Three String Quartets by Contemporary Bolivian Composers

The Bolivian string quartet is a genre that is coming into its own, as the new generation of composers in Bolivia continues to make strides towards the modernization of their styles. Many of these quartets have never been performed, and musicians and scholars throughout the world remain unfamiliar with them and their distinctive contributions to the repertoire. This study, which has two main parts, provides an overview of Bolivian music in the context of Western art music and introduces scholars and performers to three award-winning Bolivian composers and their works for string quartet. Field research in Bolivia provided interviews with these composers, whose biographies are included, along with their insights into the scores made available in this treatise. Alberto Villalpando's Preludio, Passaccaglia y Postludio [sic.}, written in 1963, is a complex work that offers to the performers considerable ensemble challenges. Cergio Prudencio's string quartet "Gestación" (1976), introduces aleatoric elements. Lastly, Gastón Arce's String Quartet No. 1, "Una Evocación Andina"(1988: revised 1996), is the best known of Bolivian string quartets, having received its world premiere in the United States in 1998. It is hoped that this treatise will serve as an introduction to string quartets by Bolivian composers, whose contributions will enhance the standard repertoire.