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About this Piece

Exilios (composed in 2014) is a tribute to Spain’s Republicans who arrived in Mexico at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Originally scored for flute and string quartet, the piece is dedicated to Alejandro Escuer.  

   Gabriela Ortiz has written, “I have always wanted to pay tribute to those Spanish Republicans who arrived in Mexico at the end of the Spanish Civil War and whom through different circumstances I had the privilege and opportunity to meet. Three of them left an indelibly instructive imprint upon me, not only because they contributed to the development of culture, education, and science in our country, but above all because of the profoundly human aspect of their input. (…) This piece is dedicated to and written in homage to those individuals, it aims to represent what can only be expressed through the medium of music: it is a musical depiction of what their struggle and desire for integrity came to denote for me.”