The program presented by the London Sinfonietta at this year’s Festival Internacional Cervantino showcases how various 20th and 21st-century composers have expanded the boundaries of musical creation, while challenging conventional sound norms. The journey begins with the Mexican modernist nationalism of Ocho por Radio (1933) by Silvestre Revueltas, continuing to Preludio a Colón (1936) by Julián Carrillo, a pioneer of microtonalism who in 2025 celebrates the 150th anniversary of his birth. Carrillo’s vision inspired the world premiere of Thirteen Pulses by Arturo Fuentes, where the microtonal harp and soprano dive into an acoustic microcosm. The program then moves to the work of Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, Alien Studies, which reflects on the intersection of Chicano culture. 

Alongside composers such as Conlon Nancarrow and Tansy Davies, it is worth noting the inclusion of Carmen Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, composed for the tenth anniversary of the London Sinfonietta. This piece is a sonic tribute to artist Paul Klee. Birtwistle condenses here his obsessions: the machine, the landscape, poetic form, and the layering of textures. With a language reduced to its essentials, its rhythmic force recalls Stravinsky and, at times, the modern pastoralism of Tippett.