Fo Yo Info.

High Low,

     So, this is a paper that I forgot to do and turned in last minute. "Why?" You ask. It contains some pretty interesting info and basically shows the way I experience music in a two page, double spaced paper. The info at the beginning is the classical guitar music and performers I've been listening to throughout this semester. (I suck at writing. Deal with it.)

Justin Santos

Studio Guitar

Recording Report

Luigi Rinaldo Legnani: 36 Capricci, Op.20

Lucio Matarazzo

The Best of Classical Guitar Vol.1: Suite Castellana

Federico Manuel Torroba

Scott Tennant

Gran Jota Aragonesa: Gran Jota Aragonesa

Francisco Tarrega

Manuel Gonzales

David Russell Plays Bach: Partita for Lute in E Major, BWV 1006a

David Russell

Anthology: S.L. Weiss, Passacaille

Chris Carelli

The Fall of Birds – Russian Guitar Music: The Porcelain Tower

Nikita Koshkin, Stephan Rak, John Duarte

Evgeni Finkelstein

The Legnani Caprices were quite new to me and It was clear why. The works were overshadowed by works of Giuliani and other guitar method composers of that time. The individual caprices were very short yet very difficult and each with their own uniqueness. The performer, Matarazzo, was definitely skilled enough to take on each caprice. Even the simplest of caprices were played to a degree where it sounded like a complex and virtuosic piece of music, as most professionals do. Which is the reason why I like the simple, “short and sweet” pieces. There is more to them than meets the eye. Cliché.

I gather that Scott Tennant likes Suite Castellana. I see a couple videos and recordings of him performing this suite floating around the interweb. Tennant is one of the greatest guitar teachers of today and you can definitely hear it. His technique is well tuned and he has amazing musicality. He has his own methods as well as his own book. As a student who has gone through his book; listening to him play, you realize you probably should go through it again. The 3rd movement, Danza, really shows its difficulty. Performers usually slow it down at the ornaments so that they can hit it properly or they augment the note value. Tennant was no exception. Maybe it's a part of the music that is truly difficult for a guitarist. After all, It was Torroba's first guitar piece.

This Gran Jota is a piece that I will be learning in the near future. It's a beast of a piece and I am getting anxious already. However, the contents are also egging me on to learn it. The Performer was unknown to me but he played it quite well. I have also listened to and seen other performers on the youtubes and found that many of them play it differently. Either adding a few fancy revisions or creating a unique way to perform some of the sections. Definitely a new favorite of mine. That said, I should also listen to classical guitar recordings more. Again, this was another occurrence of myself hearing a masterpiece of the guitar world for the first time. However, I gots ta have my R&B.

David Russell is another one among the greats and like many of them, he decides to record a plethora of Bach to spur jealousy amongst the guitar community. I listened to the Partita for Lute in E major. A suite that I will also be learning and possibly regretting in the near future. There isn't much to be said about Mr. Russell's performance, its always amazing. Though, there was an instance where he made a large noticeable mistake during a live performance. I remember having the expression of “WOAH” in my mind. Which actually helped me with my performance issues. You realize guitar gods are human too. Not sure about John Williams though. He might actually be a machine.

I added this for fun.

Never really knowing about Weiss's lute works....yea... I had to do some listening. Passacaille was at the top of the list, for I had performed it for my junior recital. Carelli performs it straight and honestly, it was a little boring. However, that is really to the preference of the performer and a concept that I find helps me. That is, if Carelli does have this concept in mind. It's the mentality of “forget the audience and the music snobs, I'm gonna play”.

The Porcelain Tower is indeed a porcelain tower of a piece. Just as the title expresses, the music in this work is like glass. It is a theme and variation work created by 3 of the most awesome contemporary guitar composers. Nikita Koshkin, Stephan Rak and John Duarte. It consists of 8 movements, the first being the statement of the theme. Then up the tower you go experiencing these amazing and highly visual levels. I really want to learn this work, as I am a completely visual person. Though, it might put a damper on my already assigned rep for the summer. I haven't looked into the creation of this composition but, just reading the titles and listening to each distinct movement, you know it is painting a picture. I haven't seen the score but, I suspect its quite difficult. Finkelstein plays. Nuff said. This album will be on the playlist on the way back home this summer. I'll buy the score...just incase.

 

Das it.

Danks.