Leo Brouwer

Canción de Gesta

Cuban composer Leo Brouwer sent the score of his Canción de Gesta (Epopeya del Granma, la nave llena de Futuro) to American Wind Symphony Orchestra director Robert Boudreau as a token of thanks for Boudreau's advocacy for the classical musicians of Latin America. The title--literally, "Song of Heroic Deeds (The Epic of Granma, the Ship Full of Future)"--alludes both to poet Pablo Neruda's Canción de Gesta about Castro's momentous journey to Cuba aboard the Granma and to the odyssey of another ship, the Point Counterpoint II, on which the young musicians of the AWSO traveled and performed. The opening melody transforms Handel's Water Music into a fanfare fit for an epic sea voyage.