I am delighted and honoured that three divertimientos by Pedro Ximénez Abrill, from Peru and Bolivia in the early and mid-nineteenth century, all for guitar with other instruments, are now available in Tecla. This is their first publication in a modern edition.
Pedro Ximénez, also known as Pedro Ximénez Abrill Tirado which is a form of his name which he himself used in the latter part of his life, and as Pedro Ximénez Abrill which is the form on the original title-pages of all three of these divertimientos, was born in Arequipa in Peru in 1784 and then from 1833 was director of music at Sucre Cathedral in Bolivia for the rest of his life. For much more about him please see the article on him which José Manuel Izquierdo König has kindly written specially for this edition, in English and in Spanish/en español.
The three divertimientos are a remarkable addition to music history because of their quality and because they incorporate popular music from that time and place into works of otherwise classical construction, something which until now was not thought to have happened until about one hundred years later. They are important in showing us something of music in Peru and Bolivia at that time, and especially they are important to the guitar because of the elaborate guitar parts. Indeed, each of these three divertimientos is called a Divertimiento concertante because of the star role that it gives in each case to the guitar.
Sucre cathedral, where Ximénez was director of music
The three divertimientos by Pedro Ximénez Abrill opp. 43, 52, and 59.
