ARLEQUÍN for Wind Ensemble by ERNESTO AURIGNAC (Spain, 1982)
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[#344] Feb 23, 2026
Spain | 2023 | Wind Ensemble | Grade 6 | 25’ | Symphony
Premiered by Sociedad Musical "La Artística" de Buñol conducted by Mario Ortuño
on August 19, 2023 at Teatro San Luis, Buñol, Spain.
This piece is available for purchase at Ernesto Aurignac
Arlequín, by Spanish composer and saxophonist Ernesto Aurignac is our Composition of the Week.
Its premiere performance took place at the MANO A MANO concert in the San Luis Auditorium of Buñol, Spain, on August 19, 2023, performed by the Symphonic Band “La Artística” of Buñol, with Mario Ortuño conducting.
The work has also been performed by the Bilbao Municipal Band and the Vitoria Municipal Band, and it has been selected as the Compulsory Work for the First Section of the upcoming Valencia International Band Competition (CIBM) 2025–26.
“This picturesque character from the Italian commedia dell’arte serves as a pretext for Ernesto Aurignac to materialize the multitude of musical languages and traditions that articulate his conception of sound. The composer of more than one hundred works for diverse ensembles, Aurignac’s creations are influenced by musical expressionism, French impressionism, and evocations of popular and modern music.
The descriptive nature of the piece presents the stage as an allegory of life and its extremes: the triumphant and the miserable—a duality embodied by the clown, which Aurignac sets to music with a strong sense of spectacle. From the very beginning, Arlequín connects us to the circus world through a colorful, modernist fanfare of great vital impulse, serving as an introduction.
Introduction and Movement 1: This sonority gives way to the spectacle, staging Arlequín.
Movement 2: we are transported to the dressing room, a space of misfortune, where the music breathes narrow and desolate passages. The protagonist escapes through an imaginary dance; a captivating passage in the form of a saxophone solo closes this scene.
Movement 3: Arlequín awakens, returning us to his emptiness and despair, and builds a vessel with the aim of traveling into space in search of a new world. His longing for the eternal leads us to a sonic ecstasy that brings the work to its conclusion.
Movement 4, the clown reaches Samadhi in another universal reality.
“I composed Arlequín inspired by the life, adventures, and misadventures of a clown. By his lights and his shadows. By his brilliance and his misery. By what is seen when he performs and what is not seen. By the vital duality he inhabits both on stage and outside the spectacle. It is the futuristic, faithful, and artistic representation of what all human beings endure on our own stage: life.” Program Notes by Ernesto Aurignac
Arlequin has a duration of around 25 minutes. It is scored for large Wind Ensemble (the version in the recording includes chromatic-harmonica, celesta, bass saxophone and children’s choir, intended only for the premiere performance).
Piccolo
Flute 1, 2
Oboe 1, 2
English-Horn
Bassoon 1, 2
Contrabassoon
Eb-Clarinet
Principal Clarinet
Clarinet 1, 2, 3
Bass Clarinet
Contrabass Clarinet
Soprano Saxophone
Alto Saxophone 1, 2
Tenor Saxophone 1, 2
Baryton Saxophone
•
Trumpet 1, 2, 3
F-Horns 1, 2, 3, 4
Flügelhorn 1, 2
Trombone 1, 2, 3
Bass Trombone
Euphonium 1, 2
Tuba
Violoncello
Contrabajo
Timpani
Percusion (6)
Piano
Harp
Ernesto Aurignac was born in Malaga. A music enthusiast with a passion for classical and jazz music from an early age, he grew up listening to the great soloists and composers from both worlds. He studied Classical Saxophone at the Superior Conservatory of Music in Malaga, where he graduated at the age of 18. He was a member of two music bands: the Musical Band "Las Flores" and later, the Youth Band of Music Miraflores-Gibraljaire, where he met his teacher and musical inspiration, Don José María Puyana Guerrero.
At the age of 18, he moved to Barcelona, where he lived for 9 years, studying jazz independently and delving into the language of jazz, improvisation, and modern harmony. After a period in Madrid, he permanently settled back in his hometown.
Ernesto Aurignac is internationally recognized in the jazz world. In his career as a saxophonist, he has won numerous national and international awards, shared stages with masters and giants of the genre, been part of numerous recording projects, and traveled worldwide with his music, both leading his own projects and accompanying others. He has performed in the United States, Russia, Australia, Finland, Italy, Poland, Ecuador, France, Chile, Romania, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, Canada, Mexico, Belgium, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Venezuela, Lebanon, the Czech Republic, and throughout Spain.
Other works for winds include:
• Breathe II, Concerto for Piccolo and Band (2024)
• Puyana, Concerto for Clarinet and Band (2024)
• Open Brass, for Brass Quintet and Band (2024)
• Gutiland, surrealist symphonic poem (2024)
• Los Gabias, symphonic poem (2022/24)
• The Music of the future, for jazz quartet and band (2022)
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