Soliloquio

The term “soliloquy” denotes a reflection expressed aloud and in solitude—whether in private or as part of a theatrical performance—and has previously been used as the title of compositions for solo instrument. The present soliloquy, however, has a distinctive character: the voice of the solo cello coexists with an orchestra that acts as a kind of resonating chamber and responds through a series of more or less free associations and digressions, in the manner of a stream of consciousness.

The idea for this piece arose from the final solo of Epitafio , for orchestra, a work composed in 2023 to commemorate the centenary of Héctor Tosar’s birth and in memory of Ariel Martínez (1940–2019). As in that work, the harmonic materials in Soliloquio are organized through manipulations of “groups of sounds,” and the compositional process incorporated various algorithmic procedures. However, both resources are employed in ways quite different from those used, respectively, by Tosar and Martínez.

The piece was conceived in 2025 to commemorate the sesquicentennial of Joaquín Torres García’s birth and in memory of Miguel Ángel Battegazzore (1931–2024), and was completed in September 2026, coinciding with the centenary of the birth of John Coltrane (1926–1967).

The work was commissioned by the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra and is dedicated to the soloist Lucrecia Basaldúa.