Elements of Symmetry and Flamenco Tradition in Loris O. Chobanian's "Concerto del Fuego"

Abstract

Despite an international interest in flamenco music, there has not been much analytical work on the genre. In fact, flamenco music has only recently started to be notated, let alone be analyzed by music theorists. Due to its multi-cultural influence, flamenco music incorporates characteristics and trends from both Eastern and Western societies. Although its melodies are fundamentally derived from the Phrygian mode, the flamenco style includes alterations that create symmetrical pitch collections. In Concerto del Fuego, composer Loris O. Chobanian expands upon the Eastern and Western traditions by writing a twentieth-century concert piece that combines the flamenco harmonic and melodic language within a concert setting. The purpose of this document is to demonstrate how Loris O. Chobanian successfully exploits symmetrical collections that are inherent in traditional flamenco scales and cadences to create a concert piece.