Reinaldo Moya Composer

Program Notes:

The title of this work refers to Melquíades, the Gypsy’s room in Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. In this room time passes in a very peculiar way: it is always Monday, and always March. This piece is then based around the figure of Melquíades, who is one of the most intriguing characters in the novel. This orchestral work is not programmatic or narrative. Instead, each movement can be seen as a vignette inspired by the various aspects, or episodes related to Melquíades.

I. Melquíades and the Gypsies Bring Ice to Macondo: 

In the isolated (and imaginary) town of Macondo, progress only comes through the visits by a roving gang of gypsies. The famous opening line from the novel recounts Colonel Aureliano Buendía remembering a distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. I wanted to musically represent the opening of this magical book, so after a low rumble, the music appears to materialize in front of the listener as though it had been trapped inside a book and is now finally released. It's an entrancing and otherworldly release, and distant echoes of the gypsy caravan are heard twice.

Finally, we arrive at the magical moment in the piece where  the novel’s famous first line is referenced. This is a passage of iridescent beauty, which is meant to depict the moment when the children touch the ice, and feel its icy burn for the first time.

II. Alchemy and the Little Golden Fish: Melquíades is responsible for bringing a variety of new technologies and ideas to Macondo, including alchemy. This area of study fascinates the young Aureliano Buendía, and he begins to make little fish made of gold, in his attempt to forget all about his love for Remedios the Beauty. The music in this movement is centered around one single motive that is omnipresent, yet always changing. The energy present in the music is reminiscent of the almost industrial zeal with which Aureliano continues to make the gold fish, even melting them once he’s finished so that he may begin again.

​