The world only breathes and sings through pluralistic exchange, through mutual perception and appreciation between national traditions.
In foreign countries, the search for one's own ethnicity became a personal concern or even a politically motivated endeavor for many composers. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the research and collection of folk songs has been a source of inspiration for the work of many composers, including the Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos: his Três Poemas indígenas (1926) and the Canções típicas brasileiras (1919) are the result of systematic research into the original musical and cultural landscape of numerous Brazilian states. These were also explored by the composer Waldemar Henrique, also from Brazil, who set numerous fairy tales and legends of the Amazon rainforest to music.
We place the dazzling, enchanting culture of Brazil in dialog with the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera, who moved to Switzerland in 1971 and died in Geneva in 1983. With his Cinco Canciones Populares Argentinas (1943), he created a prism of traditional songs and dances from various Argentinian provinces. In Spain, on the other hand, it was Manuel de Falla who explored the dances and folk songs from Asturias, Murcia, Aragon and other regions.  The program includes his cycle Siete Canciones Populares Españolas (1914), which leads our ears into more familiar realms from a European perspective.