The groups participating in the section three of the International Music Band Contest «Ciudad de Valencia» 2019 will have to interpret as a mandatory work the score “Los Últimos Días de Troya” by the composer David Rivas.
DAVID RIVAS
Since 2006, David Rivas has worked as a secondary school teacher at IES «Cardenal Pardo Tavera» (a position he earned through public examination) in his hometown of Toro. He received his musical education at the conservatories of Valladolid, Zamora and Salamanca.
Working outside the academic sphere, his work in musical composition over the last few years has been very productive and gratifying. Studying under a number of Maestros including Oscar Navarro, Andrés Álvarez and Juan Luis Roig, David has enjoying a growing presence on the national musical panorama. Author of music for musical band, symphonic orchestra, choir, soundtracks for theatre and short films, as well as for the exhibit «Las Edades del Hombre», Rivas has composed more than 100 pieces and garnered numerous composer’s prizes, including:
– «Mi nuevo amigo«: Second Prize at the Concurso para Banda Joven (Youth Band Contest) 2016 organised by the TMJ of Valencia.
– «Manuel Calzada«: First Prize at the Concurso Internacional de Pasodobles (International Pasodoble Contest) 2016 of Benimaclet in Valencia.
– «Llanto por Cristo Muerto«: First Prize in 2017 at the Concurso Nacional de Marchas Fúnebres de San Pedro del Pinatar (National Funeral March Contest of San Pedro del Pinatar) in Murcia.
– «Memoria de Gallaecia«: First Prize at the 11th Concurso de Composición de la Federación Gallega de Bandas (Galician Federation of Bands Composition Contest), Category Three.
David’s music has premièred in countless theatres and auditoriums and is gaining prominence thanks to his collaboration with many international bands and soloists: Jesús López Cobos, Ainhoa Arteta, Juan Ferrer, Rubén Simeó, OSCyL, Luis Santana, Banda Municipal de Madrid (Municipal Band of Madrid), Banda Municipal de Sevilla (Municipal Band of Seville), David Muñoz, Banda de Infantería de Marina de Madrid (Marine Infantry Band of Madrid), Hercules Brass, Luis Antonio Pedraza, Banda Ciudad de Oviedo (City Band of Oviedo), Evan Feldman, Banda Municipal de Alicante (Municipal Band of Alicante), Antón García Abril, Johan de Meij, Theo Walters, Pascual Vilaplana, Jacob de Haan, Banda Municipal de Bilbao (Municipal Band of Bilbao), Taipei Wind Symphony, Canadian Brass, and others.
His music has crossed our borders and has been performed in countries such as Argentina, Mexico, Portugal, Peru, Greece, Italy, France, England, Germany, Japan, the U.S.A., and Taiwan.
Since 2017, Rivas is the recipient of the Premio de la Fundación Científica Caja Rural (Caja Rural Foundation for Science Prize) in the Excellence in Culture category.
OBRA OBLIGADA: «LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS DE TROYA»
«Los últimos días de Troya» (The Last Days of Troy) is a symphonic poem for wind band. This highly descriptive work narrates, through music, some of the most significant moments of the Trojan War. Although it is a single piece consisting of one movement, we can still define eight sections, each corresponding to one of the subtitles found in the score:
1. Call to battle: a brass fanfare signals that the battle between the Trojans and the Greeks is about to begin.
2. Achilles’ Heel: describes the chaos and the bloodshed of the battle. A violent struggle without end, where one of our main characters, Achilles, has been fatally wounded.
3. Song of the Priestesses: Achilles is dead. That is why the priestesses of the Temple of Apollo sing a hymn in his honour.
4. Eternal Achilles: A slow and melancholic section with an air of solemnity describes the Greek army’s farewell to their leader, who is thrown into the sea.
5. Trojan Horse: the Trojans, observing the retreat of the Greek army and after seeing a giant wooden horse has been left on the shore as a gift, think that they have won the war. Some citizens arrive to collect the horse and bring it to the city. We hear a majestic triumphal march.
6. Nightfall: while everyone sleeps, the Greek soldiers who had been hiding in the horse come out and open the gates of Troy, allowing the Greek army, whose vessels had been hidden behind a cape down the coast, to enter and destroy the city.
7. Destruction: Greek soldiers kill Troy’s inhabitants, and lay waste to everything in their path.
8. Immortal Achilles: a majestic final brings us to the epilogue of the piece, which represents the victory of the Greek army and the immortality of the hero, Achilles, who, despite his death in the battle, will go down in history.