RUINAS Valses nicas CRUZ MENA

How does Nicaragua sound? In 2022, Walter Abt was invited to work as an artist-in-residence in
Nicaragua by the Goethe-Institut. This was about insights into the scores of the composer José de la Cruz Mena
and the outstanding musician and composer Justo Santos, born in 1921 in Rivas, Nicaragua and
shooted down in Managua in 1958.
As a child playing, Justo Santos heard in the distance the ritual call of the farm workers - los
macheteros - while working in the fields on the property of the Nicaraguan Hacienda La Mora: "La
Mora limpia" (loosely translated: "Clean work on our finca! "). This explains the title of this masterful piece
in the Nicaraguan 6/8 rhythm of the Són. It was written to celebrate the centenary of the capital, Managua,
and is now considered the second national anthem in Central America's largest country.
In the recording of this piece, Walter Abt is accompanied by the experienced percussionist Prabhupada Plazaola from Managua, who playfully
lets his cajón dance here.