Se hace saber (2022)
(for Horn in F and Percussion)

Se hace saber (‘one proclaims’) is the Spanish phrase traditionally used by the pregoneros, public criers on behalf of the local authorities, to announce themselves in the market squares in order to convey important messages to the general public. This phrase was always preceded by a short melody played on a brass instrument. The horn has always fulfilled this communicative announcement function, e.g. also for the post office or hunting.

The pregoneros and other ‘pre-technological’ means of communication are at the centre of Se hace saber, so that in addition to the horn and the percussion, we also find other ‘instruments’ in the piece that have to do with analogue media, both acoustic (megaphone, siren, whistle) and printed (newspaper). These instruments and the musicians themselves alternate between a purely musical and a scenic function. 

What begins as a virtuoso musical tour de force between horn and marimba is gradually transformed into an imaginary proclamation by the syllables spoken by the horn player.

The idea for the piece also arose from a growing personal concern about the state of freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Europe: In recent years, we have witnessed not only their brutal suppression in Russia and Belarus, but also their progressive erosion in EU countries with populist governments such as Hungary or Italy. And even in democratic countries, the furious cancel culture, its instrumentalisation by far-right ideologues and the noise of social media are causing growing confusion about the meaning and limits of freedom of expression. With the call ‘Se hace saber’, I am therefore also referring to the elementary human need to express an opinion freely. Which opinion that should be is left to the listener's imagination.

Se hace saber’ was commissioned by horn player María Rubio in 2021 and is also a tribute to her virtuosity and artistic versatility.

Elena Mendoza