Frei raimundo penaforte biography

Home / Religious & Spiritual Figures / Frei raimundo penaforte biography

His own habit of burning manuscripts he felt were unworthy of posterity is evidence that he was acutely aware of this spirit of the age. He noted in particular Brahms’ “developing variation,” or the ability to manipulate a musical idea and transform it into something new, though it largely retains its original structural qualities.

Orpheus, whose longing for Eurydice recognizes no boundaries of heaven and hell… Love regained, then forever lost… Orpheus’ lyre intoning his sorrowful yearning…

One particular detail of interest is the unique tuning Ran specifies for the 2nd cello part. According to Dominican tradition, he once rebuked the king of Aragon for his immoral behavior.

His name is Johannes Brahms...” (No pressure.) 

Brahms was living during an era when the development of the “canon” was in full swing and the idea of building a lasting legacy was taking hold. He grew up playing the cello, and his father played double bass. 

Whatever his motivation, the sextet is utterly gorgeous with its combination of memorable melodies and plush tones.

Boosey & Hawkes and Hal-Leonard Corporation have published his concert arrangements entitled Suite From West Side Story for violin and piano.

As an instrumentalist, Penaforte has collaborated with notable musicians such as Latin star Rubén Blades, folk icon Richie Havens, jazz luminary Maynard Ferguson, klesmer clarinetist Giora Feidman, Brazilian pianist Dom Salvador, and Brasil Guitar Duo, among others.

His two principal works are his Summa Casuum on penitential discipline and his compilation of the decretals of canon law, commissioned by Pope Gregory IX. This collection of conciliar and papal decrees became a standard work for canon lawyers for nearly seven hundred years. He has toured Colombia with Afro-Cuban charanga band La Tipica Novel and has been featured at Lincoln Center’s Midsummer Night Swing series.

As a composer, Penaforte has participated in music festivals in the United States, Brazil, and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Decades later, Arnold Schoenberg paid tribute to Brahms’ quintessential technique in an essay titled Brahms the Progressive. Valerius Ensemble has presented an all-Penaforte program at the Muziecentrum (Arkezaal) Enschede, and at the Rabotheater Hengelo in the Netherlands before recording Raimundo Penaforte: Between Sun and Snow, a CD released and distributed worldwide by Aliud Records.

Penaforte’s works have been recorded on Telarc, EMI/Classics, Denon Records, Angel, Infiné, Aliud, Pro Organo, Roméo Records, Con Brio Recordings, and Pomegranate Music.

The configuration also afforded the opportunity to add more low strings, a sonority that Brahms adored. Disseminating this musical style was his passion and his obsession throughout his life. It took nearly twenty years due to his fear of having to follow in the footsteps of Beethoven. It calls for the lowest string to be tuned down by a 3rd, thus achieving a broader range of sonance.

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
SEXTET NO.

1 IN B-FLAT MAJOR, OP. 18

Between the summer and early fall of 1853, Brahms’s life changed irrevocably. A ele coube o encargo de elaborar as Decretais de Gregório IX (1234), e ficou conhecido por seu zelo na formação dos padres, em vista do ministério da penitência.

1949)
LYRE OF ORPHEUS FOR STRING SEXTET

The Israeli American composer, Shulamit Ran, began composing at age seven, and since 1973 has been on the faculty at the University of Chicago where she holds the position of Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Music. In it, he highlighted these hallmarks of maturity: “...a direct and straightforward presentation of ideas, without any patchwork, without mere padding and empty repetitions.” Richness without excess.

The cello’s “soul,” so naturally combining passion and lyricism, has always touched me in a special way.

As sometimes happens, naming the piece was the final act in the process of creation.