Stylistically, Estévez uses many nationalistic resources in his compositions. One of the most important influences is the Venezuelan plains, a geographic area that provides him with many poetic lyrics and programmatic ideas, as well as traditional genres such as the tonada and the joropo. His use of harmony tends to be impressionistic and intimately related to the text.(1)Antonio Estévez Aponte (1916 - 1988) was much involved with Venezuela's music education and composed choral songs throughout his life. In 1943 he founded the Central University of Venezuela's Chorus.
Estévez's choral works speak of Venezuela's rich musical traditions influenced by the plains and its Spanish and African heritage. These works are interpreted by soloists and choirs alike, and are of a great melodic and rhythmic originality.
Let's sample some of this beautiful music beginning with three songs from 1938:
- El Jazminero estrellado (The star jasmine) (1938) to text by Jacinto Fombona Pachano is here performed by the mezzo-soprano Morella Munoz and orchestra.
- Despertar (Awakening) (1938) to text by Luis Barrios Cruz is here performed by Ancora Ensamble Masculino, an excellent adult male choir.
- Fresas maduritas (Ripe strawberries) (1938) set to text by Julio Morales Lara is sung by the soprano Patricia Caicedo.
Canción de la molinera (Miller's Song) (1942/43) to text by Alejandro Casona is performed by the mixed choir Camerata Larense.
Tres canciones corales (Three choral songs) (1954): I. Arrunango (a cradle song), II. Tonada llanera (Tune from the Plain), III. Habladurías (Chatter).
El Ordeñador (1956) is a milking song performed here in two very different versions: first by the soprano/guitar Dúo Esteves-Gutiérrez and then in a choral setting by the university choir Orfeón Universitario de la UPEL Barquisimeto.
Polo doliente (1957) is a doleful polo song with a somewhat modernist accompaniment. The polo is a popular song genre of the inhabitants and fishermen of Venezuela's coastal regions, to text by poem by Aquiles Nazoa. It is here performed by the mezzo-soprano Ines Feo La Cruz and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra.
La sombra salió del monte (In the shadow of the mountain) (1961) to text by Luis Barrios Cruz is performed by the male choir Ancora Ensamble Masculino.
Mata del Anima Sola (Tree of the Lonely Soul) (1961), a nationalistic madrigal for youth chorus set to a poem by Alberto Arvelo Torrealba.
To conclude we hear Antonio Estévez's Ave Maria (date unknown (2)) sung by the girls choir Niños Cantores de Lara.
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(1) Cristian Grases, "Nine Venezuelan Composers and a Catalogue of their Choral Works." Doctoral dissertation, University of Miami, FL, 4/28/2009, p. 181. (http://scholarlyrepository.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1214&context=oa_dissertations (07/17/2016))
(2)Ib., p. 182. The date of composition is unknown. The work was first published in 1990.