Classical Music | Music for Quartet

Alfredo Rolando Ortiz

Cuban Dream after the Storm  Play

Chicago Harp Quartet Quartet

Recorded on 09/09/2015, uploaded on 05/12/2016

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Composed by Alfredo Rolando Ortiz for the Chicago Harp Quartet in 2015 and dedicated to the renowned harp teacher Susann McDonald, Cuban Dream after the Storm is a Latin American tour de force for harp quartet. Ortiz, a world famous Paraguayan harpist and harp composer, grew up in Cuba and the piece is a recollection of his childhood memories. Notes from the score indicate that the opening "is a thunderstorm. Feel the wind and hear the thunder coming closer . . . and then going away . . ." As a child, Ortiz recalled sitting in his home and hearing music in the distance, coming closer and closer, exploding in a scene of color and life. The conga line would pass by his home, shaking the walls with thundering music. The piece closes with a conga in the distance that gets closer and more raucous with each measure.      The Chicago Harp Quartet