Benet Casablancas

Epigramas cervantinos

Epigramas Cervantinos was commissioned by pianist Marta Espinós and the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musica (CNDM) in Madrid. With an approximate duration of 12:30 minutes, the work responds to the author's admiration for the work of Miguel de Cervantes and to the artistic complicities established with Marta Espinós, to whom the work is dedicated. The pieces that make up this triptych are intended to evoke some of the expressive types and characters that we recognise in Cervantes' prodigious legacy - from Don Quixote to the delightful Exemplary Novels - covering a wide range of emotions that range from burlesque to pages of a melancholic and contemplative nature, passing through more impulsive passages and others of conspicuous rhythmic vivacity. The profound charge of humanity that these texts exude is translated into a highly contrasted and colourful piano treatment, at times brilliant and not without virtuosity. The premiere of the work, by the aforementioned performer, took place during the inaugural concert of the Commemorative Events of the 4th Centenary of the death of the illustrious writer, held on 22 April 2016 in the Reading Room of the National Library of Spain (Madrid).