Hive Music Festival | Week, 115, round 1 | "La Elegida" by Renato Aguirre

6 comments

bertrayo38.142 days ago3 min read

Hello there, my fellow musicians and music lovers!

It was a surprise to get my 10th star in this festival. That's a high note to end the year. However, the rounds reset and there's no time to rest. For this new cycle of the Hive Music Festival, I wanted to start strong with a Gaita that I like a lot.

I'm not a believer of any faith in particular, but I have to say that all the music that is composed to sing praise is a work of art. Well, maybe not all of them, but there are some amazing cases of this phenomenon. Such is the case of La Elegida by composer Renato Aguirre. This is a work of art in all its right.

The composition enshrines many aspects of what it means to be devoted to the image of the Virgin Mary in its many advocations around the world. In this case it is Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá. This is the patron of Colombia, but its advocates are also in Maracaibo. There's lots of songs dedicated to this advocation and all of them are quite something. But this one you're going to listen stands above the rest. That might be a matter of preference, but I'll let you be the judge of that.

Taking on this cover was a big challenge. This was one of the songs I wanted to learn last year, but I wasn't ready for it. It is quite long and has 4 different parts that are packed with a moving harmony that isn't very easy. The melody is simple, but that doesn't take away from its overall beauty. Learning it took me weeks of focusing on each part individually just to keep them in mind and not forget anything. In the end, I chose this song to start the new cycle as I have at least 7 other solos waiting to be recorded.

Yeah, I had productive vacations while I wasn't publishing for those six weeks.

I hope you enjoy this cover and take some time to listen to the original. It is amazing.