This immediately engaging orchestral suite bases each movement on a musical idea that is "alien" in time or geography, and gives the material a contemporary treatment. Orbón studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood in 1946, and Copland's influence is evident in the music's open harmonies and rhythmic vitality, particularly in the outer sections. The first movement, Pavana, is an homage to the sixteenth-century composer Luis de Milan, but the unwary listener would hardly guess this from either the striding, strongly accented main theme or the buoyant variations that follow. To brand this movement as "variations" doesn't tell the whole story; certain variations are repeated later, suggesting a rondo structure that Orbón doesn't really adhere to, or almost implying a sonata format. The second movement, Organum-Conductus, takes its inspiration from the twelfth-century composer Pérotin. "Conductus" refers to the Medieval practice of layering original voice parts onto an existing chant melody, a technique that Pérotin pioneered. Orbón follows suit, although he doesn't reveal whether the base melody is original or Medieval. Here he serves up another variation movement, highly melismatic (as were the Medieval antecedents), but strongly contemporary in breadth, color, variety, and urgency. The scoring of these first two movements is highly adept and uses each section to full advantage, suggesting Respighi at his least garish. The last movement, Xylophone, seems incongruous in this company. It's a highly rhythmic Afro-Caribbean piece that gives prominence to the title instrument through the first half. Then the full orchestra takes over, and carries the throbbing, swirling movement to its end.

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