OÍDO INTERNO for Wind Orchestra by ISABEL LATORRE SÁEZ (Spain, 1984)
- WASBE Marcom
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
[#337] Jan 05, 2026
Spain | 2023 | Symphonic Band | Grade 5 | 14’ | Contemporary
Premiered by Valencian Municipal Band conducted by Miquel Rodrigo
on September 24, 2023 at 45th Ensems Festival, Valencia, Spain
This piece is available for purchase at Tot per l'aire
“Oído Interno”, by Spanish composer Isabel Latorre Sáez is our Composition of the Week.
Oído interno (Inner ear) was commissioned by the Valencian Institute of Culture to be premiered during the 45th Ensems Festival, on September 24, 2023, by the Valencia Municipal Band conducted by Miquel Rodrigo.
“The composition process of this work has been marked by the grief over my father’s death. The creative starting point came from reading a 1992 text by Pauline Oliveros, dedicated to the recently deceased John Cage. I include the final part of the text: Only deep listening returns me to this infinite source of all beginning, Abundance, fecund creativity Brilliant spark sounding pulse Life unending Beauty of fading physical being toward that special mysterious silence zero vibrations Never zero in this life until the bones disappear. The process of dying also sound sound of becoming another kind of being living dying pulsing dying listening to death returning to home in the earth where the earthworm also sings For years, I have been putting into practice this composer’s theories on deep listening, connecting body and mind through attentive listening in musical improvisation. I am now trying to transfer these concepts to the wind symphony, an ensemble I have always perceived as a giant living organism, full of pipes in constant vibration. With this piece, therefore, I seek to poetically amplify an acoustic reality that usually goes unnoticed: the noises produced by our bodies as part of biological activity, including—and especially—when these processes become dysfunctional. Through this, I aim to heighten sonic awareness, both for the performers and for the audience. Heartbeats, tinnitus, intestinal movement, and above all, breathing. This last element is essential for practically every performer in a band, and it forms a bridge between the voluntary and the involuntary, between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, between the conscious and the unconscious, between the internal and the external, between life and death.” Program notes by Isabel Latorre
Oído Interno has a duration of 14 minutes, it is scored for standard concert band setting, including a minimum of one string bass.
Isabel Latorre Sáez is a Valencian composer whose work spans audiovisual media, the performing arts, and the concert stage. She has received distinctions such as the Lola Gaos Award, Valencia Crea, and the Terrorific Film Fest Award, as well as nominations for the Jerry Goldsmith Awards and the Carles Santos Awards, and an honorable mention at the Ferruccio Busoni International Competition in Italy. She has also contributed to projects nominated for the Goya Awards and recognized at the Valencian Performing Arts Awards.
In addition to her compositional work, Isabel maintains an active career as a performer and improviser, both through her own project Eixa and in collaboration with sound artist Edu Comelles.
Academically, she holds a degree in Composition from the Valencia Higher Conservatory and a degree in Audiovisual Communication from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. She later completed a master’s degree in music for audiovisual media and electroacoustics at the University of Sussex (England).
Other Works for winds by Isabel Latorre include:
• Suerte Ibérica (2012)
• Presentimientos (2018)
• Bicuerca (to be premiered in summer 2026)
More on Isabel Latorre:
