Variaciones sobre temas canarios

The 2026 edition of the Festival de Música Contemporánea de Tenerife (Contemporary Music Festival – FMUC) is to include the premiere of Variaciones sobre temas canarios (Variations on Canarian Themes) by Francis Hernández. A pianist, composer and conductor, Hernández is considered an eclectic musician who is known for his exploration of both academic and popular music. This year’s edition of the festival will feature the premiere of a new work composed by the Orotava-born artist expressly for the occasion.

The work is to be performed by Hesperia Brass Band (HBB) under the artistic direction of Domenica Giannone. HBB adheres strictly to the classic instrumentation of British brass bands: with brass and percussion instruments, including cornets, flugelhorns, tenor horns, euphoniums, trombones, tubas and percussion. The deliberate absence of woodwinds in HBB’s line-up is meant to preserve the genre’s sonic profile.

Variaciones sobre temas canarios is a multi-themed suite composed for brass band and percussion. It constitutes a round-trip journey that begins with motives inspired by Teobaldo Power’s Cantos canarios. From this starting point, the work develops several different melodies and rhythms taken from the folklore of the archipelago before ultimately returning to its initial themes.

During this musical journey, spectators will hear references to several traditional genres of the Canary Islands and rhythmic elements influenced by Afro-American music. In this way, the work establishes a musical dialogue with Africa and reflects the cultural and historical bonds shared by the continent and the archipelago.

Variaciones sobre temas canarios makes use of evocative and descriptive passages. This is heard at the start of one of its movements, conceived as a representation of the sound of the sea, an element at the very heart of the identity and collective imagination of the Canarian people.

Similarly, the musical language employed in certain movements is based on harmonies and timbres that are reminiscent of West Coast jazz, with aesthetic nods to the universe of Gil Evans that provide the work with a contemporary quality and deeper richness of instrumental colour.