[REVIEW] Kagel’s Eight Pieces ‘The Compass Rose’ CD Editions; Perspective Shifts from Pieces to Pieces

It's been more than eight years since Mauricio Kagel's death and it not that easy to him into the landscape of European music in the second phase of the 20^th century, the eight pieces for his Salon Orchestra, "The Compass Rose" and "The Wind Rose" which was composed between 1988 and 1994.

According to Universal Edition, Mauricio Kagel was born in Argentina then moved to Europe in 1957 and as a late arrival on the post-1945 Avant Gade scenario, he always portrayed to cultivate his position as an outsider to be in a positive way. Kagel's works were somehow droll and discerning criticism of what his era of music's status; at his best, they often questioned him that whole purpose of his music and the hypothesis on which it was based.

Before the death of Mauricio Kagel, the confrontational world of his earlier pieces was often closed in a casket in favor of the pieces that brought together sets of historical and cultural references. As stated by The Guardian, geographical directions were very different from those European styles. As for Kagel, the ideas from northwest thoughts of the Andes and the music of its indigenous peoples were conjured while the north-east was Amazonia.

Mauricio Kagel's "The Compass Rose" was shifted from piece to piece in terms of its perspective. The South West characterized as a musical journey that starts from Mexico up to Pacific straight to New Zealand; as for the South East, the music originates from Cuba towards Colombia, Guyanas, and Venezuela where popular musics were to be found while the North shows the elemental sounds of adventure around the Arctic Circle.

The wealthy references of Mauricio Kagel's "The Compass Rose" were interlaced into pieces, both baffling and captivating. His pieces created a musical world that steadily changes in terms of its rhythmic and harmonic discontinuities. Kagel's eight pieces can be performed individually or in any combination.

TagsMauricio Kagel, Mauricio Kagel Work, Mauricio Kagel Piece, Mauricio Kagel Music