Pinturas Negras, Op. 19 (2023)

“The Black Paintings (Spanish: Pinturas negras) is the name given to a group of 14 paintings by Francisco Goya from the later years of his life, likely between 1819 and 1823. They portray intense, haunting themes, reflective of both his fear of insanity and his bleak outlook on humanity. In 1819, at the age of 72, Goya moved into a two-story house outside Madrid that was called Quinta del Sordo (Deaf Man's Villa). Although the house had been named after the previous owner, who was deaf, Goya too was nearly deaf at the time as a result of an unknown illness he had suffered when he was 46. The paintings originally were painted as murals on the walls of the house, later being "hacked off" the walls and attached to canvas [...] The paintings were not commissioned and were not meant to leave his home. It is likely that the artist never intended the works for public exhibition: ‘these paintings are as close to being hermetically private as any that have ever been produced in the history of Western art.’” - Wikipedia
Pinturas Negras is written for a mixed ensemble of 18 instruments - strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion, a piano and a vocalist. The 15 scenes consist of an Overture, introducing many of the main themes heard in the piece, and the 14 paintings, split into three parts. The first four are largely dark affairs, developing the themes from the Overture, while the next six paintings are more intimate and introverted, often featuring just two or three instruments, and provide the majority of the few peaceful moments in the piece. The four paintings of Part III are louder and longer, and branch out more with their own themes, culminating in the infamous Saturn Devouring His Son.
I started writing this piece in July of 2023 - it began as just one piece based on Saturn Devouring His Son, about eight minutes long. But after a few days, I had some ideas for the piece that didn’t quite fit the painting; meanwhile, I discovered the other Black Paintings and liked many of them as much as Saturn. Even when I decided to write music for all 14 paintings, I didn’t expect the piece would be my longest yet. It was an unusual experience composing so many short pieces, and I really had to think about the structure of each movement. It was quite fun writing so many different endings, and I am still rather proud of most of them. I owe a lot to Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition - one can notice the Promenade-like theme in the Overture, and especially keen listeners might find some similarities in the order of the first four pictures in each piece.
Instrumentation:
Flute 1
Flute 2/Piccolo
Alto flute
Oboe
B♭ clarinet
Bass clarinet/E♭ clarinet
Alto saxophone
Bassoon/Contrabassoon
F Horn
B♭ Trumpet
Trombone
Timpani
Percussion
Soprano
Piano
Violin
Viola
Cello
0:00 Overture
Part I
4:08 Átropos
6:26 La romería de San Isidro
9:38 Vision fantástica (Asmodea)
11:26 Peregrinación a la fuente de San Isidro
Part II
14:55 Doña Leocadia
18:12 Dos mujeres y un hombre
19:22 Dos viejos comiendo sopa
20:29 Un viejo y un fraile
21:51 Judith y Holofernes
23:44 Hombres leyendo
Part III
26:49 Duelo a garrotazos
29:46 El gran cabrón
32:50 El perro
37:21 Saturno devorando a su hijo
Created with Dorico Pro 4 and NotePerformer 3

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amazing work benjamin