(Solitude) Solitude, whether imposed or voluntary, forces us to confront the light and dark sides of our lives. The most transient moods become gaping chasms into which I can easily fall. Alone, I can detect the sound of my blood as it travels through my veins. I follow (indeed, I am but) the whims of my solitary steps, my inner voices. Alone, I am the shadow of my solitude.

In this piece I wanted my guitar too to experience the meaning of solitude — I isolated each of its sounds to prevent them from singing together. Stripped almost completely of its harmonic capacities, its strings unplucked, the guitar relinquishes sovereignty over itself. And as for me: “cuando muera enterradme con mi guitarra bajo la arena” (should I die, bury me beneath the sand with my guitar) — Federico García Lorca.

— Catherine Ego, Arturo Parra [English translation: Peter Feldstein]

The electroacoustic part of Soledad comes from the acousmatic work Derrière la porte la plus éloignée… (1998) by Gilles Gobeil. Soledad was a finalist in the Musica Nova 2001 International Competition of Electroacoustic Music (Prague, Czech Republic)

Composition

• 1998, Personal studio, Montréal (Québec)

Premiere

• May 15, 1998, Arturo Parra, guitar • FIMAV 1998: Parr(A)cousmatique, Cégep de Victoriaville, Victoriaville (Québec)

Awards

• Public prize, International Electroacoustic Music Contest of São Paulo 2001, São Paulo (Brazil)

Recording

• December 2000, Robert Normandeau; Monique Beaulieu, assistance • Faculté de musique – Université de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)

Mixing

• December 2000, Robert Normandeau; Arturo Parra, assistance • Faculté de musique – Université de Montréal, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Arturo Parra, guitar