Composer

Composer

"Superhumans come in all forms. In this case, they have arrived in the form of Andrea Casarrubios, Shostakovich and Van Gogh" - ABC Classic, Best Classical Music Albums 2019

"With this album (Caminante), Andrea Casarrubios, with great sensitivity and compositional imagination, has taken music and emotions closer to the ears of people who dwell upon this planet Earth." - Michael Thallium: Andrea Casarrubios, The Wayfarer Of The Strings and The World

"SEVEN is a gorgeous work. I have never heard a more beautiful solo cello piece" - Thomas Mesa, Strings Magazine

"A wide range of works that take you in with interpretations in which the cellist plays the lead role. (The album) is authentic and fascinating through Andrea Casarrubios' expressive, virtuoso, powerful and elegant game." - Jan de Kruijff, Musikalifeiten

COMPOSITIONS, RECORDINGS, SCORES:

Silbo (2021) for cello and piano takes inspiration from the fascinating whistling languages that have existed in territories worldwide, developed to communicate from across long distances. Each whistling language has its own codification, tied to its history and heritage. For example, the origins of Silbo Gomero (Spain) are associated with the language of Guanche, spoken in the Canary Islands during pre-hispanic times. Silbo Gomero not only has been preserved, but has recently been declared World Heritage. This duo for cello and piano was commissioned by the String Teaching Repertoire Consortium in collaboration with the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music. The cello often utilizes harmonics that create a sound world imitating whistles, and these are combined with dance rhythms inspired by traditional music of La Gomera island. 6'

Amid a place of stone (2020) is a work for solo violin commissioned by Emily Daggett Smith and funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation and the Hudson Arts Program. This piece, conceived during the 2020 pandemic and the ensuing crisis in the performing arts, combines nocturne and passacaglia elements, and traverses a range of phases within the subjects of isolation, vulnerability, and survival. Recording: Emily Daggett Smith, Albany's University Art Museum. 10'

SEVEN (2020) for solo cello. Commissioned by Astral Artist cellist Thomas Mesa for his project Songs of Isolation, SEVEN is a tribute to the essential workers during the global COVID - 19 pandemic, as well as to those who lost lives and are still suffering from the crisis. The piece ends with seven bell-like sounds, alluding to New York's daily 7 PM tribute during the lockdown - the moment when New Yorkers clapped from their windows, connecting with each other and expressing appreciation for those on the front lines. Recording: Thomas Mesa, Sphinx & Four/Ten Media. 9'

...in the age of noise (2020) for string trio (also available for cello trio). Premiered online during the lockdown in Philadelphia by members of the Dover and Escher String Quartets, this short piece was commissioned by Manhattan Chamber Players for a project called "MCP's Sketchbook: Quarantine Art in the Making." The opening gestures are like breaths, and silence is one of the music's main elements in this work. 3'

Overture & Chorale (2020) for cello quartet (also available for two violas and two cellos). The first movement, Overture, was written for CCCMF and it highlights the interplay between the four instruments. French rhythms from the baroque style are mixed with harmonies from the 21st century, accentuating the time and space that there is in between. The Chorale adds equilibrium and an emotional depth that lift us from a darker place. The Chorale was written taking J.S. Bach's Chorale BWV 390 in C major as inspiration. Premiere & Recording: MCP & Crescent City Chamber Music Festival. 4'

MIRAGE for cello and orchestra (2019). Written in New York and Los Angeles, this work was premiered in 2019 at Auditorio Nacional in Madrid. Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Mesa performed the U.S. premiere. The first movement, Mirage, depicts desert soundscapes, in which the music travels from disorientation to a fierce, maddening dance. The intimate second movement, Mensajes del agua, is an oasis, a meditation. In the last movement, Marcha, the cello combines the intensity of the first movement with the wisdom from the second to climb towards a new and higher plane. Instrumentation: Mvt 1: 3 perc--strings--solo cello. Mvt 2: pno--solo cello. Cadenza: solo cello--1perc--clarinet. Mvt 3: 2122--2221--3 perc--harp--pno--strings--solo cello. 17'

Mensajes del agua (2019) for cello and piano is a meditative work and the music is inspired by the delicate perfection of the shapes found in unpolluted frozen water. Recording: Mesa & Casarrubios at Oktaven & WRTI Radio. 4'

La Libertad se levantó llorando (Liberty rose weeping) for violin, cello, and pre-recorded text (2017). The work was written for violinist Emily Daggett Smith, and premiered in New York City on February 18th, 2018. The text is part of a poem by Pablo Neruda, an excerpt that refers to the Spanish Civil War. The music is filled with the strength and the vulnerability of Neruda's words. In this piece, the image of battered Liberty is used to resonate with our own perceptions of the never-ending global fight for human rights. Recording: Odradek Records. 13'

Crisol: Improvisations on a theme by Haydn (2018) for piano. Crisol is based on motives from the Sonata No. 39 in D major by J. Haydn. The improvisations begin with Andrea's own harmonic and textural language, to soon melt into a musical world from the Romantic era. The music walks through a jazz-like moment to then unveil the purity and simplicity of the Classicism, with the second movement of Haydn’s Sonata No. 39, which is harmonically linked to his last movement, the Finale. Recording: Odradek Records. 7'

24 Mozas (2017) for cello and piano. 24 Mozas is a short piece inspired by the folk song from Toro (Zamora, Spain) "Tío Babú." US Premiere: New York, October 2017. The European Premiere took place in Spain, January 2018: Teatro Latorre (Toro). 4'

luzAzul (2016) is a passacaglia for Piano Trio. This work was composed for a project entitled Passacaglia: Walking the Streets of Time - a program that also includes piano trios by Shostakovich, Haydn, and Ravel. Premiered in Baltimore (2017), the piece was written for Trio Appassionata's 10th year anniversary. In this music, luz azul (blue light) is tied to the sound of a C sharp. This tone, almost like a scent, is the seed from which everything blossoms. Recording: WFMT Radio. 8'

Speechless (2015) for cello and percussion (vibraphone, cymbal, marimba). The work was written for Ensemble ACJW (Ensemble Connect). The piece was born out of the question: “What does it mean to have a voice?” In this work, the performers embark on a playful, yet desperate search. At its core, it is an experience based on a non-verbal discussion between the inner voices of one’s self. The premiere of Speechless was presented by Carnegie Hall at National Sawdust in New York City on March 29, 2016. Recording: Odradek Records. 13'

Caminante (2014) for cello and choir. The text is from Antonio Machado's poem Caminante, which talks of someone who walks through a non-existing path, creating it by taking steps forward. The music is meditative, mystical, intuitive, welcoming the uncertainty of the future with humility but with confidence. Premiere: Spain 2015. Recording: Odradek Records. 8'

Maktub (2013) for three cellos. This trio in two movements was written in Los Angeles for the VI Boccherini Festival in Spain. New sonorities and concepts experienced during travels to Asia and the Americas coexist with the classical music tradition. In particular, Maktub ends with a reference to the last movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 109. Recording of Maktub: Odradek Records. 6'

SCORES:

All scores are available in digital format only. A PDF will be sent to your Paypal primary email address as soon as the payment has been processed. Please allow a few hours for us to receive the request and send you an email with the score. More recordings are available upon request. Please use the contact page for any questions you may have. Thank you!