Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Takuo Yuasa.

I - Allegro vivo (𝅘𝅥 = 128): 0:00

Ferrero's "Omens" (Presagios) was composed in 1999, being the first in a set of six symphonic poems describing events during the Spanish conquest of Hernán Cortés against the Aztec civilization. The series can be considered a symphonic study for Ferrero's 2005 opera "La Conquista", which tackles the same subject. The whole series is written in a neorromantic, tonal style. The poems can be performed individually or together. The compositional concept that underlines the cycle confirms the theatrical nature of Ferrero; each piece has its own colour, a specific character, but at the same time subtle thematic links hold the parts together, according to a well-calculated interplay of rhythmic, melodic and harmonic references.

With the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the American continent from 1492 onwards, began an extraordinary event that would radically change the American and European civilizations. Mayans, Aztecs and Incas were conquered with a mixture of violence and peaceful alliances that culminated in the fusion between the Spanish and the natives as the creation of the first global empire. The conquest of Mexico and the Aztec civilization as "New Spain" (la Nueva España), proved to be the most impressive event: five hundred men, for the most part soldiers of fortune led by Hernán Cortés, conquered a large empire in just a few months.

The piece describes the omens and signals that the Aztecs apparently received before the arrival of the Spanish. The native texts of the defeated Mexica describe eight omens that were believed to have occurred nine years prior to the arrival of the Spanish from the Gulf of Mexico. In 1510, Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II was visited by Nezahualpilli, who had a reputation as a great seer, as well as being the tlatoani of Texcoco. Nezahualpilli warned Moctezuma that he must be on guard, for in a few years Aztec cities would be destroyed. Before leaving, he said that there would be omens for Moctezuma to know that what he has been told is true. Over the years, and especially after Nezhualpilli's death in 1515, several supernatural omens appeared.

First, a column of fire that appeared from midnight until dawn, and seemed to rain fire in the year 1517, then fire consuming the temple of Huitzilopochtli, a lightning bolt destroying the straw temple of Xiuhtecuhtli, the appearance of fire, or comets, streaming across the sky in threes during the day, the "boiling deep," and water flooding, of a lake nearby Tenochtitlan, A woman (Cihuatcoatl) weeping in the middle of the night for them (the Aztecs) to "flee far away from this city", Montezuma II saw the stars of mamalhuatztli, and images of fighting men riding "on the backs of animals resembling deer", in a mirror on the crown of a bird caught by fishermen, and a two-headed man (tlacantzolli) running through the streets. Additionally, the Tlaxcala saw a "radiance that shone in the east every morning three hours before sunrise", and a "whirlwind of dust" from the volcano Matlalcueye.

The piece opens with percussive effects, before a crescendo introduces a menacing and forceful theme on strings supported by percussion. Rushing strings figurations leads us to a more reflective and lyrical second theme on the wood, which is interrupted by the reappearance of the main theme before quickly dissolving into a hymn-like third theme on strings, serenely unfolding before reaching an expressive peak. Percussive effects return as the hymn theme fades away, bringing us an ominous final reference to the main theme.

Picture: Close-up photograph of an Aztec sun stone.

Musical analysis written by myself.

Unfortunately, the score is not available.

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