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THE BLUE WIZARD for solo guitar
Various composers
Well, here's a feast for any blues addicts out there: 50 compositions by eleven different composers and all ranging from grade 2 up to around the grade 5/6 standard. Anyone who has had any contact with the publications from Les Productions d'OZ may recognise some of the writer's names, the most prevalent probably being William Beauvais, Marc Bélanger, Claudio Camisassa, Claude Gagnon, Jürg Kindle and Thierry Tisserand.
My understanding from reading the short preface is that all these pieces have been published previously as separate editions and d'OZ have now thoughtfully compiled them into one large album. Included in this large number of compositions are some real gems, indeed, you would be hard put to find any in this marvelous collection which fall below interesting and/or entertaining. From a pedagogical viewpoint much of this book would be highly suitable for using with students, not only just for the enjoyment of playing this musical
style but also as a teaching aid in the sometimes tricky subject of the understanding of “swing rhythm” and “triplets”. Four of the pieces are shown in music notation and tablature.
The whole package is presented well, with clear printing, good fingering and an attractive front cover.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
L'ARCHE DE NOE, Volume Two for solo guitar
by Christophe Leu (CD included)
The second of Christophe Leu's beautifully illustrated Noah's Ark volumes contains eight highly imaginative and descriptive pieces for guitarists around the grade 4/5 mark. Each piece is preceded by a short poetic text in French which helps to set the mood. The Falcon has a mediaeval feel in 6/8 and falls under the fingers well with an attractive lilt. The Panther is in a slinky cool jazz style with effective slides and The Panda has a Chinese influence and includes harmonics and ponticello sections - key changes add interest to the running semiquaver figures. The Iguana has a “tropical” feel in its calypso rhythms but I felt this was the least
effective piece needing some excursion into a higher register. The Penguin is illustrated effectively with humour: a marching staccato bass, “cold” minor second chords, glissandos and harmonics. My favourite piece is The Millipede, in the style of an Irish Jig - modal, and with the fifth string tuned down to G, its unusual sonority could appeal to a player looking for something different. The Toucan is a beautifully dreamy take on a bossa nova with some very attractive progressions and an effective phrase in harmonics at the close, and the final piece, The Bull, has a Spanish flavour and requires a feeling of improvisation - its exciting passage at the close with rasgueados and legatos creates a dramatic finish. Amusing and characterful miniatures. Recommended
Linda Kelsall-Barnett (Classical Guitar Magazine)
10 CHATS PITRES vol. 1, 2 and 3 for solo guitar
by Yves Carlin.
These three volumes progress from around the grade two to three mark in the first volume up to some demanding technical elements in the third including sustained barres, taking the level fairly high. Beautifully presented with colourful impressionistic cats on the covers, the volumes are easy to use and clear to read. Fingering is appropriate, dynamics and technical requirements are all clearly marked.
Each volume contains ten pieces covering a contrasting variety of rhythmical styles and technical requirements.
Volume one uses familiar chord patterns in first position with melodic interest on the treble strings in usual keys. C'est Gai Chat employs an accessible melody line including repeated notes in a predictable two part texture; Ah, ça chat Touille alternates arpeggio figures with fragments of melody - useful for learning to switch smoothly from one to the other - and Chatbada Blues is fun to play with running triplet figures. The attractive Chacha Chat is lilting with effective syncopated figures.
Volume Two builds on the stylistic effects of the first volume introducing new keys, scalic and arpeggio elements and a more challenging use of the fingerboard. Chat Loupe a la mer includes sliding major seventh harmonies in an accessible arpeggio texture; Tu me Fais Chat Virer is a useful study in slur control. Its outer sections particularly helpful. Syncopated rhythms in Chat qui Ira give a cool jazz feel, and other pieces include blues style and an effective Irish Jig with a tambour opening. Two pieces require sustained chords in G and C minor, and the lightly humorous Chat Chat a son Pepere demands held bass notes under rhythmical figures which can present quite a challenge for the inexperienced player.
Pieces in the third volume are longer and more substantial in content, presenting a variety of technical challenges in a colourful context. Le Chat pas Chat is attractive to play, and introduces quite challenging left hand stretches between the upper and bass lines; Le Chat a Sourit requires some rapid fingerwork and builds up effectively with running arpeggios. The melody in Chat Goupille Bien includes glissandos and slurs requiring good control, and slur techniques are developed further in other pieces - Le Chat Luthier Repart en Mer's challenging slurred groupings demand fluent finger work to create an effective line. Mon Chat Pele is a haunting arpeggio study requiring sustained barres and needs a strong left hand to maintain the clarity required. These pieces are entertaining and could prove useful to players wishing to find intermediate miniatures which require good imagination to play while helping to develop their technique.
Linda Kelsall-Barnett (Classical Guitar Magazine)
RACES. SLIWOWITZ AND ANOMALOUS SMILES for 4 Guitars
by Giorgio Tortora
This is a rather jaunty piece. The CD shows that the optional wind chimes, marked to be “attached to the head of the guitar” partway through the performance, are much less the gimmick and much more an effective addition than the score might suggest on its own.
The instruments are broadly set in SATB style, but the lower guitars do get a chance to swap syncopated chords for melody here and there. The writing is free and easy; a lot of it looks very “guitaristic” on the page and yet the total sound is really much more amorphous and very pleasing on the ear. There are well-chosen chords - many with a slightly light, jazzy, feel that mean that the piece doesn't sound trite or simple. Despite feeling very comfortable under the fingers, this isn't a piece for the novice or intermediate player. There are extended runs at 8-notes-a-second, and one of the most difficult of these is in unison across all four parts, so this isn't a suitable piece for a mixed ability ensemble.
The typesetting and performance indications are commendably good, and the page-turns are all chosen at moments of pause. There is just enough fingering to help understand the rationale of the composer, and the CD is a massive help in realising the intentions of the piece.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
CONCERTO TRADICIONUEVO for 4 Guitars
by Patrick Roux
This substantial work comprises just two movements - Café Gardel and En Las Calles de Buenos Aires. A quick trawl of the Internet shows that in addition to being premiered by the Canadian Guitar Quartet, there is a version for flute, guitar and string orchestra.
The opening, inspired, one supposed by the tango writing of Carlos Gardel, mentions a seventh string for guitar three, tuned down to A, and it is pretty much essential to the part, so buyers beware - it's not mentioned anywhere else. Clearly intended only for a fine and strong quartet, the writing is wonder fully atmospheric and varied - the length of the tango (over three hundred bars) is a fine example of writing than is neither repetitive nor rambling. Rhythmically, this movement is not too unsettling for a competent reader, partly because it remains in tango style. Note-wise, however, there is little of familiarity, and the writing is loaded with F-flats and C-flats, for example. The performance indications are superb; there are mood changes and changes of tempi that give the interest alive, and the reprise is all the more effective because of it.
“On the streets of Buenos Aires” is similarly ambitious. Set in E major, all four guitars are turned down to D, which probably raises an eyebrow or two at first, but that's before one realises the scope of the writing - from four sharps to three flats to one sharp to two flats. This is a much more energetic piece. I couldn't name a dance if I got hit in the eye by a sequin popping off, but this definitely has a street carnival feel to it, and some of the rhythms are positively fun to play.
So the one remaining question is “Who is this intended for?” Well, it's not for your average quartet - playing this will require extensive study and preparation in isolation before the fun of ensemble begins. Tough but impressive.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
TRYPTIQUE RHYTHMIQUE for solo guitar
by Thierry Tisserand
Every so often a composer comes along for our beloved instrument whose music never fails to please. Just a sight of this gentleman's name on the title page is enough to bring a smile to my face and for me to know that I am going to enjoy what I find within. This latest threesome does not disappoint.
Pagode Song begins in a lazy A major with all manner of rhythmic interest right from the outset, a feature of this set, as evidenced by the very title. After the eight-bar introduction the real first theme enters, and is jazzy and jumpy and loads of fun to play. A little set of moving fourths momentarily reminds you of the oriental nature of the title before a sudden change of key into D and some sliding minor sevenths. These return us swiftly back into A for the main themes now subtly varied, and often placed in different registers to before. A sudden and surprisingly downbeat coda fades into silence on an A6 chord.
With Les Arabesques we are firmly into Arabian Nights territory. Here there is a kind of idee fixe, (to pinch from Berlioz) which immediately sets the tone right from the start and continues underneath much of what follows, regardless of the sometimes inevitable clash that is produced. If I say that the opening A major idea is still firmly jazz-Arabic you might understand that Tisserand's exotic use of friendly altered jazz chords is never very far away. At bar 44 the tone alters with a sudden unexpected turn into A minor. Now the piece really sounds suddenly very Arabian with its little run of F to G sharp to F and then to E. Try this on the top string with a slur over the first three notes and you will get what I mean. Even here there is a dramatic chordal turn of events, which brings the jazz elements back in, before finally leading back into the opening major key idea, once again noticeably varied. Like the opening movement the coda is surprisingly low key with a sudden lento and some harmonic work that dies to nothing.
Biguine Benveguda is marked ritmico e giocoso and is certainly all of these things and more besides. Slurs and glissandi playa prominent part in this opening section which is very convincing in its rhythmic complexities whilst utterly avoiding anything that one could class ordinary or obvious. The middle section continues in the same rhythmic vein with a new melody before a D.S. takes us back to the opening idea for one more time before a coda that really builds the excitement up in a way that is inevitable and pleasing before closing on an A6 chord.
This is top class stuff, utterly original, loads of fun, and certainly not really what one could class as easy by any stretch and yet absolutely worth any effort an intermediate player upwards might wish to put into it.
Oh, and look up Tisserand's other pieces too, for they too are also well worth investigating.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
MUSIC FOR CHRISTMAS TIME guitar and violin (or melodic instrument)
arr. David Jacques
This is an attractive, agreeable collection of Christmas music containing mostly unfamiliar (certainly to me) tunes. With the exception of the first tune, an instrumental titled A Breton Carol, all the rest include the words to the songs. The melody lines are clearly printed above these words for the instrumentalist and/or singer to follow and the guitar, accompaniment throughout is highly suitable for this material. the particular arrangements not being too intrusive to the finished product, the only exception possibly being in Silent Night where the guitarist is playing in the tremolo style. Usefully, chords are also included in the score for other players to join in with.
The technical standard to perform these carols lies around the Intermediate mark and these pieces could easily be used for any Christmas event by any performers seeking lesser-known festive material.
Well worth a look at.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
FOUR TANGOS for solo guitar
by Michel Kirschner
Titled Amer Tango, Salé Tango, Acide Tango and Sucré Tango here are four decidedly interesting and worthy compositions written in the style which has been flavour-of-the-month now ever since Astor Piazzolla's pieces saturated the market. If, like this reviewer, you have become quite indifferent and jaded upon hearing the same pieces endlessly churned by players of the works by the admittedly talented Piazzolla, here are some ideal eligible substitutions, singularly different from the usual “tango nuevo” and ideally suitable for the upper level player.
All these four compositions are quite dissimilar from each other, the many and varied different characteristics contained in each one giving them a novel, fresh quality making this group an excellent choice for programmatic material. Kirschner draws upon some wonderfully rhythmic ideas in the quicker sections, and it this, plus his gift for lyricism and harmony in the contrasting slower parts which really raise these works into genuinely superb compositions.
All are extremely well presented and nicely fingered (by Roberto Aussel no less) and it is good to see the Swiss artist Corina Sierk's wonderful artwork making a return to d'OZ's front cover once again.
Highly recommended.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
HOMMAGE AU BATEAU IVRE for solo guitar
by Jose-Luis Narvaez
The piece which inspired Narvaez to compose this absorbing solo guitar composition was a 100-line poem by the 19th-century French poet, Arthur Rimbaud. Written when he was just 17 years old, this 25-verse poem was written using the “Alexandrine quatrain” scheme, which is a four-line verse, where each line has a poetic meter of 12 syllables (this doesn’t work if you translate the poem into English). The poem title translates out to “The Drunken Boat” and the poem, written in the first person, chronicles the various experiences and scenes which a boat would experience if it were full of water and sinking.
The music itself is in various sections but is played continuously as one single movement and is quite introspective and impressionistic and though the ambience for the majority of the time has a restful sensation to it, there are moments of quickness on occasion. Throughout, brief quotes from most of the verses of the poem are given (in French) to obviously influence the interpretation.
Choosing to compose a piece with the sixth string tuned down two whole tones to C gave Narvaez the opportunity to explore relatively unheard textures and these are quite effectively used in the Calmo middle section.
Altogether a most intriguing new composition all based around an interesting, if unfeasible, topic. Suitable for the more experienced player the presentation is excellent with good fingering throughout.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
LES PLANÈTES for solo guitar
by Jürg Kindle
Les Planètes is a nine-movement work, each movement representing a major planet from our own Solar System and appearing in the suite in order of distance from the Sun. Each one of the individually published pieces which make up this edition have all received separate reviews in the past from either myself or my colleague Chris Dumigan and as far as I can recall they have all been blessed with favorable reviews. Suffice it to say that here is a large-scale work for solo guitar containing some fine, clever, descriptive and inventive writing for the instrument and one which could provide one of the high-spots of any recital if played with enough conviction. Slight problems may arise in a couple of places due to the preparation involved. Jupiter for instance requires an “open” tuning of, from bass upwards, D, A, D, A, A, D (for ease of reading the piece is also given in Tablature) then it’s back to standard tuning once again for Saturn, a percussive piece requiring ten notational instructions. For the final movement, Pluto, the guitarist needs to insert a matchstick underneath the strings near to the bridge.
Is it all worth the effort? Well, yes it is. Compared to the soundscape which Gustav Holst created with his masterpiece for orchestra, Les Planètes doesn’t come close, but taken simply for what it is, a solo instrumental, the piece makes for highly entertaining listening/playing.
It is nicely presented with clearly printed notation, well fingered and an attractive front cover. Buying this complete album of the pieces rather than the individual productions will give you a saving of approximately 36 Euros.
Not to be sniffed at!
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
ANTHOLOGY - THE ENCHANTED GUITAR OF FRANCIS KLEYNJANS for solo guitar
by Francis Kleynjans
With over 700 hundred compositions behind him, the French guitarist Francis Kleynjans has to be one of the most prolific composers for the guitar in modern times. Unsurprisingly, in that proliferation there are a few disappointments in the musical standards along the way; however, it has to be said that in my experience a large percentage of his work contains lovely, albeit at times, syrupy, melodic lines and nice, pleasing harmonies.
This sizeable collection of Kleynjan’s works brings together in one volume 47 previously published editions, the majority of which were produced as separate single publications and many, if not all, have received reviews previously. (There are actually 71 compositions altogether as some of the opuses have several movements).
Herein is a miscellaneous mixture of musical styles including tango, milonga, habanera, sicilienne, samba and choro with the composer having a particular partiality to the waltz, of which there are many; there are slow and reflective compositions sitting alongside quick, rhythmic ones and most slot into the “exceedingly melodic” category.
The earliest opus number is 21 (from 1974) and the latest is 251 (from 2008).The technical standard required to play these works range from around Grade 3 up to Grade 6 and the presentation all round is excellent.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
SCHERZO A MODO MIO for mandolin and guitar
by Atanas Ourkouzounov
Here is an advanced, atonal contemporary work for mandolin and guitar the composition of which was influenced by rock music. After a brief meditative opening the work begins proper with five pages in fast and rhythmic fashion with both instruments on an equal pairing playing in unison or in imitative fashion.
During the piece many percussive technical effects are employed including pizzicato, “Bartok” pizzicato, tapping, tambour, etc. Scherzo a Modo Mio relies significantly on accentuation between the two instruments and it is in this quarter that any duo attempting this work will have to make sure everything is as it should be. If performed with enough skill and conviction, the work could make a significant impact in any concert of contemporary music. The music is presented in full score and separate parts for both players.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
ON THE ROCKS - 9 rock-inspired guitar solos
by Jürg Kindle
Swiss-born Kindle has produced of top-class music in many varieties of styles and for many different combinations over the years. This latest set emulates the many and varied musical forms taken by rock in all its different guises.
So we start off with a piece instructing the player to treat straight written quavers as a triplet rhythm of crotchet/quaver. Low bass notes are occasionally to be bent and the whole piece is very riff orientated, and dotted with parallel fourths, and octaves that leap around the fingerboard. Blue Moon, takes the note bending a stage further introducing into the treble melody. Then a series of evocative arpeggio-based runs take the piece into slightly unexpected territory, but one that really works! Derwish instructs the player to retune his fifth string to B, and the relentless nature of the semiquavers makes this exciting and one of the most tricky at the same time. Globetrotter is in a mixture of sevens and fives with a middle idea in 4/4 and an interesting little piece to boot, whilst Hot Dog and On the Rocks are more openly rock based and sound like riffs Deep Purple might have had a go at.
This is a fine set. Nothing is very difficult but it’s not very easy either, so beware. As always, this is another fine volume of quality work that should be snapped up by all lovers of this man’s music, or alternatively anyone interested in trying such rock based styles out for themselves.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
A LEAF for solo guitar
by Paul McCartney (arr. Carl Aubut)
A Leaf was written as a seven-movement piano solo in 1994 by McCartney and has been adapted for guitar by Carl Aubut. The manner, in which he decided to do so, is given in the Preface.
McCartney has written, over the recent years, a number of serious compositions including string quartet material, to full works for orchestra and choir. This solo piano work is really quite substantial and is perhaps not as well known as say his Standing Stones, or his Liverpool Oratorio that received much more wide publicity during their performances. Having not had access to the original piano work, I cannot comment on how successful the adaptation for guitar is but will have to take it on its own merits
It begins very simply with a delicate melody in triple meter against a rocking accompaniment. The second movement is slightly faster and mixes three and four beats to create a slightly uneasy lurching effect. Then an allegro ritmico in B major enters with some swiftly moving accompanying quaver passages leading to a rasgueado section interspersed with semi-quaver runs that in turn changes to a dreaming section that ends inconclusively. The andante that follows is in C sharp minor. After an opening legato chordal idea a brief foray into whole tone takes one for four bars into a Debussyan world after which we find ourselves in C major for a new idea before two enigmatic chords take us back into C sharp minor for the opening idea once more. But this time at the whole tone section we find the opening chordal theme placed over the top of the whole tone harmonies. This in turn becomes the C major idea again, and the coda returns once more to the opening idea for its conclusion. Movement 5 is a 9/8 Allegro ma non troppo running quaver idea. This pleasant enough little idea is then replaced by a rather sparsely harmonized 3/4 section with a naïve set of harmonies that failed to sound anything other than contrived, especially at the last chord that leads back to the opening idea. The two sections then play out again followed by the opening idea once more and a close on an open B. Movement 6 is a moderato little melody, very sad and beautifully worked out that becomes an oddly rocking idea where the accents are constantly shifting and the harmonies are deliberately vague. The rhythms stop and start at odd points leaving one purposely in the air. After an altered return to the opening idea, the oddly rocking section returns, pauses and then becomes the opening first movement theme from several minutes ago. This time it is shorter and only once through the idea before the piece comes to a final close on an A major chord.
Having played this several times now, I feel that it is a bit mixed. There are many sections that work really well and sound absolutely fine, and then there are one or two where one feels McCartney is stretching himself too much and the piece suffers as a result. However as a piece of guitar music it obviously has a future and it is all utterly playable by an intermediate player. Moreover as it is of quite a substantial size I feel that many will be intrigued enough to give it a try. The printing and general presentation is of course excellent as always with d’OZ.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
ALBUM FOR GUITAR for solo guitar
by Mark Houghton
Here is a nice looking album of no less than 18 short, attractive and only moderately difficult pieces from this Liverpudlian composer. There is much variety here, from ballad styles, to Latin, to baroque pastiche to little waltzes, and many more besides. Having seen many of Houghton’s pieces over the years I expect, and usually find, a certain polish, that separates his pieces from many other guitar composers. So, what do we find here?
Firstly he opens up with a warm arpeggio-based piece with more than a hint of the folk style, called Time Moves On. There is an engaging little tune atop the flow of arpeggios and a sudden move in and out of the tonic minor in the middle. A sad, little Lamenting Prelude follows set in E minor; a three-page Andante religioso, the longest in the book, set in three voices with a rocking arpeggio middle voice. Others include the quirky little Greeting Card with some surprising harmony work; a jokey Humoresque; a bouncy Springtime Tango and an equally pacey Captain Lee’s Calypso to name but a few more.
Each one has merit; all are not too hard and any players who enjoy melodic pieces with a little something a bit different in them, will get a great deal from this book.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
JARDIN SECRET for solo guitar
by Jean-Marie Raymond
This is a very short, possibly only two minutes or so piece in three brief sections in the format ABCAB. My immediate response is that it is very pretty, with a tune that could easily come from a film. It is set in A major with very friendly warm chords underneath it and nothing is too difficult. The main idea rocks gently over an A bass pedal, and to be fair, although very attractive, is rather predictable. Section B is more arpeggio-based and leads into the C Section in E minor. The final A and B sections are almost exact repeats and the piece ends on a final A major chord.
As a little encore item it could delight an audience and send them home humming the melody.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
SUITE OF MINIATURES for solo guitar
by Andrew Zohn
To call this a suite of miniatures is a little misleading for although the five movements are relatively short, they are certainly not small in design; the musical ideas within are quite serious and imaginatively developed.
The opening Prelude is typical of the compositional way of thinking throughout this entire set. The first idea begins on a form of altered E minor chord made up almost entirely of fourths. The composer then proceeds to move many of the notes either up or down one or two notes in a form of contrary motion, a practice he continues doing throughout the first section almost as if he discovered it as a happy accident and wanted to see what would happen if he did. Beats of fours and threes interweave to complete the slightly dislocated feel of it all. After a momentary pause a new idea emerges following almost the same musical restraints. So the top melody largely moves around a step at a time, whilst harmonies underneath also move a step at a time thus creating some unexpected harmonies as a result. The composer seems to be taking a particular idea and quasi-improvising, to see where the whole thing lands. The resulting Andante is very tense and almost disturbing.
Syncopato follows and again adopts a pattern established at the outset, which is varied and harmonically altered without losing the basic idea of a syncopated bass line melody underneath a repeating two-note chord accompaniment.
Vals Venezolano relies almost entirely on the semi-tonal rocking back and forth in the main melodic idea, over a very recognisable almost Lauro-like structure in E minor. Again the dissonances created by this process add tension to the whole Vals, and even the slightly contrasted middle section repeats the semi-tonal rocking phrase straight from the opening idea.
Le Scale, after a four bar intro settles down into a repeated two-note lower voice topped by a gradually rising semi-tonal scale idea, hence the title one assumes. Halfway through the scale moves to the bottom voice and remains there for much of the piece, which ends on a variant of the opening intro idea.
The final Ritmico runs around using a separated pair of fourths as the main melodic interest over a syncopated bass E pedal. The fourths run from the top to the bottom of the fingerboard and continue until a new idea, more chordal in content takes over. This seems to be breaking free of the repeated cell idea, until the melody lands on a four-note phrase that then chases its tail and repeats twice more, until the end of the section where it repeats over and over. It then links itself to the opening idea once again for a final repeat of the opening section and a quick chordal flourish and a fortissimo end.
I was intrigued by Zohn’s compositional idea of finding a cell of notes or a particular phrase and worrying at it in a number of different ways to see what harmonic possibilities occur. It was a process that I enjoyed from start to finish as I was wondering how it was all going to continue.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
THREE SUITES for solo guitar
by Javier Farias
The Chilean musician Javier Farias (b.1973) has been the recipient of no less than five grants for composition from the Chile Council of Arts and over the last few years has won many prizes for his written works including first prizes at the “Concorso Internazionale de Composozioni” (Italy), the ‘XVIII International Composition Competition “Andrés Segovia”’) (Spain) and the 6th “Michele Pittaluga competition” (Italy).
Farias writes for a multitude of instrumentation including chamber music, symphonies, jazz orchestra, choir, accordion, viola, percussion and guitar. Luckily for us, he has a predilection for this latter one having composed solos, duets, trios, quartets and has included the instrument in his chamber works.
Regrettably, I have to own up to never having come across his compositions before (as far as I know) but if this set of three suites for guitar is representative of his works then I will certainly be seeking out any recordings of his music, for this is wonderful writing in every respect for the guitar. Even though he is obviously influenced by the musical styles of his home country he takes these traditional rhythms and merges them in a modern idiom, the end result are very striking offerings being both exceedingly entertaining and interesting for the listener and very pleasurable to play through for the instrumentalist.
Each suite is a substantial affair of four movements and is stylistically based upon the musical forms of Tonada, Cueca, Huayno and Cachimbo. The music itself does have episodes of joviality but the prominent impression is of an attractive slight melancholy mood.
The music is very well presented with clear, sensible fingering and the accompanying CD is well worth having just for itself; the whole affair is top class.
Highly recommended.
Steve Marsh (Classical Guitar Magazine)
AU FIL DU TEMPS-COLA for 4 guitars
arr. by Laurent Méneret
Now this is fun! This is a book of well-known pieces in a variety of styles, suited, so it says, to music colleges and conservatoires, but this is easy material, and school teachers should keep reading.
Well-known and “hackneyed” are often confused, but these are well chosen pieces that will delight players and audience alike. Set for four guitars, the lowest part often has familiar chord shapes rather than a bass alone, and in the one piece where this job is given to Guitar Three, well, that’s because Guitar Four has an even more enjoyable job to do…
We start with a Leopold Mozart Minuet, very straightforward and yet with plenty of dynamics to make the piece come alive.
W.A. Mozart next, with La Ci Darem La Mano from Don Giovanni, where just a few semiquavers (sixteenth notes) will trip up the unrehearsed.
Strauss’s waltz from Die Fledermaus causes Guitar One to venture a little higher and at more of a speed. Perhaps some fingering here would be helpful, because the rest of the music is easy, and good fingering here will help maintain that flow.
Villoldo’s tango El Choclo is a favourite of mine because it sits so well on guitar and sounds so good too; this arrangement certainly gets the tango feel to the fore with chords and a luscious bass-line too.
Valse Vénézuélienne (trad.) is known to me as La Partida by Alvarez, or one of about seven other composers all credited with writing it. But it’s a well-known piece and this is a very playable arrangement which uses lots of open E strings in the tune to flesh out the sound and to add movement with minimal technical overhead. Very effective.
So what standard is it? Conservatoire? No, I’d say that a mixed ability ensemble around about Grade Five would be able to enjoy these pieces, and that’s why I am so happy to commend this edition to school teachers who fancy some good arrangements of solid repertoire that an audience will instantly relate to.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
SPATULA - A SCRAMBLED PASTICHE for solo guitar
by David Mallamud
The daftest thing about this piece is its title Spatula, which seems to have no bearing whatsoever on the musical content, which is in the form of a sort of pastiche, hence the sub-title. The music within is great fun, jolly hard to play correctly and easy to play absolutely wrongly if you get my meaning for there is a lot of little detail here, which could easily be misread, and thus misplayed.
The form of the work is very original and a real one-off, which immediately grabs one’s interest. The composer describes the work as an autobiographical homage to the guitar and one in which he could portray many varied guitaristic elements that showed of the instrument to its fullest extent. So he begins with the introduction based on one of his best-loved guitar pieces Tárrega’s Capricho Arabe. It does begin exactly the same only gradually varying its little details as it goes further on, but as it winds down into what ought to be Tárrega’s main section, you are suddenly dragged bodily into a banjo-esque bluegrass idea. This then makes way after a little while into a habanera style, a violent contrast you may realise, only to accede to the bluegrass idea a little way on. From here on in things get a little bizarre as styles and moods change thick and fast but eventually become a somewhat bizarre mix of the two styles all at once! At this point there are various violent interruptions of rasgueado chords amongst other things that try to disrupt the entire affair, only to be met with dogged persistence on behalf of the habanera that refuses to give way. The section marked “Grotesque” aptly portrays this battle, which, after all this is “won” surprisingly by the bluegrass theme that one had almost forgotten about, and which slides in and takes over the coda to the astonishment of all concerned.
Very difficult technically in a lot of places, this very humorous slice of the fantastic and bizarre is like nothing else I have come across before and as such would probably be the highlight of a concert should any brave individuals give it a try. Great stuff.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
SINFONIA IN SOL MAGGIORE for plectrum orchestra
by Carlo Cecere (arr. by Vincent Beer-Demander)
This work is for two mandolins, mandola, guitar and a bass clef “Bass”. Any of the lines is playable on guitar, though of course the mandolin is tuned an octave higher, so it’s not ideal to play it entirely on guitars.
Not a lot is known about Cecere, though he was alive at the time of Vivaldi and Cecere’s music is not dissimilar in style. I was able to find a companion Cecere Sinfonia on YouTube that is played with ostensibly this orchestration; it is well worth viewing if this edition sounds interesting to you.
The mandolin parts are monophonic with occasional bursts of speed. The guitar part is very much written for classical guitar and stylistically is like an intermediate work by Carulli – in two or three parts, based on straightforward chord shapes in G; although having one or two counterpoint entries, it is mostly fulfilling a continuo role.
The three movements (Allegro, just 37 bars long, Larghetto, 24 bars, and Allegro Assai, 80 bars of 2/4) are over in a trice, but they are nonetheless nicely shaped, and likely to appeal to an audience not wholly familiar with classical music.
The edition comes with ample dynamics to realise a good and varied performance. There is no fingering, but all the fretted parts are mainly first position and probably comfortable to someone at Grade 5-6 standard.
The particular orchestration needed will restrict this edition to a small number of fretted orchestras, but it is rather an effective filler in a classical concert, where it would hold its own between lengthier and more taxing items.
Derek Hasted (Classical Guitar Magazine)
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