MUJERES DEL ARBOL for Symphonic Band by NICOLÁS MAZZA (Argentina, 1974)
- WASBE Marcom
- Jun 22
- 3 min read
[#309] June 23, 2025 2025 | Grade 4 | 20’ – 25’ | Suite
Premiered by Banda Sinfónica de la Provincia de Córdoba conducted by Pablo Almada on Mar 07, 2025 in Córdoba, Argentina.
“Mujeres del Árbol”, by Argentinian saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and arranger Nicolás Mazza is our Composition of the Week.
"Mujeres del Árbol" was composed in August 2024. Its chamber music version was premiered in November of the same year, performed by the Female Clarinet Ensemble of the Rossi Festival at the Hall of Honor of the Palace of Music, Domingo F. Sarmiento, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The symphonic band version was arranged in February 2025 and premiered on March 7, 2025, in commemoration of the International Women's Day, at the “Teatro del Libertador” in Córdoba, Argentina.
"Mujeres del Árbol is a tribute to the women of my maternal lineage. After a family constellations session, my therapist suggested an exercise: to enter a meditative state and create a musical miniature for each of them. The instruction was to sing the first thing that came to me and write it down on a score. So, I started with my mother, then my mother's mother, and within an hour, twelve of my maternal ancestors spoke through small musical phrases. I discovered that they all had very different personalities and moods, each one full, powerful, and filled with love. It is from this new wellspring of certainties and emotions that this symphonic suite was born. This work is a profound tribute to these particular lives, also intending to resonate with other personal and collective stories, as all female lineages have passed through this world, leaving their deep imprints of love and life.” Program Notes by Nicolás Mazza
The work is structured in ten short sections, played without interruption and bare the following names:
I - Susana Margarita, my mother, a true “chamamé” dancer.
II - Ampelia, my grandmother, a prolific mother, defined by lightness, kindness, and love.
III - Pascuala Ana, my great-grandmother, marked by deep sorrow. And her great-great-grandmother, affected by anger.
IV - Pascuala, my great-great-grandmother, a maritime and brave woman. She doesn't fear her destiny, she doesn't fear leaving for a "new world."
V - My grandmother's great-great-grandmother, spoken in peace and with a need to express herself.
VI - Religious Ancestor, my great-grandmother's great-great-grandmother, praying her secrets in a monastery.
VII - Hidden Ancestor, watching over her adopted daughter from the shadows. Mysterious, not frightening, without malice.
VIII - My grandmother's great-grandmother, unfolding wisely in everyday life, amidst full village life.
IX - Hidden Ancestor.
X - Susana Margarita.
“Mujeres del Árbol” is scored for standard symphonic band setting, including double bass, harp and piano. It has a duration of about 24 minutes, and it is available directly from the composer.
Nicolás Mazza serves as Arranger and Chief of Archives for the “Banda Sinfónica de la Provincia de Córdoba” and is also the bass clarinetist for the “Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Córdoba”. His arrangements and compositions span a wide array of ensembles, including Orquesta Nacional de Música Argentina “Juan de Dios Filiberto”, Coro Nacional de Música Argentina, Orquesta Sinfónica de la Provincia de Córdoba, Orquesta Sinfónica Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Córdoba, Orquesta de Cuerdas Municipal de Córdoba, Banda Sinfónica de la Provincia, Coro de Cámara de la Provincia, Coro Provincial Delfino Quirici, Coro Polifónico de la Provincia de Córdoba, Banda Sinfónica de Santa Fe, Banda Departamental del Valle de Cauca, Colombia, among many others. As a soloist, Mazza premiered his own concerto, “Serranías” for tenor saxophone and orchestra, with the Orquesta de Cuerdas Municipal de Córdoba.
Mazza has created symphonic arrangements for renowned Argentinian artists such as Jairo, Los Caligaris, Juan Iñaqui, Mery Murúa, Paola Bernal, Negra Lorena, Magui Olave, Negro Videla, and Toro Quevedo. He has also composed incidental music for films like Marina Rubino’s “Ivonne” and Cristian Salas’s “Buen día mi General,” as well as for the web miniseries “El Cactus” and various road safety short films by the same director.
He has received grants from the Fondo Nacional de las Artes (National Arts Fund) for professional development and cultural project production, and the INAMU (Instituto Nacional de la Música) Regional Subsidy in 2017. Notably, he secured creation grants from “Fondo Nacional de las Artes” in 2019 for his composition “Cantos Ancestrales Mapuches” and in 2021 for “Serranías.”
“His compositions honor his people and their land, finding their inspiration in the ancestral music of indigenous communities, the natural landscapes, and Argentine folklore”.
More on Nicolás Mazza
