC.
On 9 July 2017, he performed the closing concert of the third Jávea International Classical Music Festival, at the invitation of its founder and director, Nati Ballarín, introducing eight of his piano works. The Reial Cercle Artístic in Barcelona, founded in 1881 and housed in the Palau Pignatelli, was chosen for the presentation of eighteen piano pieces published by Da Vinci Edition in 2017. Its historic concert hall provided the setting for a recital introducing his latest works to Barcelona audiences. A further recital was scheduled for 24 November at the Pere Pruna Civic Centre’s sixth Catalan Composers cycle, with other dates to be announced on the composer’s website. The original biography described plans to record this repertoire in October 2017 at the Auditori Pau Casals in El Vendrell, in collaboration with Da Vinci.
Kiev Portella, pianist and founding member of the Fundació Mompou, has regularly performed his works in Barcelona, Tarragona and Menorca. The George Sand Piano Duo has premiered and performed his music for piano four hands, including The Garden of the Hesperides, Op. 37, dedicated to the ensemble, in Madrid, Lugo, Palma de Mallorca and Mérida.
Raquel del Val premiered the Bagatelle Alborada, Op. 23, in London in February 2017; Jenna Sung premiered the two Preludes, Op. 26, in Birmingham; and Patricia García Gil premiered the seven fantasies The Pilgrim Path, Op. 20, in Huesca. Anthi and Kostaq Vrame performed the Fantasy for piano four hands, Op. 1, in Albania. Luis Becerra premiered Khárôn I, Op. 32, and performed it at venues including the Sala Rodrigo in Valencia. A performance of the same work by Feodor Veselov was announced for 14 December 2017 in the ACC’s concert series, alongside music by composers including Benet Casablancas. Other interpreters of Tena Manrique’s music include Sergio Espejo, Caroline Flud-Mozingo, Henrique Roberto Simões and Miguel Baselga.
Abraham Tena Manrique (b. 1973) is a Spanish composer and pianist. He studied at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona with Antonia Casas Botellé, and subsequently travelled from Spain to New York, working with pianists including Herbert Stessin, John Bloomfield, Peter Basquin and Julie Jordan. These encounters contributed to his development as both a performer and a composer. He has performed with the George Sand Piano Duo and with his sister in Dúo Tena Manrique.
Among his projects is a philosophical and musical exploration of Nietzsche and his music, developed with Professor Gregorio Luri. This led to Parafraseando a Nietzsche, Op. 21, an intimate work shaped by Nietzsche’s thought and presented at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona.
Since 2012, increasing numbers of musicians have performed his works for solo piano, piano four hands, piano and clarinet, and other chamber ensembles. Performances have taken place at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, the Jávea International Festival in Alicante, the Pere Pruna Civic Centre and the Reial Cercle Artístic in Barcelona, and the Sala Rodrigo at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, as well as in Tarragona, Menorca, Lugo, Palma de Mallorca and Mérida. His music has also been performed in London, Birmingham and Albania. His works are published by Editorial Boileau and Da Vinci Edition.
In 2016, Editorial Boileau published his octet Séneca, commissioned by Sergio Espejo, pianist of the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir (OCNE). The work was premiered by OCNE soloists on 1 March at the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, following a recording for RNE’s programme Estudio 206. In 2015, Boileau had published his string quartet Don Quijote, Op. 22a, and the corresponding trio for piano, violin and cello, Op. 22b. A performance by soloists of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC) was planned at the time of the original biography.
In May 2017, he was working on the cantata The Seven Words of Christ on the Cross, commissioned by Sergio Espejo for the OCNE’s Satellite Concerts at the Auditorio Nacional. His work Khárôn was selected by the Catalan Association of Composers (ACC) and the Federation of Iberian Associations of Composers (FAIC), of which he is a member, for the Música d’Ara season. The series received support from the Generalitat de Catalunya’s Department of Culture, the performers’ association AIE, Barcelona’s Institut de Cultura and the SGAE Foundation, with collaborators including Catalunya Ràdio, Radio Clásica, the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and ESMUC.
On 9 July 2017, he performed the closing concert of the third Jávea International Classical Music Festival, at the invitation of its founder and director, Nati Ballarín, introducing eight of his piano works. The Reial Cercle Artístic in Barcelona, founded in 1881 and housed in the Palau Pignatelli, was chosen for the presentation of eighteen piano pieces published by Da Vinci Edition in 2017. Its historic concert hall provided the setting for a recital introducing his latest works to Barcelona audiences. A further recital was scheduled for 24 November at the Pere Pruna Civic Centre’s sixth Catalan Composers cycle, with other dates to be announced on the composer’s website. The original biography described plans to record this repertoire in October 2017 at the Auditori Pau Casals in El Vendrell, in collaboration with Da Vinci.
Kiev Portella, pianist and founding member of the Fundació Mompou, has regularly performed his works in Barcelona, Tarragona and Menorca. The George Sand Piano Duo has premiered and performed his music for piano four hands, including The Garden of the Hesperides, Op. 37, dedicated to the ensemble, in Madrid, Lugo, Palma de Mallorca and Mérida.
Raquel del Val premiered the Bagatelle Alborada, Op. 23, in London in February 2017; Jenna Sung premiered the two Preludes, Op. 26, in Birmingham; and Patricia García Gil premiered the seven fantasies The Pilgrim Path, Op. 20, in Huesca. Anthi and Kostaq Vrame performed the Fantasy for piano four hands, Op. 1, in Albania. Luis Becerra premiered Khárôn I, Op. 32, and performed it at venues including the Sala Rodrigo in Valencia. A performance of the same work by Feodor Veselov was announced for 14 December 2017 in the ACC’s concert series, alongside music by composers including Benet Casablancas. Other interpreters of Tena Manrique’s music include Sergio Espejo, Caroline Flud-Mozingo, Henrique Roberto Simões and Miguel Baselga.
Dedication I dedicate this CD to my mother, my father and my sister. They gave me a perfect childhood and youth—a life I shall never forget—and they give me, every day, all the love I need to live. I also dedicate it to my “second mother”, my piano teacher Maria Antonia Casas. My life is what it is because of them. Nocturnes Two Nocturnes, Op. 4 In memory of my grandmother. I wrote these two pieces a few days after my maternal grandmother died. One afternoon, without thinking or knowing…
I dedicate this CD to my mother, my father and my sister. They gave me a perfect childhood and youth—a life I shall never forget—and they give me, every day, all the love I need to live. I also dedicate it to my “second mother”, my piano teacher Maria Antonia Casas. My life is what it is because of them.
In memory of my grandmother.
I wrote these two pieces a few days after my maternal grandmother died. One afternoon, without thinking or knowing why, I went to the piano with paper and a pencil. I sat down, placed my hands on the keyboard, and something unexpected happened: the wonder of writing them without effort. They emerged naturally; I did not use the eraser even once. Emptiness, nostalgia, sadness and loneliness did the work. I simply moved my hands over the piano and wrote down what my heart dictated.
Dedicated to my uncle Pedro and to Israel Navarro.
These two piano pieces, written in minor keys, evoke the end of a day—not a special day, just an ordinary one. Written at night, they reflect our dreams: like yesterday; like tomorrow, perhaps.
I wrote these two short fantasies for my wife, Raquel. In her I found one of the lights that illuminate my life: the serenity and love that allow me to breathe deeply.
Preludes, Op. 11: dedicated to my father.
Preludes, Op. 26: dedicated to Patricia García Gil.
Preludes, Op. 27: dedicated to Almudena Alemany’s pupils, Ria and Josep.
The preludes always come in pairs, reflecting a particular state of mind. The first is darker, without light and almost without hope, with an enclosed, profound atmosphere. Only in the second can we glimpse a little light of hope. Small as it is, it gives us a necessary moment of calm and serenity.
“But we always understand too late the people closest to us; and when we begin to learn the difficult business of living, we have to die, and above all those to whom our wisdom would have mattered have already died.”
Ernesto Sabato, On Heroes and Tombs.
Three Khárôn fantasies, Op. 32, Op. 33 and Op. 34: dedicated to Marta Cobo, Miguel Baselga and Caroline Flud-Mozingo.
Charon is the boatman who carries the souls of the dead to Hades, crossing the waters of the Styx. This image inspired the three Khárôn fantasies. They are linked by recurring musical motifs, some readily recognisable, others deeply concealed in the mist of the journey. The works function as a single whole, immersing us in the crossing of the Styx and ending unexpectedly and abruptly—an ending that is not final. We have reached the other shore, but that is another story.
Dedicated to Beatriz Gomar.
After reading Leo Tolstoy’s A Confession, I asked myself: “Does God exist?” Yes or no; peace or anguish? The book is a short autobiographical account of the author’s mid-life existential crisis. It describes his search for an answer to the ultimate philosophical question: if God does not exist and death is inevitable, what is the meaning of life? Without an answer, life had become “impossible” for him.
Dedicated to Jenna Sung.
Written in B-flat minor, this piece does not modulate. We remain in one key because we are in one place, one place alone: we are kissing our mother’s hand.
“…my mother approached my grandmother, kissed her hand as though it were her God’s, raised her up and carried her to the lift with infinite care. Alongside the fear of hurting her through a clumsy movement was the humility of someone who felt unworthy to touch the most precious thing in the world to her. Yet she never once raised her eyes or looked at the sufferer’s face.”
Marcel Proust, The Guermantes Way.
Dedicated to a dear friend, the pianist Kiev Portella Pons.
These few words are dedicated to Kiev:
“With these notes I wanted, with the greatest honesty and respect, to approach what your noble heart feels. This is your Confession, my dear Kiev: a confession that I hope may help to heal the wounds you have suffered. I wish to heal them note by note, and to take away your pain. These notes are yours. This is how I felt when I wrote them, and how I want you to feel when you play them.”
Album notes by Abraham Tena Manrique; English wording revised.
Composer and pianist: Abraham Tena Manrique
Recorded: Auditori Pau Casals, Tarragona, Spain, 2017
Sound engineers: Daniel Espinola and Alex Mas
Production, design and art direction: OMK–Da Vinci
Printed with the support of S.P.L.M.
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