FALL 2019 BETWEEN CULTURES WITH CARLO DOMENICONI

A HISTORY
OF GUITAR
ROSETTES
MANUEL
DE FALLA
& THE GUITAR
RAPHAËL
FEUILLÂTRE
ALEC
HOLCOMB
international
ROLE MODEL
METHOD: BACH
‘INVENTION NO. 1’
 The RamiRez ColleCTion
hisToRy and RomanCe
of The spanish GuiTaR

The house of José Ramírez, spain's longest established guitar

maker, was founded in madrid in 1882. over many years it has
built and conserved a museum Collection of instruments
constructed by members of the family and other great spanish
luthiers, many of whom were trained in their workshops.
all these wonderful instruments, displaying over two centuries
of the luthiers' art, are beautifully illustrated. photographs and
notes relate their place in the history of music. many interesting
anecdotes are told and the project captures, in a highly
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88 colour pages, available in both hardback and paperback
editions, both with audio recording of many featured
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A lovely book telling the story of Jose Ramirez – one of the great names in the history of classical guitar.
Xuefei yang - Concert artiste
An enlightening book for lovers of the guitar and a privilege to be able to share the author’s experience with such an
interesting array of instruments.
Classical Guitar magazine

THE TÁRREGA-LECKIE
GUITAR MANUSCRIPTS
LESSONS WITH THE MAESTRO

The facsimiles presented here for the first time, are of

manuscripts which were all beautifully handwritten by francisco
Tárrega for his student and patron, dr Walter James leckie. The
significance of these scores cannot be overstated; with regard to
both technical and stylistic matters it was Tárrega who laid the
foundations for all future composers and arrangers for the
instrument.
in their original format they represent some six hundred and
fifty-four pages of the maestro’s work and their reproduction,
displaying markings by both Tárrega and dr leckie, allows a
fascinating insight, at source, into the minds of maestro and
student. in particular the attention to detail in the fingerings is
quite astonishing.
Text in english, spanish & Japanese: 236 colour pages, large
format, hardback

The book is absolutely beautiful. Congratulations on this achievement and for enriching our lives with these documents.
pepe Romero
Magnificent facsimile edition. Printed on fine paper with the utmost clarity - a definitive book.
Graham Wade, Classical Guitar magazine

available from: www.classicalguitar.co.uk

 A FRESH SET OF

Inspiring Musicians Worldwide. NOW AVAILABLE IN

Visit martinguitar.com to find a local Authorized Dealer. STANDARD AND PREMIUM SETS.
 ON THE COVER + THIS PAGE: XUEFEI YANG | NEIL MUIR PHOTOS | CLASSICAL GUITAR FALL 2019 ISSUE 395 VOL. 37, NO. 1

CONTENTS FALL 2019

24 32 38

FEATURES
XUEFEI CARLO ALEC
YANG DOMENICONI HOLCOMB
A classical guitar A rare interview with
A young guitarist on
role model for the visionary guitarist
finding and developing
international success and composer
his own voice
BY THÉRÈSE WASSILY SABA BY ANGE TURELL
BY MARK SMALL

42 CELEBRATING
THE CENTENARY OF JACK DUARTE
An appreciation of the English composer and classical
guitar advocate BY PAUL FOWLES

SPECIAL FOCUS HISTORIC LUTHERIE

44 A WORLD AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
A whirlwind history of guitar rosettes
BY MICHAEL WRIGHT

52 A LOVE LETTER TO THE SPANISH GUITAR

Inside a beautiful new book on the subject
BY KATHLEEN A. BERGERON

56 MOMENTITO
Who made Luis Milán’s vihuela? Giving luthiers their due
BY GRAHAM WADE

82 THE BACK PAGE

Segovia’s “forgotten” guitar
BY YOLANDA ARENALES

>> 1898 Vincente Arias marquetry rosette, from Sheldon Urlik’s

A Collection of Fine Spanish Guitars from Torres to the Present ©2015
4 Fall 2019
 Manhattan
School of Music

Study Guitar at
Manhattan School of Music
MSM’s Guitar program develops skilled performers who Faculty: David Leisner, Chair,
are thoroughly acquainted with the instrument’s history, David Starobin, Mark Delpriora,
literature, and pedagogy. and Oren Fader

Distinguished recent graduates include:

Pablo Sáinz Villegas
(PD ’04, PS ’06, AD ’07)
Gold Medal, Inaugural
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Competition; prominent
international performing,
recording, concerto, and
chamber music career
João Luiz (DMA ’16)
Member of the internationally
recognized Brasil Guitar Duo;
head of Classical Guitar Dept.,
SUNY, Purchase; Director of
Chamber Music, CUNY Hunter;
Steve Cowan (MM ’12)
Grand Award, Canadian National
Music Festival Competition; First
Prize in the Boston GuitarFest,
Wilson Center, Indiana Guitar
Festival, Guitare Montréal,
and Hamilton International
competitions
Rupert Boyd (MM ’06)
International recording and
performing artist; member of
Boyd Meets Girl
Robert Belinic (MM ’16)
Only guitarist to win the Young
Concert Artists International
Audition (international solo and
concerto soloist)

MSMNYC.EDU
Office of Admissions and Financial Aid

it all happens here

Manhattan School of Music
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 CONTENTS FALL 2019

78 Andrea Roberto competes in the Parkening Competition

DEPARTMENTS PLAY REVIEWS MISCELLANY

8 From the
1O CG NEWS 60 METHOD 67 ALBUMS Publisher
Spring/summer A glimpse of the Three guitar quartets: Barrios, Weimar, and 80 Festival and
competition results; Baroque through Bach’s Minneapolis, Jason Vieaux plays Leshnoff’s concerto, Competition
Newman & Oltman’s Invention No. 1 Jan Depreter interprets Villa-Lobos, Carlos Barbosa- Listings
10 Brouwer premiere; new disc BY RHAYN JOOSTE Lima, Pedro Rodrigues, and more 81 Ad Index
with Romantic guitars
63 MUSIC TO PLAY 73 PRINT
12 VIEW FROM THE Douglas Seth’s Bach- The Chanterelle Guitar Anthology, Paganini works
FRONT ROW inspired Prelude for the for guitar, two pieces by Kenny Hill, Scarlatti for
An interview with 2018 GFA Victorious two guitars, Barrios studies, and more
winner Raphaël Feuillâtre
BY BLAIR JACKSON 78 STAGE
Inside the Parkening International Guitar Competition
16 LETTER FROM . . . BY MARK SMALL
Classical guitar is on
the rise in Thailand
and Vietnam
BY MARK HOUGHTON

20 REVERBERATIONS DOWNLOAD THIS

Manuel de Falla and his MAGAZINE—FOR FREE!
love of the guitar Visit store.ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com select this issue, then enter
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6 Fall 2019 PHOTO COURTESY OF LISA SMITH WENGLER CENTER FOR THE ARTS, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY, 2019
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 LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

TURNING THE PAGE… CLASSICAL GUITAR

he digital media revolution has
arrived at Classical Guitar maga-
zine. The issue you are holding in
your hands is the last that will appear in
print. In its place will be three equally valu-
able sources of information, inspiration, and
instruction: ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com,
Classical Guitar News e-news, and Acoustic
Guitar magazine, newly expanded to include
more coverage of all styles of music where
the nylon-string guitar reigns supreme.
Our decision to suspend publication
of Classical Guitar in print was not taken
lightly. We recognize that it has served
as the voice of the classical guitar com-
munity, first from its home in Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, England, for 32 years, and more
recently as a revamped and reimagined
ex-pat in California.
In response to the digital media rev-
olution, Stringletter Media—a small, spe-
cialist, family-run business—is making the
same shifts, adjustments, and pivots as
the largest media companies in the world.
One such adjustment entails devoting our
limited resources to strengthening our best-
of both the steel-string and nylon-string
worlds. In the works for your first issue, for
example, are a lesson on Carulli with Michael
Chapdelaine, a profile of Jason Vieaux, a
composition from a recent classical-guitar
recording, and a review of Yamaha’s nylon-
string Transacoustic guitar—along with a
talk with Roger Bucknall of Fylde Guitars,
a lesson with Molly Tuttle, a family tree of
British fingerstyle guitar, and much more.
On ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com and
in the Classical Guitar News e-newsletter,
you’ll continue to enjoy the same great
mix of articles, videos, news reports, and
archival items you find there today.
For the five years during which Blair
Jackson has been Editor of Classical Guitar
he’s also served as a Senior Editor of Acous-
tic Guitar. I have asked him to do everything
he can to integrate the spirit and content of
the former into the latter, with the goal of
making this transition as seamless for you
as it will be for him.
Blair and I are thankful to all of you for
your invaluable and enthusiastic support
(and, yes, constructive criticism) these past
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT
Editor Blair Jackson
Managing Editor Kevin Owens
Production Manager Hugh O’Connor
Contributing Editors
Thérèse Wassily Saba, Maurice Summerfield,
Graham Wade, Chris Dumigan, Steve Marsh,
Derek Hasted, Paul Fowles, Giacomo Fiore, Mark Small
Creative Director Joey Lusterman
SALES & MARKETING
Chief Revenue Officer Lyzy Lusterman
Sales Managers Amy-lynn Fischer, Ref Sanchez
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Product Marketing Manager Kelsey Holt
Subscription Marketing Manager Lauren Boyd
Customer Service Representative Gaby Garcia
Single Copy Sales Consultant Tom Ferruggia
Stringletter.com
Publisher and Editorial Director
David A. Lusterman

performing print magazine. In our case that’s
Acoustic Guitar, and we sincerely believe that
our ability to serve classical and nylon-string
guitarists like you well into the future rests in
serving all guitarists with one print magazine
while continuing to specialize online.
If you now subscribe to the quarterly
Classical Guitar, you will automatically
receive the bimonthly Acoustic Guitar, start-
ing with the issue dated January/February
2020, for the calendar duration of your
subscription (e.g, if you expect three more
quarterly issues before your current term
runs out, you’ll receive five instead).
If you don’t already read Acoustic Guitar,
you can expect literate, diverse coverage of
the musicians, techniques, and repertoire
five years. It’s been an honor to carry on the
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
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IF YOU HAVE A CURRENT SUBSCRIPTION, you will receive Acoustic Guitar magazine, with expanded coverage of classical Andrew Baez Daniel Melberg
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Except where noted, all contents © 2019 String Letter Publishing, Inc., David A. Lusterman, Publisher.
8 Fall 2019
 F E A T U R E D A R T I S T S

Eduardo Fernandez Eliot Fisk Beijing Guitar Duo Bandini-Chiacchiaretta Duo Canadian Guitar Quartet

GUITAR FOUNDATION OF AMERICA

INTERNATIONAL
CONVENTION & COMPETITIONS
University of Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS, IN
JUNE 22–27, 2020
Hosted by Nemanja Ostojić,
Associate Adjunct Professor

CONCERTS | INTERNATIONAL CONCERT ARTIST COMPETITION

INTERNATIONAL YOUTH COMPETITION
INTERNATIONAL ENSEMBLE COMPETITION
GUITAR SUMMIT YOUTH CAMP | LECTURES | VENDOR EXPO
PRIVATE LESSONS | MASTERCLASSES
TECHNIQUE WORKSHOPS

GUITARFOUNDATION.ORG
 CG NEWS
SPRING AND SUMMER 2019 COMPETITION RESULTS
There are lots of Adult/Open contests to report on, so let’s dive
in! Keep in mind that when we list a country beside a name, that
is usually the guitarist’s country of origin, and not necessarily
where they live and work today. “ES” refers to EuroStrings
member competitions.
Parkening International Guitar Competition (USA):
1. Andrea Roberto (Italy), 2. Alec Holcomb (USA),
3. Sergey Perelekhov (Russia) (See page 78 for more.) Koblenz
International Guitar Competition “Hubert Kappel” (Germany):
1. Igor Klokov (Russia), 2. Peter Graneis (Germany), 3. Luis
Alejandro Garcia Perez (Spain). Tampere Guitar Festival
(Finland, ES): 1. Flavio Nati (Italy), 2. Kasperi Leponiemi (Finland)
and Jesus Serrano Huitron (Mexico), 3. Egor Svezchentcev
(Russia). International Guitar Festival & Competition “Niccoló
Paganini” (Italy): 1. Carlotta Dalia, 2. Yuki Saito (Japan),
3. Bianka Szalaty (Poland). Guitar Hamilton (Canada):
1. Tim Beattie, 2. Felix Dallaire, 3. Daniel Conant (all from Canada).
Twents Gitaar Festival (Netherlands, ES): 1. Carlo Curatolo (Italy),
2. Pablo Menéndez (Spain), 3. Anthony Ilenio Lauber.
10 Fall 2019
Johan Smith
won both the GFA
and Changsha
competitions.
Mottola Guitar Festival (Italy, ES): 1. Carlo Curatolo,
2. Pasquale Vitale, 3. Flavio Nati (all from Italy). EuroStrings
Guitar Competition (England): 1. Mateusz Kowalski
(Poland), 2. Yuki Saito (Japan), 3. Giulia Ballaré (Italy),
4. Simone Rinaldo (Italy). Guitar Foundation of America
International Concert Artist Competition (USA):
1. Johan Smith (Switzerland), 2. Michael Butten (UK),
3. Alec Holcomb (USA), 4. Dmytro Omelchak (Ukraine).
East Carolina University Guitar Festival Competition (USA):
1. Oscar Somersalo (Finland), 2. Agustin Rosado (Puerto
Rico/USA), 3. Morgan Stuart (USA), 4. Kevin Paulo de Miranda
(USA). Asia International Guitar Festival (Thailand):
1. Dmytro Omelchak (Ukraine), 2. Zifei Wang (China),
3. Thanapot Lerttham (Thailand). Sierra Nevada Guitar
Festival (USA): 1. Diana Schaible (USA), 2. Anthony Mariano
(USA), 3. Noah Weig-Pickering (USA), 4. Saro Babikian (Syria).
Changsha International Guitar Festival (China):
1. Johan Smith (Switzerland), 2. Mu Huaicong (China),
3. Lazar Cherouvana (France), 4. Yang Zhelin (China)
KENNETH KAM/GFA PHOTO
NEWMAN & OLTMAN DEBUT NEW
DUO PIECE BY BROUWER
Leo Brouwer’s new guitar duet, El Libro
de los Seres Imaginarios, dedicated to the
New York–based Newman & Oltman Guitar
Duo, has just been recorded by the duo at
WGBH studios in Boston for release this
fall on the MusicMasters label.  it does not obviously borrow from Cuban
Laura Oltman explains, “Significant
about this new piece, which Brouwer com-
pleted in Havana, Cuba, in December 2018,
is that it was commissioned by and for peo-
ple in the USA, which has not happened or
even been entirely possible for a long time.
It is Brouwer’s first composition for U.S.
guitarists in nearly 40 years. One lesson of
this experience is that international coop-
eration has produced an exceptional work
of art, a gift for the entire world to enjoy.”
The title of the piece (in English, The
Book of Imaginary Beings) is taken from
a book of the same name by 20th cen-
tury Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges,
among the greatest writers in the Spanish
language. It is not a novel, but a scholarly
compendium of mythological creatures
from all over the world.   ters label. Sebastian Zubieta of Americas
Michael Newman recalls, “Maestro
Brouwer told us he was intrigued by the
dramatic scope of the book’s characters,
and he was inspired to create the duet for
us based on six of the beings described
by Borges: the Unicorn, the Minotaur,
Fairies and Gnomes, the Gorgon, and the
Manticore.”
Oltman continues, “Although the
beings are imaginary, they are meta-
phors of reality, which I think is what
Brouwer is trying to express. Brouwer
said that he does not write music that
literally depicts a subject. He is trying
more to capture the observer’s response
to an image, which is a technique he
developed from film scoring.”
Michael Newman, Jeffrey Nissim, Leo Brouwer, and Laura Oltman
at the New York premiere performance in June 2019 at Americas Society.
MARK GREENBERG PHOTO
Roland Gallery plays the
MICHAEL ADDLESEE PHOTO
Guiot; Roudhloff on stand
Newman says about the music, “Cer-
tainly the piece is often recognizable as
characteristic of Brouwer’s diverse styles,
but overall it does not sound like any other
composition he has written. For one thing,
folkloric music. And the dialogue between
the two guitars is often intensely poly-
rhythmic.”
“The process to get this piece written
took several years,” Oltman recalls. “You
can imagine how complex it was, with all
the friction between the U.S. and Cuba,
especially now with the new anti-Latin
America administration in Washing-
ton.  We received help and advice from
many sources, and we want to thank the
board members of Raritan River Music in
New Jersey, which is the non-profit orga-
nization that commissioned the work.
We also want to especially thank Jeffrey
NEW ALBUM
Nissim, who funded the commission, FEATURES NINE EARLY
as well as the soon-to-be-released first
recording of the work on the MusicMas-
ROMANTIC GUITARS
Since this issue’s Special Focus is “His-
toric Lutherie,” this is the perfect time
Society—our partner with the New York
to preview an exciting new CD coming
Guitar Seminar at Mannes—was incred-
out later this year: Earlier this summer,
ibly patient and helpful about getting
Roland Gallery, a leading chamber player
Brouwer to New York for the premiere
based in England, recorded an album on
performance.  He also was a great advi-
nine early-Romantic guitars from what’s
sor on the commissioning process and
known collectively as The Calliope Col-
the shifting legal situation between Cuba
lection. It includes a Baroque six-single-
and the U.S. Finally, we want to thank
string made by J. Longman in 1800; gui-
some Cuban expatriates in the U.S. who
tars from London’s most famous 19th
offered insights—Elias Barreiro, lifelong
century luthiers, Louis Panormo (French
friend of Leo Brouwer and retired guitar
model, 1831) and the Roudhloff broth-
professor at Tulane University; our great
ers (X-braced melophonic guitar, 1848);
friend Rene Izquierdo, guitar professor at
plus instruments crafted by Théodore
the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee;
Rigondeau (1822), J.G. Stauffer (Legnani
and Orlay Alonso, Mannes alumnus and
model, 1829), A. Guiot (Panormo Spanish
head of Seconda Prattica music publish-
style, 1830s), William Hanbury (Panormo
ing company.”
Spanish style, 1836), Antonio Carlos Gar-
cia (mid- to late 19th century), and also a
guitar previously owned by the famous
guitar teacher, composer, and performer
Madame Sidney Pratten, likely made by
C. Boulanger in the 1860s.
With Michael Addlesee overseeing
the recording, Gallery selected pieces to
play he thought were particularly suited
to bring out each guitar’s unique tonal
qualities, including works by José Ferrer,
J.K. Mertz, Fernando Sor, Giulio Regondi,
José Broca, Ernest Shand, and Julian
Arcas.
Sounds like a fantastic project! We’ll
have more on our website after the
album comes out!
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 11
 VIEW FROM THE FRONT ROW

 FRENCH
SENSATION

12 Fall 2019
2019
 hen French guitarist Raphaël
Feuillâtre won first prize at the
2018 Guitar Foundation of America
International Concert Artist Competition in
Louisville, Kentucky, he was barely known
in the U.S., so his victory at the coun-
try’s most important annual competition
surprised many. But in Europe he was
already widely respected, having com-
peted strongly in numerous festivals there,
and in 2017 winning the prestigious Inter-
national Guitar Competition José Tomas–
Villa de Petrer in Spain, which resulted in
the recording of his excellent first album
for the JSM label, Guitar Recital, which
included pieces by Bach, Granados (his
own arrangements of the Valses poéticos),
Tansman, Assad, and Dyens.
Part of Feuillâtre’s prize package for
winning the GFA competition was being able
to make his equally strong second album
for the Naxos Laureate Series in 2019—
inconveniently also called Guitar Recital—
again featuring the multi-part Granados
work, but also pieces by Rameau (three of
his keyboard works), Barrios, Llobet, Villa-
Lobos, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, and Ariel
Ramírez. Both albums reveal a tremen-
dously versatile and sensitive player. And
this fall, Feuillâtre embarks on what is per-
haps the most significant part of his GFA
competition prize package: an extensive
North American tour of some 50 cities,
which will expose him to thousands of new
listeners and no doubt set the stage for
future tours on the continent.
I was curious to know more about this
extraordinary young talent, so in July I con-
ducted an interview with him via email—he
in Paris, me in the San Francisco Bay Area—
to find out more.
CLASSICAL GUITAR: Are your parents
musicians?
In a short time, RAPHAËL FEUILLÂTRE: Actually, there
Raphaël Feuillâtre are no other musicians in my family. Like
has already put everyone, my parents listened to music on
the radio or some CDs, but never classical
his stamp on the music as far as I remember. Now, I think
classical guitar world that they appreciate classical music more
BY BLAIR JACKSON
because of me.
KENNETH KAM/GFA PHOTO
CG: Why did you choose to play classical
guitar?
FEUILLÂTRE: I think I’ve always been sen-
sitive to music, and I needed to express
myself with it. I remember that I would sing
to myself before sleep more or less every
night since I was really young until the age
of 10 or something, and also often make
percussion sounds. I’ve no exact memories
of why I chose the guitar, but it was this
instrument or nothing! I asked for a guitar
for Christmas when I was around 6 or 7
years old. First, I had an electric guitar toy
and then a classical one. I would play it all
the time, so my parents understood that it
was not just some childish desire, but some-
thing I really wanted and probably needed.
So at the age of 9 they registered me at the
conservatory where I was living.
CG: You studied at the conservatories in
Nantes and in Cholet [in southern Brittany].
Did you grow up in or near Nantes?
FEUILLÂTRE:: I grew up in Cholet, which is
a little city—not so far from Nantes—where
there is a really good conservatory. I stud-
ied with Hacène Addadi for solo guitar and
Marie-Caroline Foussier for guitar ensem-
ble. Then, during high school, I moved to
Nantes and its bigger conservatory. There, I
was in Michel Grizard’s class for three years
before entering the Conservatoire national
supérieur de musique in Paris, where I’ve
just finished my studies.
CG: Who are some of the guitarists you
admired when you began to study the
instrument seriously?
FEUILLÂTRE: I guess my early teacher,
Hacène Addadi; I remember him playing
during classes and I loved it. He also often
lent me CDs by Turibio Santos, Alexandre
Lagoya, Narciso Yepes. . . . So, very young
I was listening to and admiring those gui-
tarists. The first guitarist I really loved was
Alexandre Lagoya.
CG: Do you feel that you were still able to
enjoy a “normal” childhood even though
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 13
 VIEW FROM THE FRONT ROW
you spent so much time playing the gui-
tar? Did you play sports with friends?
Did you listen to popular music, too?
FEUILLÂTRE: I don’t know if I had a
“normal” childhood, but I don’t think
that the music prevented me from
doing whatever I wanted, because I
loved it. I grew up with it and it helped
me more than it deprived me. I was still
totally free to do whatever I wanted.
Nobody pushed me to play that much.
CG: It seems as though all guitarists
study with many teachers, learning
something new from each of them.
What sorts of things did you learn from
your time with Tristan Manoukian,
Judicaël Perroy, and Michel Grizard?
FEUILLÂTRE: During my three years
with Michel, he had a huge impact
on my artistic development. I loved
to work with him, and I had amazing
opportunities to play. It was probably
the sanest, most peaceful, and efficient
period in my life, in which I progressed
the most.
Great Live Sound?
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14 Fall 2019
I worked more than five years
with Judicaël. It was not super-regular
classes, but he really helped me in my
artistic development too. Of course, he
helped me to prepare for competitions,
but above all he helped me to find my
way and get to know myself and respect
who I was.
I worked with Tristan Manoukian
those last two years, so I was really
often away from the conservatory,
because of concerts mostly. But he also
encouraged me and respected me as a
musician, which was very important. He
is an amazing human being and artist
with very strong values about pedagogy
and music, which affected me a lot.
CG: Do you still enjoy playing compe-
titions, or are you looking forward to
being just a concert artist? WHAT RAPHAËL PLAYS
For the past two years, Raphaël’s main guitar
FEUILLÂTRE: Actually, I stopped com- has been a 2012 model from top French luthier
petitions after the GFA, and I hope I Dominque Field. It has a spruce top and CSA
won’t have to do any other ones. There rosewood back and sides. Raphaël’s strings
are a lot of good things to learn with of choice are Savarez Cantiga Premiums.
competitions, but I don’t feel that it’s for
me right now.
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CG: Were you surprised when you won the
GFA competition in 2018?
FEUILLÂTRE: Yes! You never really know
why you win a prize or a competition.
That’s funny, because when you don’t
have good results in a competition even
though you have played well, you feel that
it’s not right, sometimes even unfair. But
when you win, you have no idea why you
deserved this prize compared to other
competitors! I started to think like that
after playing in so many competitions
because I felt I was quite consistent in my
performance, but the results were not, of
course.
CG: Have you ever experienced racism in
the guitar world?
FEUILLÂTRE: Not at all, as far as I know.
I have played in some countries where
black people are not considered well, but
I don’t know what people thought in the
audience.
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CG: How about in your life outside the gui-
tar world?
FEUILLÂTRE: I don’t think so, or I don’t
remember. Maybe I’m lucky, or I’m always
in good places. Mostly racism is frowned
upon, so people don’t say anything.
CG: I know you enjoy making your own
transcriptions and arrangements. Is there a
particular style or composers whose work
you would like to transcribe for guitar?
FEUILLÂTRE: I miss making transcriptions,
because at present I don’t have the time,
and so many very beautiful arrangements
of amazing pieces are already done. Right
now, I only have some crazy desires, prob-
ably not even playable on the guitar. In the
near future, I’ll probably play more pieces
by Rameau, Scriabin, Bach, Ravel, and oth-
ers that are already really well-arranged.
CG: You are about to embark on your
grand tour for the GFA. What do you hope
is communicated to North American audi-
ences through your repertoire choices and
playing?
Finely tuned.
AND
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FEUILLÂTRE: I’m always pleasantly sur-
prised when people like what I’m doing.
I usually have no idea of what people
understand and what they appreciate in
my concerts. I’ve never really played in
U.S. [except at GFA], so I don’t know what
to expect. I’ll try to balance my program,
to make it as understandable as possible,
according to my tastes, and continue to
develop, trying to do better and better. I’m
glad to have the opportunity to play that
much and touch that many people.
CG: How do you like to spend time when
you are not playing the guitar?
FEUILLÂTRE: I’m teaching [at the École
municipale de musique de Villeneuve-
la-Garenne, right outside of Paris] and I
love that. Otherwise, I’m listening to a
lot of music and I love to go to concerts.
Besides that, what I do the most is watch
movies and hang out with friends. When I
can, I like to play sports, too. I’ve just fin-
ished my studies, so I hope to have more
time in the near future. CG
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 15
8/6/19 11:32 AM
 LETTER FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA
THAILAND & VIETNAM
ARE FAST BECOMING CLASSICAL GUITAR HOT SPOTS
ommunications in modern times
are often taken for granted. Barring
any anxieties related to lost lug-
gage or flight cancellations, the procedure
of casually hopping on and off flights to
far-away places is surprisingly smooth and
trouble-free. Even when that destination
requires two seven-hour flights from my
home city of Liverpool, UK, airport ameni-
ties and on-board multimedia connections
mean that at no point do you feel the onset
of boredom. I could get used to this. My des-
tination is Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok,
and awaiting is a busy calendar of closely
timetabled guitar events, each sporting
international guitar competitions: first in
Pattaya City, Thailand; followed by Ho Chi
16 Fall 2019
Ekachai Jearakul
BY MARK HOUGHTON
Minh City (formerly Saigon) in Vietnam;
then back to Bangkok, Thailand. The classi-
cal guitar is alive and well in both countries,
and indeed in all parts of Southeast Asia.
So, what’s behind this buzzing interest
in the classical guitar in Southeast Asia?
Well, there is an uninhibited vitality in how
young players approach performing the
music—which includes all the in-vogue
“Western” repertoire, and the “traditions
of the classical guitar” (so succinctly doc-
umented in the book of the same name by
Graham Wade). To further investigate this
pedagogical factor, I enlisted the opinions of
a few prominent personalities who I’ve been
fortunate to meet on my travels here.
In Bangkok, at the heart of this devel-
Thu Le
opment, are two education establishments:
Mahidol and Silpakorn universities. Dr. Paul
Cesarczyk, Professor of Guitar at Mahidol
University, gave me some background
about the guitar department there and his
own interests:
“The guitar program at Mahidol Uni-
versity College of Music, was started in
1996 by Suvich Klinsmith, a student of Paul
Henry in Chicago. I joined the faculty and
became department head in 2009. Our fac-
ulty consists of a ten-member team, and
the department encompasses pre-college,
undergraduate, master’s, and doctorate
music programs.
“No doubt a tremendous boost to
Thai guitar happened in 2014 when one of
Mahidol’s graduates, Ekachai Jearakul,
known here by the nickname ‘Bird,’ won the
GFA [Guitar Foundation of America] First
Prize. After completing the bachelor pro-
gram, I encourage many of my students to
search for opportunities to study abroad.
Many of them have gone on to study at the
Mozarteum [in Austria], the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music, HMDK Stuttgart,
Maastricht, and others.
“With a limited budget, we try to have at
least two guest artists each year visit for con-
certs and classes. In 2018, we were lucky to
get David Starobin and Rene Izquierdo. One
important part of our growth is establishing
partnerships and exchange programs with
regional music schools. The most fruitful of
these have been with the Ho Chi Minh Con-
servatory of Music in Vietnam and the Uni-
versiti Teknologi MARA in Malaysia.”
As for Silpakorn, the leading creative
university in Bangkok, its guitar depart-
ment was inaugurated 1999 and now offers
organized guitar activities in a variety of
formats, including inviting professional art-
ists as special guest lecturers and perform-
ers; workshops and master classes; and
an annual organized international summer
camp and festival.
Pongpat Pongpradit is a lecturer in gui-
tar at Silpakorn. A graduate of both Silpa-
korn (bachelor’s degree) and Mahidol (mas-
ter’s), he has given solo and duo recitals
all over Asia, as well as in Europe. He was
the founder of a group called Asian Guitar
Friends whose meetings have led to a num-
ber of creative events across the region,
including, in 2018, the first annual South-
east Asia (SEA) Guitar Festival, directed by
Pongpat and involving participants from
Southeast Asia.
Pongpradit says, “The rationale is that
these regional activities will help pro-
mote the popularity of the classical guitar,
improve the level of playing, and develop
relations among participant countries. The
first SEA Guitar Festival was held in Bang-
kok in April 2018 in collaboration with the
Silpakorn International Guitar Festival and
Chang Chui Arts establishment. Seven
Countries—Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar,
Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, and Thai-
land—were the founding members, and the
staging of this event will move to succes-
sive countries in the chain. The organizers
believe that guitarists need to connect with
other guitarists to create opportunities
for each other.” The 2019 SEA Guitar
Festival and Performance Awards were
held in early May, in Jakarta, Indonesia,
and the 2020 edition will take place in
Malaysia.
There are other key personalities
and organizations that are fostering the
growth of the guitar scene in Thailand,
including the Thailand Guitar Society,
which was founded in 2008 by Woratep
Rattana-umpawan and Leon Koudelak.
Both active recitalists, they provide
important events from their bases in
Bangkok and Pattaya, respectively. The
Pattaya International Guitar Festival
is one such collaboration, attracting
high-quality artists such as French vir-
Pongpat Pongpradit
tuoso Gérard Abiton, who regularly
performs and delivers master classes at
several events in Southeast Asia.
The Pattaya Festival is condensed into
one day, ensuring a busy schedule of events,
alongside Junior and Open competitions.
Another important event the two have
organized is the Asia International Guitar
Festival & Competition at the Sukosol Hotel
in Bangkok—this past June’s fest attracted
Abiton, Roberto Aussel, Damien Lancelle,
Gen Matsuda, and others. It’s worth men-
tioning at this point, too, that every event
I’ve attended in the region has featured a
gallery area displaying the highest caliber
regional and neighboring-country luthiers,
along with accessory and book stalls.
I’m surprisingly immune to jet lag
effects, and it’s just as well, as the next
morning I’m on a flight from Bangkok to
Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, home of the
Saigon International Guitar Festival & Com-
petition. The festival’s Artistic Director, Huy players to Southeast Asian guitarists.
Thanh Nguyen, has been Professor of Guitar
at Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Conservatory
of Music since 2006, and has performed
many concerts across Vietnam, Southeast
Asia, and even in the USA.
Nguyen tells me, “The Department of
Classical Guitar was founded in 1956, fol-
lowing the establishment of the Ho Chi
Minh City [Saigon] Conservatory of Music
that same year, marking the start of official
music education in Vietnam. An important
turning point was the establishment of the
Classical Guitar Society in the 1980s, where
acclaimed guitarists came together under
the patronage of the Cultural House of the
Phu Nhuan District. The Phu Nhuan Clas-
sical Guitar Society in the ’80s was known
for having the highest development of clas-
sical guitar in Vietnam.  In the 1990s, the
first national classical guitar competition
was organized in the HCMC Conservatory
of Music and held every three years, but
bowed out after successful editions in 1991,
1994, 1997, and 2000. I was a winner of the
second edition, in 1994.”
Today, approximately 40 students are
studying at both pre-college and university
levels at the guitar department of the HCMC
Conservatory.  Between 2006 and 2012
Nguyen developed a cooperative agreement
with the Norwegian government–funded
“Transposition Programme” with many
international guitarists who gave master
classes and recitals in Ho Chi Minh City,
thus expanding the exposure of western
Nguyen is also a member of the  Sai-
gon Guitar Quartet, and, he says, “In 2014,
together with some friends and colleagues,
we founded the Saigon International Guitar
Festival under the auspices of the HCMC
Conservatory of Music, and  I became the
festival’s founding Artistic Director. This is
the first international classical guitar festi-
val in Vietnam.” The SIGF’s first competi-
tion was held in 2017 for local players only,
but was expanded in 2018 to include guitar-
ists from other Southeast Asian countries.
The 2019 event added a Guitar Ensemble
competition, so this is definitely a festival
on the rise.
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 17
 LETTER FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA
The 2018 festival was indeed a wonder-
ful event, with concerts given by such inter-
nationally renowned guitarists as Gérard
Abiton, Rene Izquerido, Paul Cesarczyk,
Thierry Begin-Lamontagne, Thu Le &
Lorenzo Bernardi, Leon Koudelak, Carlo
Aonzo (mandolin), and Tomonori Arai, inter-
spersed with competition rounds of very
high-standard playing. I confess that part of
my interest at the SIGF in 2018 was to hear
ensemble compositions of mine featured in
the opening guitar ensemble concert.
18 Fall 2019
I should also note that in northern Viet-
nam, an important annual event is the Alma
Hanoi Guitar Festival & Competition, held
annually at the end of October and hosted
by festival founder Vu Duc Hien, known as
a torchbearer for Hanoi’s classical guitar
scene. The aforementioned guitarist Thu
Le is also from Hanoi, and she has become
perhaps the most popular and visible Viet-
namese guitarist outside the country, suc-
cessfully concertizing in both Europe and
the USA.
After the SIGF, it was back to Bangkok
and lunch with Ekachai Jearakul (“Bird”).
He is widely seen as the premier Thai clas-
sical guitarist, his career showing a path
to the very top for other Southeast Asian
players. Besides mastering traditional
Western repertoire, Bird has been active in
bringing traditional Thai music to the gui-
tar through his own impressive arranging
skills. Indeed, a recording project for Naxos
(in preparation) is his homage to the musi-
cally talented former long-reigning king of
Thailand, King Bhumibol Adulyadej (1950–
2016), encompassing arrangements of the
complete song compositions written by the
monarch. The 32-year-old guitarist also has
a thriving online teaching course, complete
with tutor books (supported by Yamaha),
and a forthcoming recording project called
Siam Whisperer, which certainly sounds
intriguing (and for which I have contributed
some arrangements).
The final guitar event of my 2018 visit
was the Thailand International Guitar Fes-
tival, directed by the indefatigable Nutavut
Ratanakarn, founder of the Bangkok Guitar
Society and a successful soloist whose 2019
concert schedule included recitals in South-
east Asia, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia,
China, Italy, Bulgaria, and Turkey. Concerts
at the festival by Ratanakarn, Mesut Özgen,
Momcilo Aleksandric, and piano-and-guitar
duets by Emiliano Leonardi and Lelyzaveta
Pluzhko show how this growing event has
become increasingly international in scope.
I served as a member of the jury, contrib-
uted master class work, and hosted a stall
exhibition for the Canadian publishing
house Les Productions d’Oz/Doberman and
Houghton Guitar Shop (Bangkok).
That about sums up this lightning tour
of Thailand and Vietnam. The classical
guitar is a lifetime journey of rewards, tra-
ditions, innovations, and inspirations, all
stimulating the senses of people in similar
ways around the globe. There are so many
people I have not had a chance to mention
here, but all of whom play meaningful roles
in the thriving Southeast Asia guitar scene.
Long may it continue for the betterment of
our beloved instrument!
England-based Mark Houghton is a guitarist,
teacher, and composer of around 120 pub-
lished works, including several ensemble
pieces which have been performed around
the world at guitar festivals.
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 REVERBERATIONS

MANUEL DE FALLA
AND HIS LOVE OF THE GUITAR
Though he wrote only one piece for the instrument,
its voice can be heard in many of his works
BY JOHN PATYKULA

20 Fall 2019
 n November of 1919, a correspon-
dent for The Times of London
wrote of his meeting with the
great Spanish composer Manuel de Falla in
Granada:
Granada itself is explained by its music and
guitars, not in the music of fatuous gypsy
entertainments got up for strangers, but that
which is performed in private houses and gar-
dens. One evening Señor Falla took me to a
house just outside the Alhambra. In the patio,
the fountain had been muffled, but not alto-
gether silenced, by a towel; there was a light
murmur of water running into a cistern. Don
Angel Barrios (who is part composer of a
delightful “Goyesque” opera, El Avapiés) sat
there, collarless and comfortable, with a gui-
tar across his knees. He had tuned it in flats
so that in some odd way it harmonized with
the running water, and his father now and
again sang one of those queer, wavering mel-
odies of Canto flamenco, with their strange
rhythms and flourishes so characteristic of
Andalucia, while Señor Barrios accompanied
him with amazing resource and variety. . . .
Señor Falla, of course, has long realized what
sort of music and what instruments are most
suited to the gardens of Spain . . .
That correspondent was the British
author J.B. Trend (1887–1958), who would
later write Manuel de Falla and Spanish
Music, an important book which offered rare
glimpses into the life of the composer and his
deep understanding of and love for the gui-
tar. Trend, an expert on Spanish history and
culture, corresponded frequently with Falla,
and, over the years, was able to spend time
with him. According to Trend, “Falla always
treated the guitar seriously; and when the
editor of the Revue musicale invited him to
send something ‘pour le tombeau of Claude
Debussy,’ he wrote his Homenaje for the gui-
tar, and it was first tried over in his room at
one of the meetings I have described. . . . It is
an extraordinary work, full of that passionate
seriousness which is characteristic of Falla’s
music and of all things which are really and
truly Spanish.”
For guitarists, Manuel de Falla (1876–
1946) remains an enigma. Although he
was surrounded by the sound of the guitar
and was friends with many guitarists, both
classical and flamenco, he only composed
that one short, yet exquisite Homenaje
(Pour le tombeau de Claude Debussy) for
the instrument. However, there is no doubt
that the guitar played an important role in
Falla’s development as a composer. And
it was not just the flamenco and popular
Spanish guitar that asserted an influence
on his music—it was also the music of the
16th century vihuelistas and the Baroque
guitarristas that left a deep impression on
the composer, due in large part to his early
studies with Felipe Pedrell.
Pedrell (1841–1922) was a composer,
musicologist, teacher, and, perhaps most
important, a guitarist. Pedrell has been
called “the keystone of the arch upon which
modern Spanish music rests.” He was the
most important figure in Spanish music
during his time, not because of his com-
positions, but because of the enormous
influence he had in awakening the spirit
of Nationalism in several important Span-
ish composers, including Isaac Albéniz
and Enrique Granados. Beginning in 1901,
Falla studied with Pedrell for three years in
Madrid. During this time, he became aware
of the importance of the music of Spain,
from the great music of the Renaissance
and the Baroque eras to the abundance of
folk music from the various regions. Accord-
ing to music historian Gilbert Chase, Falla
“emerged aesthetically fortified, and with a
vivid realization of the creative values inher-
ent in the music of Spain.” Falla’s interest in
the early ancestors of the guitar undoubt-
edly inspired his friend Trend to write Luys
Milan and the Vihuelistas, an important book
published in 1925 that explored the life and
music of this Renaissance composer and
his contemporaries.
As a composer, Falla felt that the guitar
was the perfect instrument for the con-
temporary music of his day. He stated that
the “Romantic times were precisely those
in which the guitar was at its worst. . . . It
was made to play the sort of music that
other instruments played, but it was not
really suitable for 19th-century music, and
so it dropped out. It is coming back again,
because it is peculiarly adapted for modern
music.” Falla also asserted that the tuning
of the guitar in fourths with a third in the
middle made it more suitable for the har-
monies embraced by Debussy and the other
composers of his time, and that instru-
ments tuned in fifths like the violin were
“not particularly apt for modern music.” In
reference to the modern harmonies of Fal-
la’s time, Trend wrote that the guitar “in the
hands of quite an ordinary player, can be
made to do astonishing things. The effects
of harmony produced unconsciously by gui-
tarists in Andalucía are among the marvels
of untutored art.” In addition, the rhythms
produced by the guitar and were always “at
the back of the composer’s mind.”
t is well-known that Falla had
a deep love and respect for fla-
menco. He had become con-
cerned that the traditional flamenco songs
and style of singing, which had its roots
in the music of India and other Eastern
countries, were disappearing and that this
art form had become too commercialized.
Trend wrote that the “truth seems to be
that except for some few cantaores [sing-
ers] and one or two who have grown too
old to sing, that which remains of the prim-
itive Andaluz folk-song is only the shadow
of what it once was.”
Not only were the flamenco traditions
of singing disappearing, but the art of true
flamenco guitar was also vanishing. In a
1977 interview, the great Spanish guitarist
Andrés Segovia (1893–1987), who was a
close friend of Falla, explained that the “fla-
menco guitarist of today has removed his
attention from the ideals of yesterday, when
this noble art was prized for a depth of emo-
tion which could be produced by a certain
simplicity of approach. . . . What they do
has absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing
to do with flamenco. They play chords that
are altogether foreign to the character of
flamenco. Besides the theatrical technique
[is] in such poor taste.”
In 1922, Falla organized El Concurso de
Cante Jondo, a competition of traditional
flamenco singing held in Granada near the
Alhambra. Segovia stated that this event
was planned in “collaboration with person-
alities of that divine city and with young
artists of the pen, the brush, and music,
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 21
 Manuel de Falla (right) and Andrés Segovia in Granada, 1923

REVERBERATIONS

among whom they included me, Fernando

de los Ríos, the painter Ignacio Zuloaga,
and the poet Federico García Lorca. . . . The
motivating idea behind this concourse was
to prevent, as far as possible, the withering
away of the noble tradition of cante jondo.”
The competition drew performers and
listeners from Spain and abroad. There
were strict rules that each competitor had
to follow. Segovia was one of several distin-
guished judges. The great flamenco singer
Antonio Chacón was also a judge. In addi-
PHOTO COURTSEY OF ARCHIVO MANUEL DE FALLA

tion, Segovia and the legendary flamenco

guitarist Ramón Montoya, uncle of Carlos
Montoya, assisted Falla with various guitar
aspects of the competition. Music histo-
rian Suzanne Demarquez wrote that “after
rigorous preliminary elimination, the jury
selected the cantaores and tocaores [gui-
tarists] entitled to take part in the final
contest.”
Although much has been written about

ccimb
concorso chitarristico internazionale maurizio biasini

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22 Fall 2019
the “singing” portion of this competition,
the importance of the guitar’s role for this
event has often been overlooked. As a pre-
lude to the competition, Segovia gave four
concerts in Granada’s Alhambra Palace
Hotel. These concerts were followed by a
benefit performance given by Segovia and
the poet Lorca to help the great French
composer Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
attend the competition as a guest. Ravel,
whose mother was from the Basque region
of Spain, was a good friend of Falla. Segovia
and Lorca gave this special concert about
a month before the competition in the
Alhambra Palace Hotel. Before a large audi-
ence, Lorca recited his poetry and Segovia
gave a rare performance of flamenco with
a soleares, utilizing his own falsetas, along
with some composed by Paco de Lucena,
one of the great flamenco guitarists of the
late 19th century. In the end, Ravel had to
decline the invitation, so the proceeds from
this concert were donated to help defray arrangement of this piece for piano.) One
some of the expenses of the competition. could say that Falla “played” the guitar
through the orchestra and through the
ne cannot overemphasize how piano.
much the guitar influenced many In 1933, Falla beautifully summed up his
of Falla’s compositions. For exam- love for the guitar in the prologue that he
ple, themes from the Baroque guitarist wrote for Emilio Pujol’s guitar method:
Gaspar Sanz (1640–1710) were used by Falla
in Master Peter’s Puppet Show (El retablo It is a marvelous instrument, as austere as it
de maese Pedro), a one-act opera featuring is rich in sound, and which now powerfully,
puppets composed in 1923. In his Sonnet to now gently, takes possession of the soul. It
Córdoba for voice and piano, the influence concentrates within itself the essential values
of the vihuelist Luys Milan (ca., 1500–1561) of many noble instruments of the past, and
can be heard in the piano accompaniment. has acquired these values as a great inher-
The orchestra imitates the rasqueados and itance without losing those native qualities
punteados of the flamenco guitar in The which it owes, through its origin, to the people
Miller’s Dance from his ballet The Three themselves.
Cornered Hat. Trills, ligados, and the gutsy
sounds from the bass strings of the guitar 
are transformed into refined and idealized John Patykula is Assistant Chair and Coordinator of
flamenco for the orchestra in Falla’s famous the Guitar Program in the Department of Music at
Ritual Fire Dance. (Falla also did a brilliant Virginia Commonwealth University.

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ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 23
 XUEFEI  YANG
When Xuefei Yang first came to London to study with Michael
Lewin at the Royal Academy of Music, one had a sense of the
struggle she’d had just to reach that point. But Yang contin-
ued to flourish, and she is now well-established as an inter-
national soloist and chamber musician. To give some idea of
her brilliant career, in July 2019 we finalized this interview in
between her performances in London and at the 75th Chelten-
ham Music Festival (in Britain) and, even more impressive,
in the following week, she headed to Paris for France’s Bas-
tille Day celebrations, where she performed in an open-air
classical music concert to an audience of many thousands at
the base of the Eiffel Tower: She was the soloist in the Con-
cierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo, with the Orchestre
nacional de France, conducted by Jaap Van Zweden; the con-
cert ended with spectacular fireworks. Within a few days, she
was traveling to Changsha in her native China, where she is
the artistic director of the Changsha Guitar Festival.

24 Fall 2019 24 Fall 2019 NEIL MUIR PHOTO

 A classical guitar
role model for
international success
BY THÉRÈSE WASSILY SABA

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 25
XUEFEI YANG
CLASSICAL GUITAR: You have had such an
internationally successful career that it is hard
to imagine the struggle you must have had at
the start of your life as a guitarist. What I still
find incredible is that you were the first Chinese
guitarist to enter a conservatory to study the
instrument. Do you still think about those early
challenges?
XUEFEI YANG: Yes, indeed, I always remind
myself of the long path I have traveled and the
various difficulties along the way. I try to take
positive things from it all—it reminds me to cher-
ish the privilege I’m having as a musician living
my dream, and it reminds me of the strength I
have gained from the various struggles, both as a
musician and as a person. People sometimes call
me a pioneer, but I didn’t think about this at all
when I was in China and started to think about
guitar as a path in life. After traveling to many
countries and seeing many different cultures
and ways of life, I realize now that I had chosen
a rare and uncertain path with no guarantee of a
future. I feel very fortunate that I am able to live
this musical life. Some young musicians in China
tell me that I am their role model, so hearing this
is also my reward for having taken a pioneering
path.
CG: You started out studying in China, during
the pre-reform period, then came to the Royal
Academy of Music in London, and since then
you have become an integral part of the classi-
cal music scene here in England. You have made
England your home, but you have never stopped
performing in China.
XUEFEI: I have continued to perform in China
throughout my career and I feel it’s important that
I bring the guitar and its music to my homeland. I
feel it’s not only my responsibility, but also a priv-
ilege. While the guitar is appreciated by the core
guitar audience in China, I want to continue to
bring it to a more mainstream musical audience,
as well. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to
do this by having invitations to appear at China’s
prestigious venues and major music festivals, and
by performing with the top Chinese orchestras.
Most recently, such an event was the Chinese New
Year concert at the National Centre of Performing
Arts [NCPA], which showcased top-quality musi-
cians from all fields. I will continue to work to
bring the guitar and its music to the mainstream
musical world in China, as well as the core guitar
audience.
26 Fall 2019
CG: This October there are important celebra-
tions for the 70th anniversary of the founding
of the People’s Republic of China. Can you tell
us about the special anniversary plans that you
have organized?
XUEFEI: In previous years, I have played Chinese
pieces here and there in my concerts and record-
ings. I find that Western audiences can find it
challenging to listen to a lot of Chinese music all
at one go, because it’s not really related to their
cultural background and they are not familiar
with the music language. However, that makes
me feel that I need to continue to work to build
an appreciation of the music from my cultural
heritage.
I find cultural knowledge of all forms really
helps in interpreting music. I have lived for
many years in the West and continue to develop
a deeper understanding of Western cultures.
Paradoxically, this has made me feel an urge to
explore and understand my own heritage even
further. I think it helps to look at your own cul-
ture from the outside—it’s hard to see some-
times when you don’t have another perspective
to compare against.
When I was a teenager, I was focused on
playing big pieces perfectly to prove my ability,
and I made music mainly by feeling. Then I real-
ized that playing by feeling wasn’t enough and I
felt some confusion about where I was heading
as a musician. Coming to London and study-
ing with Michael Lewin at the Royal Academy
opened my eyes and ears and helped shape
my musicianship. After 30, I feel I started to
find my own voice, with more musical freedom,
but based on a better overall understanding of
music. I realized more and more that we are not
just making music, but communicating within a
cultural context.
This year—the 70th anniversary of the
founding of the People’s Republic of China—
is an important occasion in China and will be
widely celebrated across the country. It pro-
vides a great reason for me to do more to pres-
ent some Chinese music and culture as part of
my recitals. I’ve done three things in particular
this year: I have given a bigger proportion of
my concert programs to Chinese repertoire; I
have been working a lot on new transcriptions,
including classics, folk, and chamber pieces;
and I am also recording a whole album of Chi-
nese music, which will be released by Univer-
sal early in 2020, alongside concerts including
one at China’s most prestigious venue, NCPA.
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 27
XUEFEI YANG
CG: You are really in a unique position
to discuss the developments in classi-
cal music over the past decade or so in
China. Can you tell us a little bit about the
changes you have observed?
XUEFEI: The classical music scene in
China has changed beyond recognition
in all aspects these last 20 years. Before,
the role of conservatories in China was
primarily the vocational training of
musicians for orchestras, teaching, etc.
Basically, the government funded uni-
versity faculties and then allocated jobs
to graduates. When I was starting out,
this system was changing, but the future
looked quite bleak. Against my parents’
wishes, I withdrew from a top school in
Beijing which guarantees a better chance
for entering a top university probably
followed by a good job afterwards, and
entered the middle school attached to
the Central Conservatoire of Music in Bei-
jing as an unofficial student. That meant
my parents had to pay more money for
me to study there and there would be no
formal qualification at the end of it. For-
tunately, the faculty was formally estab-
lished during my time there and I got a
formal qualification at the end of it! I was
the very first student to major in guitar
at a Chinese music school. Nowadays
there are probably a dozen conservato-
ries across China with a guitar faculty
and I see many guitar graduates making
a decent living by teaching, organizing
music schools, or owning music shops.
Many of them often reinvest some of their
profits back into guitar events.
When I started, the classical guitar
was basically unknown by the public. The
guitar had a negative image. It was mainly
associated with Western pop music,
which in turn was associated with the
capitalist West, and hence was seen as a
bad thing during that early reformation
era in the aftermath of the Cultural Rev-
olution. The general public didn’t realize
that the classical variety of guitar even
existed. Nowadays, Western pop culture
is accepted, and its image has become
normalized, so the guitar is accepted.
By the creation of formal guitar faculties
at conservatories, people see that the
28 Fall 2019 NEIL MUIR PHOTO
instrument has the government’s stamp
of approval, so more people study it, and
they go on to teach; there are more con-
certs at different levels, and hence clas-
sical guitar is becoming more and more
recognized by the general public.
Even more generally, classical music
is booming. I think this is due to two main
reasons: the country is more open to the
West; and the economic growth of the
country allows cities to develop and peo-
ple to follow aspirational lifestyles. Open-
ness to the West brings more opportuni-
ties for cultural exchange. Classical music
is strongly associated with a high-status
lifestyle, and with the money available
from economic growth, many cities are
now investing in spectacular venues for
concerts—it gives the city a good image
and status—sometimes just to compete
with other cities! China’s most presti-
gious venue is the spectacular NCPA
in Beijing. I played the very first guitar
recital in that venue in 2009 shortly after
it opened. The big cities already have
mature musical audiences, while some
of the smaller cities have all the facilities
but haven’t yet formed an audience with
a tradition of listening to classical music.
I believe these audiences will develop
over time, as most people aspire to bet-
ter their lives, and it is human nature to
want nourishment for the soul once basic
needs are met. I am hoping that more and
more children and parents will realize
that the goal of learning an instrument is
to have music enrich their lives.
CG: Yes, that is so important! Alongside
those developments in China, equally,
there have been many changes in the
classical music scene and classical guitar
scene throughout the world. This is also
something you have witnessed first-hand.
Could you describe some of the changes
you have observed outside of China and
how they have affected your career?
XUEFEI: I have heard British people say
that the guitar scene was a lot richer
in the UK 20 years ago than today, and
that the guitar scene in the USA is now
better than the UK. And I’ve heard many
Americans say that the European guitar
scene is richer than in the USA. I think
everyone has a different perspective on
this question.
I’ll share some of my own observa-
tions from touring around the world.
First, the general level of playing has defi-
nitely improved. Also, the art of lutherie
seems to be in a very exploratory era,
which in my view goes hand-in-hand with
the more diverse repertoire available to
modern players. I also feel that a global
repertoire has become more acceptable.
It seems that traditionally, concerts prob-
ably included a lot of Western classical
music—transcriptions of the classical
greats, for example. Nowadays, we also
have a wealth of music for string instru-
ments from across the world. I think it’s
a good sign that we are embracing the
music of many cultures. In the same way
that John Williams brought the music of
Barrios to a wider audience, I want to
bring music from China into the guitar
repertoire. China has a long heritage of
music for plucked instruments that is fas-
cinating to explore on guitar.
I think that the guitar is more accepted
in the general music scene, but I also
think it deserves even higher recogni-
tion. There are lots of music festivals and
events across the globe; it would be nice
to see the guitar at even more of them.
CG: Being the artistic director of the
Changsha Festival will give you a chance
to put some of your dreams into practice.
XUEFEI: The Changsha Festival is now in
its eighth year and I have been involved as
artistic director for the past five years. My
main interest in this festival is the opportu-
nity it provides for young people to see, to
learn, and to participate in music making.
Also, I want to present good-quality guitar
concerts in various styles to the public.
For the many young guitarists who
come from all over the country, this festi-
val is probably one of the only times they
get to experience live music from inter-
national artists. The main focus of the
festival is on classical guitar, but I want
to open their eyes to the wider world of
guitar in all its forms. For this reason, we
invite top performers of all styles. We have
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 29
XUEFEI YANG
presented flamenco, fingerstyle, lute, and
Baroque guitar, among others. I also always
include chamber concerts to showcase gui-
tar in a setting with other musicians. I want
audiences to get a very wide view of the
guitar in the world of music, so that young
players may be able to choose a musical
path that they were oblivious to before. You
never know how these young musicians will
be inspired by things they haven’t heard or
thought of before.
In order to discover promising players
and provide performing opportunities, we
also have a classical guitar competition
with prizes for different age groups. The
open competition has the biggest prize in
Asia—$10,000, plus a multi-concert tour in
China and a Naxos recording. I also want the
festival to encourage composers to write
for our instrument, and we have an annual
composition competition for that purpose.
The festival has a great atmosphere—
lots of foreign artists have told me that
their experiences were a lot better than
their expectations, and I would encourage
interested guitarists from across the world
to come to our festival and experience it
first hand; you will be made very welcome.
I remember that we were fortunate to have
Roland Dyens perform at the 2015 festi-
val—I will always remember how touched
he was by the warmth of the welcome he
received from the Chinese audience. He told
me he wished to return soon…
CG: I am not surprised to hear that you are
including chamber music in the Changsha
Festival, because that is an important part
30 Fall 2019 NEIL MUIR PHOTOS
of your own career. You have had long-term
collaborations with particular musicians,
such as the tenor Ian Bostridge and the
Heath Quartet. You made one of my favorite
recordings of the Bach concertos with the
Heath Quartet (EMI Classics, 2012).
XUEFEI: I feel that performing with other
musicians is an important and enjoyable
part of my musical life. On a personal
level, I learn so much that I can bring to
my own music making. For me, the human
voice is the ultimate expression of musical
phrasing, so working with singers always
inspires me to think about musical lines,
In a master class
phrasing, and how to express my own
music. Playing with a string quartet you
learn the art of making music as a team,
and really experience what chamber music
is about. It’s not about the individual, and
sometimes you have to stand back and
support others in the musical soundscape.
Playing concertos with an orchestra pro-
vides the ultimate sense of voicing, dynam-
ics, and colors. Performing with other
musicians is also a great way to bring the
guitar into a wider musical world. I have
also worked with dancers recently and find
it really enhances one’s sense of rhythm
and pulse.
I have been very fortunate to have
worked with a wide variety of artists. My
very first experience of working with a
singer was with the wonderful Rosalind
Plowright. A singer friend of mine told me
that in their world that would be like land-
ing a leading part in a Wagner opera as a
first operatic role! Next year, I am planning
to perform a Schubert song cycle, some-
thing I always wanted to do, with Gavan
Ring. Last year, I did a few concerts with
the South Korean soprano Sumi Jo, and
I’ve just recorded an EP with American
soprano Ailyn Pérez for Apple Music.
In addition to recording and perform-
ing with the Elias Quartet, I also regularly
collaborate with the Heath Quartet and
others. I truly enjoy my musical collabo-
rations and always learn something from
them. Perhaps you’ll be able to hear some
of these influences reflected in my solo
playing, too, on a new solo EP that I’ve also
recorded for Apple Music.
CG: Another of your regular collaborators
is the tenor Ian Bostridge. Could we talk
about the recent recording you two made
in the Globe Theatre’s series? It was called
Song from our Ancestors (Globe Records,
2016) and you recorded it in the beautiful
Jacobean theater.
XUEFEI: Making that recording was a very
special experience because the venue is
a re-creation of an intimate 17th century
theatre from Shakespeare’s time—all
made from wood and beautifully deco-
rated. I have enjoyed performing there
previously and was delighted when the
chance to record there came along. Mak-
ing the recording felt like giving a real per-
formance, rather than playing in an anon-
ymous soundproof studio. The sound is
very clean, and the notes have a beautiful
bloom. Ian and I provided an initial draft
of recording repertoire based on material
that we had toured, including a song cycle
that Steve Goss wrote for us. The producer
asked me to include an equal amount of
music from my own cultural background.
I was very happy to have this opportunity
to arrange more Chinese music, which we
included as interludes, and also a solo
piece that Chen Yi wrote for me. She is one
of most prominent contemporary Chinese
composers. I have been lucky to have had
artistic freedom for recording with all the
labels I have worked with.
CG: More recently, you have released
another super-special recording called
Milonga del Angel: Virtuosic Duo for Guitar
With soprano Ailyn Pérez
and Violin with the Chinese violinist Mengla
Huang on the Deutsche Grammophon label.
How did that collaboration come about, and
how did you choose the repertoire?
XUEFEI: A few years back, Mengla and I
performed a duet concert together at the
NCPA in Beijing. He loves classical guitar
and wanted to do an album with guitar,
so he asked me if I would be interested to
join him on that project. I love playing with
other artists, especially with someone who
loves the sound of guitar—I feel there are
still musicians out there who ignore our
instrument. As Mengla won the Paganini
violin competition, it was natural for us to
include some of the Paganini works for vio-
lin and guitar.
He was also very open-minded about
my suggestions for repertoire. The dan-
ger with some guitar-and-violin repertoire
is that the guitar parts aren’t always that
interesting musically. So, we endeavored
to include repertoire where there was
some musical balance between the violin
and guitar. After hearing the violin line, I
sometimes had to arrange my own guitar
part. For example, Falla’s Spanish Dance is
a piece I know well—I have performed it
with legendary Chinese cellist Jian Wang,
and also recorded a solo version of my own
arrangement. After rehearsing this piece
with Mengla for this recording, I realized
[famed Austrian violinist and composer
Fritz] Kreisler’s violin transcription had
made the violin sound so virtuosic, I felt I
had to re-arrange my guitar part to match!
We used that as the opening track of the
With Mengla Huang
album. I also did my own arrangement of
the guitar part for Albéniz’s Tango, again to
better pair with Kreisler’s violin transcrip-
tion. The repertoire takes us on a musical
journey from the “devil” of Paganini to the
“angels” of Piazzolla. We will be doing a
Christmas Day concert together in Shang-
hai.
CG: Finally, could we talk about the special
guitars in your life? You were given a Small-
man guitar by John Williams early in your
career, which was important for you. Then
Paul Fischer has made you some special
instruments to your own specifications.
XUEFEI: When I was working on the Bach
transcriptions for my Bach Concertos CD
[2012], I bought a second-hand 7-string
guitar that happened to be made by Paul
Fischer. I immediately liked the sound of
that guitar in the shop. I took it to Paul to
adjust the string spacing for me and add
some additional frets. He told me he was
experimenting with some new double-top
designs. At that time, I was looking for a
spruce guitar with a different sound from
my Smallman. I also wanted it to have a
shorter scale-length, because when I was
working on my Bach album, I felt those
transcriptions were very demanding on
the left hand, so I thought a shorter scale
would ease that a bit and let me focus more
on the music. A few months later, I passed
by Paul’s studio on the way to Oxford and
tried his new guitar—it matched all the cri-
teria I was looking for. It has a very focused
yet silky tone.
I have used both instruments on my
recordings and in a few concerts, too. Paul
also made another unique guitar that I
played on the Aubade video—you can also
see the instrument being made on that video!
CG: Are there other new guitars in your
life? Any by Chinese makers?
XUEFEI: I also have two guitars made by the
luthier and guitar-case maker Narongsak
Visesnut. Regarding Chinese-made guitars, I
have one by Tribute, a Chinese brand I trust
that makes a small volume of high-quality
but low-cost guitars.
CG: And for those interested in visiting the
Changsha Festival?
XUEFEI: We are making some changes to
the competitions, so for anyone inter-
ested, do keep an eye on the websites at
guitar.org.cn and xuefeiyang.com. CG
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 31
 LIVING BETWEEN CULTURES
“The time of the self-deprecating compositions, the guitar holds a prominent position among other
‘classical’ guitar is over. It is time to instruments, but in his wide-ranging oeuvre, there are also string
see the guitar as it really is: a strong, quartets, works for large orchestra, and music for saz (a long-scale
sonorous instrument with a richness lute, often used in Turkish and Kurdish music).
of color that knows no equal.” And although the Turkish influence is apparent in various com-
positions, Domeniconi has also mined many other diverse musi-
This bold manifesto is to be found cal traditions, including Indian and Arabic music, as well as Latin
on composer and guitarist Carlo American, Spanish, and English—so he certainly does not only
Domeniconi’s homepage. The lines turn East to find inspiration. In Toccata in Blue, there are several
efficiently summarize his music, phrases that breathe of jazz and blues, and the title’s similarity to
which is full of colors: sometimes George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is hardly a coincidence.
silently whispering, sometimes Sometimes Domeniconi examines the musical thinking and
valiantly loud-spoken, always on imagination of another composer and then allows that artist’s
its way through shifting environ- spirit to come through and flourish in his own creations. In this
ments, where beautiful, restful way, pieces like Gesualdo (inspired by the troubled but talented
passages are rapidly transformed Italian Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo), Studies for the
into exciting cascades of notes Spirit (greatly influenced by the French composer Olivier Messi-
inspired by Turkish maqaam or aen), and Hommage a Jimi Hendrix (the late 1960s electric guitar
the raga of Indian classical music; titan) have come to life. One could even say that there are similar-
plus a diversity of weird sounds ities to Mexican composer Manuel Ponce, who wrote guitar music
picked from the toolbox of guitar inspired by the stylistic features of different eras, such as Sonata
modernism. Classica and Sonata Romantica, not to mention his A-minor Sonata,
For most of us, Domeniconi’s where he directly tried to recreate the tonal language of Baroque
name immediately brings to mind composer and lutenist Silvius Leopold Weiss (and managed so well
Koyunbaba, a work from 1985 that that some were actually convinced this really was a suite from the
has become one of the most per- 18th century).
formed pieces in the contempo- Domeniconi was born in 1947 in the city of Cesena in northeast
rary guitar repertoire. According Italy. His first teacher was Carmen Lenzi Mozzani, granddaughter
to Domeniconi, the title has two of the noted luthier Luigi Mozzani, who in 1938 made the instru-
meanings: It is the name of a wild ment that Domeniconi mostly performs on to this day. He studied
and remote region in southwest- classical guitar at the Conservatorio Rossini in Pesaro and then
ern Turkey that is believed to have moved to Berlin, where he also studied composing. At that time,
certain magical properties, and what was then known as West Germany welcomed many guest
it is also the name of a medieval workers from Turkey and it was through contact with this commu-
Turkish saint. The literal transla- nity that Domeniconi’s interest in Turkish music was awakened. In
tion is “father of sheep,” or shep- 1977, he moved to Istanbul and founded the first guitar course at
herd. Koyunbaba is a modal com- the city’s conservatory. He left in 1980 but has often returned as a
position inspired by Turkish folk guest teacher. He moved back to Germany and since then has been
music, and after hearing it, many active as a pedagogue, in addition to his very productive life as a
tend to connect Domeniconi only composer and a truly skillful guitarist.
to this fusion of Western and Turk- He has released several albums featuring his own music, and
ish music—even though this is among the many guitarists who have recorded his works you’ll
just one aspect of his great body find celebrated names such as John Williams, Xuefei Yang, Aniello
of work. Desiderio, David Russell, Dale Kavanagh, and Celil Refik Kaya.
Indeed, his credit list includes There are surprisingly few interviews and articles available on
more than 150 pieces—a great Carlo Domeniconi and his music. [He was interviewed by Colin
deal of it music for solo guitar, but Cooper for the April 1989 issue of Classical Guitar.] I made several
also guitar duets and some works attempts to reach him via Skype and e-mail and I was beginning
written for the Los Angeles Guitar to lose hope of connecting with him when he finally responded to
Quartet. In several other ensemble my queries.

32 Fall 2019
 A RARE

BY ANGE TURELL
INTERVIEW
WITH
VISIONARY
COMPOSER
AND GUITARIST
CARLO
DOMENICONI

DAVID JOHN PHOTO ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 33

CARLO DOMENICONI

34 Fall 2019
 ANGE TURREL: Your playing and
composing sometimes exceeds the
limits of what may be considered as
possible with a guitar. What are your
thoughts about this and how do you
look at the guitar in general—what can
be achieved with it and what are the
challenges for a soft-spoken instru-
ment like the nylon-string guitar?
CARLO DOMENICONI: What do you
mean by “exceeding the limits”? Do
I really do this? I am not sure about
that! But I think this “soft-spoken”
guitar has the possibility to touch the
soul in a very particular way. This is
actually what I am trying to do.
TURREL: You have stated that you are
aiming at a “music of the Earth,” by
melding together influences from dif-
ferent traditions. Do you regard music
as a universal language, and could it
contribute in the forming of a deeper
experience and understanding of exis-
tence and humanity?
DOMENICONI: Music is one very
important aspect of our lives! People
around the world speak different lan-
guages and make different-sounding
music. However, we have something
common: the physics, or better, the
overtones. They are a common point.
The usual way today to mix every-
thing—East meets West, for exam-
ple—produces empty music. To meet
another cultural area is very sensitive
work which requires a lot of respect
and deep knowledge. Only like that
can we develop. Only like that we can
really come together.
We are living between cultures, and
the desire to combine musical tradi-
tions is quite natural today. To do this
successfully, we have to go back to the
roots of the traditions. For example:
It is easy to combine Oriental music
with Western early music, in both of
which harmonic progression is not the
central focus.
I try to absorb the music of differ-
ent traditions by thoroughly study-
ing their structure and distinctive-
ness, through reading, traveling, and
attempting to understand the playing
techniques and philosophy connected
with instruments like, for example, the
saz or oud.
DAVID JOHN PHOTO
TURREL: How do you use alternative
tunings? What demands are there on
the playing technique to be able to
play your music?
DOMENICONI: The “normal” tuning
is good for all music which needs
the old harmonic system I-IV-V-I. The
strings are tuned according to this
reason. So: G is the tonic, D is the
dominant of G, A the dominant of D,
and E the dominant of A.
This tuning doesn’t make any
sense for other tonal systems (modal,
free-tonal, atonal, etc). So we change
the tuning in order to achieve a better
playability and sound. In Koyunbaba
the recommended tuning is C#-G#-C#-
G#-C#-E.
I use a lot of techniques taken from
every kind of guitar-playing—many of
which are not taught in conservatory
training (flamenco, South American,
blues, rock, etc.)—and many special
techniques freely developed from my
own improvisation. In some cases it
would be advisable for a performer to
consult me personally, as some guitar
players already do.
TURREL: Would the construction of
the guitar need to change in any way
to meet the challenges of new musi-
cal creations?
DOMENICONI: Regarding the con-
struction, the guitar can remain
unaltered.... It is the player who has
to change!
TURREL: What does the process of
composing look like for you? Do you
work with the guitar on your lap? By
the computer? Is it a logical process
or more of an intuitive one? Where do
you find your inspiration?
DOMENICONI: What a question! Of
course I compose with my beloved
guitar on my lap! It is not a question
of insecurity. . . . I just need the sound
to get the right energy. From where
do I get my inspiration? Sometimes I
think I know that . . . sometimes not!
TURREL: One of your works that I find
really wonderful and touching is the
Chaconne [based on Bach’s famous
Chaconne, BWV 1004]. It is like a con-
temporary commentary on Bach’s
work and it deepens the understand-
ing and experience of it, yet it’s an
outstanding, excellent piece of its
own. How did you come up with this
idea: using Bach’s Chaconne as a kind
of a starting point or matrix for your
composition?
DOMENICONI: Every transcription of
the Chaconne presents serious prob-
lems. My idea was to see what would
happen if I didn’t have to worry about
style, the rules of counterpoint, etc.
What happens is this: reveling in pure
anarchy.
Ferruccio Busoni’s arrangement
for four-hands piano purposely
doesn’t respect the rules of Bach’s
time. My Chaconne takes this a huge
step further in disregarding even the
notes. The only thing left of the origi-
nal is the recognizable structure.
TURREL: You regularly perform your
own music on stage.
DOMENICONI: Yes. I think it is the
most natural thing to do, playing your
own music.
TURREL: I understand improvisation
is a most important concept to you.
Why is that so? How much time do
you spend improvising on the guitar?
DOMENICONI: Yes, improvisation is
a very important part in my music.
Why? Because I think improvising
produces a better balance between
the composer and the instrument. I
improvise mainly in concerts.
TURREL: Do you have any advice for
serious guitarists?
DOMENICONI: Many. But let me say
that in one sentence: Choose your
music with a lot of respect for the
guitar. Only if the music suits 100
percent to your instrument and your
abilities do you have a chance to
transmit something spiritual.

Ange Turell is a Swedish guitarist and com-
poser. This interview originally appeared in the
Swedish magazine Gitarr och Luta.
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 35
 CARLO DOMENICONI
2 GUITARISTS/ADMIRERS ON DOMENICONI
DALE KAVANAGH
Canadian guitarist Dale Kavanagh is pro-
fessor of guitar at the Musikhochschule in
Detmold, Germany. She is a prominent
guitarist performing world-wide, both as
soloist and as one half of the Amadeus
Guitar Duo.
I first heard of Carlo Domeniconi
while studying in Switzerland in the
early 1980s. One of my fellow students
had been a previous student of Carlo’s
in Berlin and mentioned to me that my
style of music-making would fit very
well to playing Carlo’s music and that
he might be a good teacher for me.
I thought nothing of it at the time
and life went on. Some years later, after
moving to Germany, I came across the
Variations on an Anatolian Folksong,
which I loved immediately and put into
my program. [Written in 1982, it was
Domeniconi’s first piece to utilize Turk-
ish themes.] During one of my visits
performing in Berlin, this piece was in
the program. I was somewhat excited
to hear that Carlo might come to the
concert. There was a music exhibit at
the guitar festival and before the per-
formance, I was browsing through the
music store. A man was next to me and
we began to talk. He was very friendly
and after a while, I asked him if he knew
what Carlo Domeniconi looked like. He
said that he did not know him person-
ally and could not help me. I found out
afterwards that this man was Carlo him-
self and he was just having fun with me!
36 Fall 2019
He thought it very funny—and after-
wards, so did I. So began our relation-
ship and friendship.
Carlo’s music has a strong energy
around it. It does touch the soul, and
it is magical, strong, passionate, and
sometimes complicated. Carlo uses a
lot of interesting flageolet techniques,
which can be quite difficult. He some-
times uses various open tunings to find
the sound world which he is looking
for. He finds intimate sounds on the gui-
tar that are rare and new, to create his
musical language. It is both technically
and musically challenging.
He music is never dry. It is filled
with passion and love, aggression, and
maybe a slap in the face. And humor.
Yes, his special humor. Look at Circus
Music!
I love so many pieces by Carlo and
have performed: Trilogy, Toccata in Blue
(written for me), Chaconne (dedicated
to me), Studies for the Spirit, Schnee in
Istanbul, A Day in Paradise, Variations
on an Anatolian Folksong, Oyun (quartet
and concerto). And with my Amadeus
Guitar Duo: Concerto Meditereaneo and
Oyun (concerto), Orient y Occident, and
Duo in Tres Movimenti. I love each and
every one of these pieces and would like
to—and will—play more works. Sind-
bad is a powerful cycle that I like a lot.
I never did learn Koyunbaba, which is
possibly his most famous piece. I think
that is performed enough, and other
beautiful pieces needed to be heard.
CELIL REFIK-KAYA
Turkish guitarist and composer Celil Refik
Kaya has won prizes at many prestigious
guitar competitions and firmly established
himself as one of the foremost players and
composers of the younger generation. His
2018 Naxos album, Carlo Domeniconi:
Guitar Music, includes a nearly definitive
Koyunbaba, as well as the Spanish-
influenced 2005 work Don-Quijote-Suite.
Maestro Domeniconi is a multi-
cultural composer who has a great
variety of musical influences. From the
Turkish perspective, I always thought
Domeniconi captured the magical atmo-
sphere of Turkish folk music so success-
fully—especially in Koyunbaba, in which
he created an archaic and mystic sound
that captures Turkish folk music motifs
in a great compositional unity. His Varia-
tions on an Anatolian Folksong, based on
Asık Veysel’s Uzun Ince bir Yoldayım, is
another favorite work of mine.
Since I grew up listening to and play-
ing Turkish music, Domeniconi’s Turk-
ish-influenced pieces are very close to
my heart. In my first volume of Domen-
iconi’s works for Naxos, I mainly chose
the Mediterranean- and Oriental-influ-
enced works to unify the album as a
concept.
I haven’t had a chance to meet
Maestro personally, but we have had
email conversations about the project.
Although I have many compositional
influences, Maestro Domeniconi’s place
in my heart is special as a performer. 
38 Fall 2019
 he summer of 2019 was a busy
one for American guitarist Alec
Holcomb. He competed in the
Parkening International Guitar Compe-
tition in Malibu, California, and then in
the Guitar Foundation of America com-
petition in Miami, Florida, taking second
and third honors respectively. He also
spent time preparing the rollout of his
debut album, Albéniz: España, Op. 165,
Suite Española No. 1, Op. 47. At the time
A YOUNG
of our conversation, the guitarist was
looking for housing in the Bay Area
GUITARIST ON
prior to continuing his graduate studies
at the San Francisco Conservatory of
FINDING AND
Music this fall with Judicaël Perroy.
At just 24, Holcomb has built an
DEVELOPING
impressive résumé and envisions a per-
forming career after earning his mas-
HIS OWN
ter’s degree. Through the years he has
competed in numerous contests, and
VOICE
at 17 won a first prize in the Parkening
Young Guitarist Competition in 2012.
Later, he placed first in the East Caro-
BY MARK SMALL
lina Guitar Competition (2014) and the
Philadelphia Classical Guitar Compe-
tition (2015). In 2016, he won the Bor-
Guitar Festival Competition in Italy and
was a finalist in both the JoAnn Falletta
International Guitar Concerto Competi-
tion and the Columbus State University
Guitar Competition. He also took third
place in the GFA contest of 2017.
Onstage, Holcomb radiates the con-
fidence of a virtuoso firmly in control of
his instrument and the music. While it’s
a great accomplishment to finish among
the top three in major competitions, Hol-
comb is feeling the pull to turn his for-
midable abilities toward the music that’s
closest to his heart.
“Three is my lucky number at GFA,”
Holcomb says with a smile in his voice.
“I’m deciding now if I should continue to
do competitions. They’re always more
work than I plan on.” The focus needed
to prepare complex set pieces and to
program music that will meet the spe-
cific requirements for various competi-
tions can be all-consuming.
“Sometimes this keeps me from other
music that I really want to play,” he says.
“Competitions are hugely valuable to
the guitar community. Playing them has
absolutely improved my chops and abil-
ity to learn pieces quickly and polish dif-
ficult ones. I’ve also met so many great
players and friends that I would not have
met otherwise. You have to approach
competitions in a mentally healthy way,
though. If you don’t win, it doesn’t mean
you aren’t good enough to share your
music. I feel that there are many young
players that deserve to be heard but
don’t get a chance because they didn’t
win first prize.”
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 39
 MUSIC CITY ROOTS
Holcomb was born into a musical family in
Nashville, Tennessee. “My grandfather had
played bluegrass and Appalachian music
with his family back in West Virginia,” he
says. “They sang and played together as a
social thing. My dad picked up on that and
played a bit of country and then moved on
to rock and funk. He played in semiprofes-
sional rock bands in the 1980s for fun. When
he was about 30, he discovered classical
guitar and became fascinated listening to
Barrueco, Parkening, Segovia, and other big
names from his era.”
Holcomb’s parents bought him a half-
size classical guitar when he was six and
his father taught him the basics. “My dad
wanted me to do things right. He bought
a lot of books on pedagogy and spent time
making sure he wasn’t teaching me bad hab-
its. We worked a lot on technical exercises.
I couldn’t get enough of those. They made
me feel like I was developing in the correct
way. I am very grateful for my father’s time
and effort.”
By age 12, Holcomb was studying with
John Johns at Nashville’s Vanderbilt Uni-
versity and later met Andrew Zohn, a fac-
ulty member at Columbus State University
in Columbus, Georgia. “That was pivotal,”
Holcomb recalls. “I studied with [Zohn]
throughout my high school years. Once a
month I’d go to Columbus and spend four
hours with him over a weekend. We decided
he would teach me like I was a college stu-
dent and we worked really hard. He’s a very
gifted teacher, incredibly funny, who helped
me move away from technical studies and
into musicianship and the history of the
pieces.”
After high school, Holcomb enrolled
at the Curtis Institute of Music in Phil-
adelphia, where he studied with Jason
Vieaux and David Starobin. “I feel that
every teacher I’ve had in my progression
has been the right person at that time,” he
says. “That was really the case with Jason
and David. From Jason I learned a lot about
performing—how to shape ideas distinctly
and in a way that people can understand.
David worked with me extensively on
rhythm, and I cannot thank him enough for
that. Both have shown me so many musical
options and freed my mind from my usual
way of thinking about music. Judicaël Per-
roy has been just who I needed for the last
40 Fall 2019
two years, as well. He’s a genuinely cool
dude whose brain seems to be a couple
of steps ahead of the rest of us. He brings
the studio together in a fun and productive
way so we can learn from each other.” Hol-
comb also credits David Tanenbaum, who
also teaches at SFCM, for going above and
beyond as a mentor. “Between the two of
them I’ve had so many opportunities to
grow as a musician.”
ON THE RECORD
“When I was 17, I felt I wanted to have an
album on the table at a future time,” Hol-
comb says. “I really enjoy the music of
Albéniz. It’s versatile and you can’t go
wrong with it. Each piece has its own char-
acter and is very listenable.” The album’s 15
tracks feature two complete suites, as well
as L’Automne-Valse, Op. 170, by the Spanish
composer/pianist.
Initially, Holcomb planned to record well-
known arrangements of Albéniz’s pieces, but
at his father’s suggestion, he created his own
versions. “I knew I needed to start making
my own transcriptions. I highly value origi-
nality, so I decided to take this on,” he says.
He didn’t refer to recordings or editions by
other guitarists, he just started working with
the piano scores. “After spending the first
day on two measures of music I knew this
was going to be really hard,” he confides. “A
year and a half later, I had finished the tran-
scriptions. By performing them and fixing
little details over the course of five years,
they’ve finally become something I’m proud
of and enjoy playing.”
Holcomb’s version of Asturias stays
close to the piano original by continuing the
16th-note rhythm of the first section of the
piece as opposed to breaking it into sextu-
plets as the widely played Segovia edition
does. He discovered serendipities while
exploring keys for movements needing
transposition. “I would always see whether
the original would work. But if something
sounded better on the guitar in another key,
I transposed it.”
For selections such as Cuba, it was nat-
ural to transpose the original from E b to E
for a better fit on the guitar. In Castilla, Hol-
comb retained Albeniz’s original key of F#.
“Choosing the keys was a decision I made
at 18,” he shares. “I don’t know that I would
do things the same way now, but the keys I
chose work pretty well. Keeping Aragon in
F was a great choice, as there were times
when I needed a low E and it was there. If I
had decided to transpose the arrangement
to E, I don’t know what I would have done
in those places. The main ideas for me were
maintaining the flow on the guitar and keep-
ing the melody as the primary subject.”
To a point, Holcomb agrees with Sego-
via’s sentiment that a successful transcrip-
tion should sound at least as good or better
on the guitar. “But conversely, I don’t think
everything needs to sound like a guitar
piece. That’s made me question whether we
are sticking with a sound that is traditional
or using the instrument and its variety of
sounds to create our own music. As I was
learning this material, I kept asking myself
if I was playing it as a guitarist would. That
kept me away from doing things that have
been done before.” Holcomb plans to pub-
lish all of the transcriptions in 2020.
TALKIN’ ABOUT
MY GENERATION
Holcomb notes that his peers appreciate the
major players of earlier generations without
feeling compelled to follow exactly in their
footsteps. “There’s a lot less consideration
for tradition,” he says. “It’s interesting to
see what music people are drawn to. Many
are reexamining the Segovia repertoire and
playing pieces that might not have gotten
attention at the time. Some are interested in
pop, electronic, jazz, or folk music, and are
looking for accessible repertoire. Others are
writing their own pieces or transcribing and
arranging things they enjoy listening to.
“I love to be creative about what I do and
I’m not sure if a very traditional performing
career would give me the creative room I’d
like. I want to work with composers and try
to make something new. People are really
trying to get out of the classical guitar bub-
ble—not that there is anything wrong with
the bubble. But as performers, we want to
play for as wide an audience as possible.
“As music lovers, we want to dip our
toes elsewhere and experience it all. With
so many young guitarists taking musical
chances and pushing to be heard, some will
undoubtedly find an audience. I’m excited
to see what that will look like.” CG
 WHAT HE PLAYS
Alec Holcomb plays a 2013
Gernot Wagner double-top
guitar with spruce on the
outside and cedar on the inside.
The back and sides are African
blackwood. The neck scale is
650mm. He uses high-tension
Savarez Corum basses and
Alliance trebles.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LISA SMITH WENGLER CENTER FOR THE ARTS, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY, 2019 ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 41
 ohn William “Jack” Duarte was
CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY OF born in Sheffield, England, on

JACK DUARTE
October 2, 1919. According to his
as-yet unpublished autobiography, within
the first year of his life, the family moved
to an address in Levenshulme, Manches-
ter, where he lived until his departure for
An appreciation of the tirelessly creative composer and classical-guitar champion London in 1953. As a teenager, he taught
BY PAUL FOWLES himself the basics of the ukulele. He went
on to acquire his first guitar and became
a pupil of Terry Usher (1909–69), who
he later described as “my first and only
teacher.” By the 1940s, Usher and Duarte
were a team, co-founding the Manchester
Guitar Circle in 1946. They also made a 78
rpm recording of guitar duets for the Man-
chester-based Decibel label around 1950.
In the meantime, Duarte expanded
his musical palette to include the trum-
pet and double-bass, self-taught in both
cases. This diverse skill set allowed him
access to a wide range of ensembles oper-
ating in the Manchester area, one of his
early collaborators being Murray Mayall,
father of English blues patriarch John
Mayall.
It was in such company that he nur-
tured his lifelong love of jazz, a formative
influence being the Gypsy-jazz guitar style
of Django Reinhardt. Long after his own
playing had taken a back seat to other
endeavours, Duarte emerged as the main
protagonist in the after-hours jam ses-
sions at the Cannington Summer School,
performing mostly on guitar and occa-
sionally on double bass. Jazz was also to
play a role in such Duarte compositions
as Sua Cosa, Op.52 (1972), an essay in the
use of parallel octaves pioneered by Wes
Montgomery and much copied after that
guitarist’s early death in 1968.
Although music was central to the
young Duarte’s development, it would be
some years before it became his full-time
occupation. In June 1940, he graduated
from the Manchester College of Technol-
ogy with a degree in chemistry, a quali-
fication that allowed him the security of
a day-job in the coming years. It was his
appointment as chief chemist for a plas-
tics company in London that facilitated
his southerly migration in 1953, and it
was while working as a scientist in Man-
Longtime CG writer Paul Fowles’ connection to Jack Duarte dates back to the late ’70s, when chester that he met his future wife, Doro-
Paul attended Duarte’s Cannington Summer School guitar program, and a bit later the Wirral thy Seddon, as a colleague, in 1941. They
festival, “which I covered for CG from 1990 onwards,” Paul says. Coincidentally, Paul now went on to have three children: William
runs the Manchester Guitar Circle, which Duarte founded. We have adapted the following Ivor (b. 1951), Sylvia Dorothy (b. 1957)
from Paul’s longer appreciation of Duarte which will appear in the program for a centennial and Christopher John (b. 1960).
concert taking place at Kings Place in London on October 2, 2019. According to Jack’s own recollections,
—Blair Jackson Miniature Suite was the first of his works

42 Fall 2019
to be included on a commercial recording,
appearing on Laurindo Almeida’s 1957 Cap-
itol album New World of the Guitar—a trail-
blazing release in the context of its time. The
Almeida recording also featured the more
extended but equally approachable Sonatina
by Albert Harris, which remains a rare sight-
ing to this day, as does Miniature Suite.
The first Duarte work to have a major
and lasting impact was Variations on a
Catalan Folk Song, Op.25. Recorded by the
17-year-old John Williams in December
1958 and released on one of two simulta-
neously issued LPs on the Delysé label in
early 1959, this became one of Jack’s most
enduring and respected creations. It is the
only Duarte composition to have appeared
on a Williams recording; that said, the
1958/9 discs also featured complete perfor-
mances of Duarte’s then unpublished guitar
arrangements of J.S. Bach’s first and third
Cello Suites, selected movements having
been on the program of Williams’ concert at
the Wigmore Hall in November 1958. Both
suites were published by Schott in 1965
and reissued as revised editions in 1985.
The Catalan Variations were published by
Novello (with fingerings by Alice Artzt) in
1968.
In the 1950s and ’60s, Duarte also made
significant contributions in the burgeon-
ing field of music journalism, penning a
column in BMG magazine (where he some-
times reviewed records under the name
“Discus”), and also in the U.S. periodical
Guitar Review, which also published some
early Duarte works unavailable elsewhere.
He expanded beyond the guitar world to
write for such learned mainstream publica-
tions as Records and Recording, Music and
Musicians, and Gramophone, extending his
specialist fields to Baroque music in general
and the harpsichord in particular. Along the
way, he finally ended his scientific career,
and devoted himself full-time to music.
By the early ’70s, his completed compo-
sitions totalled more than 40 opus numbers,
the majority of which had found, or at least
were destined to find, a commercial pub-
lishing deal. The biggest “hit” of his career,
English Suite, Op.31, had been published by
Novello in 1967. He had also forged links
with a number of high-ranking players, most
notably Andrés Segovia, for whom English
Suite was a “wedding present” and whose
recording of the work was released in its
year of publication. Jack was equally close
to the Presti-Lagoya Duo, however a possi-
ble premiere recording of his Variations on a
French Nursery Song, Op.32, which the duo
had performed on a number of occasions,
never came to pass, as Ida Presti died in
1967. This work was eventually recorded
by the Frankfurter Gitarren Duo in 1978 and
Duodecima in 1982.
The 1970s was also the era when Duar-
te’s international career, which had been
gaining traction for some time, further
expanded, with overseas trips to a range of
destinations—the U.S. became a particular
stronghold, with other opportunities in Aus-
tralia, Japan, Malaysia, Argentina, Venezu-
ela, Russia, and all over Europe. His duties
would vary from place to place, but his
standard mix was one of teaching, lecturing,
and/or adjudicating competitions. An irony
he later noted was that while he regularly
found himself working for academic institu-
tions abroad, such engagements were rela-
tively infrequent on his home turf.
However, one of his most celebrated
didactic achievements anywhere in the
world was the Cannington Summer School,
an annual one-week gathering on the campus
of an agricultural college in the southwest
of England. Under Duarte’s directorship,
supported by his wife, Dorothy, the event
successfully built on what was an emerging
format at the time and is still widely applied
to this day. Essentially, it comprises classes
and individual teaching during the day, with
evening performances by members of the
teaching staff and invited guests.
It was as Cannington director that Jack
was able to play one of his strongest cards.
Having long-standing links with guitar activ-
ity at home, and increasingly abroad, he had
built an enviable network of contacts which
enabled him not only to broker the services
of such established figures as Alirio Diaz
(Cannington 1978), but also to showcase
high-caliber emerging talents such as Vlad-
imir Mikulka (in 1981), whose international
status was rapidly gathering
momentum, and the works
of composers Štepán Rak
(who also played there, in
1984) and Nikita Koshkin,
both then largely unknown
beyond Eastern Europe.
Given that the Canning-
ton site, with its ample park-
ing, leafy surrounding coun-
tryside, and well-stocked
bar facilities was a difficult
hand to beat, it came as a
surprise when the event was
moved to Bath—a gathering
that also became an annual
fixture, but by 1996 was
minus Jack Duarte, who instead launched
the Oatridge International Guitar Summer
School explicitly in the mold and spirit of
the original Cannington. It was a bold initia-
tive for a man now in his eighth decade, and
the school remained active for a number of
years.
Duarte’s next home stomping ground
was the Wirral International Guitar Festi-
val, which still survives (albeit in a much-
reduced form) as the International Guitar
Festival of Great Britain. During its ’90s
and early 2000s heyday, the WIGF was the
leading UK venture of its kind, running on at
least one occasion over a “long fortnight,”
with multiple attractions every evening and
even more packed weekend schedules.
The WIGF also provided a platform for
Duarte’s music, including his rarely heard
and still unpublished work for guitar and
orchestra, A Tudor Fancy, Op.50. The solo-
ist was Neil Smith, a former Duarte student
and long-standing teacher and recitalist at
Cannington, where it was often joked that
programming at least one of Jack’s pieces
was written into the contract. In 1984,
Smith released what was billed as the first
all-Duarte LP recording, Neil Smith Plays
John W. Duarte (GMR). Although this wasn’t
destined to remain the only studio offer-
ing devoted to Duarte’s work, some have
observed that his music up to that time had
tended to be more played than recorded.
The Orphée Data-base of Guitar Records
(1990), shows just 21 Duarte works in total,
with only English Suite, the Catalan Varia-
tions, and Sua Cosa appearing on more than
three listed releases.
However, Duarte’s oeuvre became a ben-
eficiary of the CD boom of the 1990s, as well
as the ensuing surge in independent and
self-promoted recordings. The shelves of
Duarte collectors were soon weighed down
by the products of post-vi-
nyl international labels
including Naxos and Bril-
liant Classics, and other less
high-profile enterprises. By
now, that modest tally in the
Orphée Data-base has grown
to more than 60 Duarte opus
numbers known to have
been represented on disc or
tape.
The life of this tirelessly
creative figure came to an
end two days before Christ-
mas in 2004, at the age of 85.
His life and legacy are surely
worthy of celebration! CG
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 43
 l ’ a r t d e l a r o s e

a w o r l d a t y o u r

fingertips
a whirlwind history of guitar rosettes

—By Michael Wright—
Most guitarists give little thought
to their guitar’s rosette, that multi-
colored inlaid design that encircles
the soundhole. After all, it doesn’t
really contribute to the guitar’s per-
formance (although it actually does
help inhibit top cracking). Neverthe-
less, those tiny pieces of inlay lying
right beneath your fingertips tie our
guitars both to their early ancestors
and to the sweep of history that cre-
ated the instrument in the first place.
Guitar rosettes derive their name
(and loosely their design inspi-
ration) from ancient decorative
carvings of flowers. They are mosa-
ics made using inlay techniques
invented by the earliest civilizations.
And, they made their way onto gui-
tars following the Islamic conquests
of the 7th and 8th centuries AD. This
is a lot to unpack!
The Name of the Rose
Rosettes began as more-or-less round,
stylized carvings of flowers employed
as decoration in architecture, mon-
uments, sculpture, and innumerable
smaller applications. Rosettes were
being made 5,000 years ago in Meso-
potamia and were common in early
Egypt, Minoan Crete, and ancient
Greece. Those square pieces of mold-
ing with carved circular relief patterns
inside door and window corners,
even the decorative round plate that
a door-knob spindle fits into, are sim-
plified descendants of the prehistoric
rosette.
Indeed, floral rosettes appeared
very early on stringed instruments.
In 1929, archaeologists excavating
graves in the Sumerian city of Ur (near
Baghdad), discovered three magnifi-
cent lyres dating to around 2600–2500
BC. The “golden lyre” housed in the
National Museum of Iraq sported a
gold-plated bull’s head on the front of
the resonator box and was drenched
in colored inlays awfully similar to
what would turn up on guitar rosettes
a few thousand years later. There, on
the end of the yoke, or cross-bar, was
inlaid a beautiful abstract rosette in
blue, orange, and white.
The Art of Decoration
Mosaics enter the archaeological
record about the same time as rosettes,
and in the same part of the world. The
earliest temples with mosaics date to
around 3000 BC. A mosaic is a design
made by juxtaposing variously col-
ored little squares (called tesserae, or
“dice, cubes”) to achieve the desired
pattern, much like the techniques used
by Impressionist painters. Mosaics
often employ glass or ceramics but
can be made of anything. Mosaics are
often representational pictures—peo-
ple (like a saint or mythological being),
animals, plants, places—but can also
be abstract or geometric. Mosaics are
often applied to surfaces with adhesive
(floor, wall, ceiling), but they can also
be inlaid.
The art of inlaying is most com-
monly done on a wood base, but it can
also be done on many other materials,
including stone, bone, or metal, etc.
Inlaying in metal was known through-
out the ancient world, but the inlaying
of gold and silver into oxidized steel
was perfected in Damascus, Syria,
around the time of Christ, where it was
called “damascening,” or “damascene.”
According to 19th century German
scholars, damascene was also known

44 Fall 2019
 Historic Lutherie

19th century engraving of a character in

Friedrich Schiller’s 1787 drama Don Carlos,
set in the Spanish court in Aranjuez

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 45
a whirlwind history of guitar rosettes
Eastern Orthodox mosaic of St. Peter
by the Arabic term “tausi.” Over time, tausi
became distinguished from damascene,
with tausi signifying inlay in a wood base,
damascene remaining inlay in metal. These
Middle-Eastern techniques were carried
across North Africa beginning with the
Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD.
At some point after the Moors and Arabs
took over Spain (711 AD), the word “tausi”
morphed into “tarsi” in Muslim Andalusia
(“taracea” in Christian Spain, “tarsia” in
Italy), and eventually the art of wood inlay
became known as “intarsia.”
(Note: The distinction between intar-
sia and marquetry is somewhat confusing.
Even though both processes often employ
similar techniques and materials in their
construction, intarsia is inlaid into a sur-
face (like a guitar rosette) and marquetry
is overlaid over the base surface (as on
a desktop, door, or floor), like a veneer.
This is confused further by the fact that,
in modern times, “intarsia” has come to
mean assembling and shaping pieces of dif-
ferent woods of varying thicknesses to cre-
ate 3-D puzzle images of subjects, such as
a deer or a sailboat or whatever. If you’ve
always considered your guitar’s rosette to
be “marquetry,” everyone will know what
you mean and there’s probably no reason
to change your thinking.)
Realistically Speaking
Intarsia definitely was present in Spain
sometime after 711 (Toledo became a major
center of damascene). It almost certainly
entered Sicily, as well. From 831–1091 the
island was ruled by Muslims as the Emirate
of Sicily, after which it was governed by the
Norman King Roger I and his successors,
“free thinkers” who kept elephants and
encouraged Islamic art, music, and schol-
46 Fall 2019
Modern intarsia table border inlay
arship. In 1282 Sicily fell under the rule of
Peter III, King of Aragon (in Spain). In any
case, by the late 13th Century, the center of
European intarsia was acknowledged to be
Siena, Italy, a little north of Rome.
While the uses of intarsia—from inte-
rior (and exterior) decoration to decora-
tive objects (e.g., furniture, boxes)—were
similar in both Christian and Islamic
domains, the aesthetics were markedly dif-
ferent. Intarsia borders were almost univer-
sal. But Christian artists were free to create
representational images, that is, “pictures”
of people, places, and things. The most
elaborate designs employed trompe l’oeil
techniques (e.g., shadows, perspective,
vanishing points) to create the illusion
of “reality.” Islamic artists, especially as
religious law evolved, were forbidden to
represent or portray realism in nature or
living things, resulting in the profusion of
geometric shapes, abstract floral patterns,
and calligraphy.
Enter the Lute
Along with intarsia and damascene, the
Arabs also brought lutes westward. This
occurred, fortunately for guitar lovers,
before Islamic prohibitions against pop-
ular music came into being. Long-necked
lutes were historically popular in the Ara-
bian Peninsula, especially played by sing-
ing girls. However, around the year 600, a
few decades prior to the advent of Islam,
the short-necked Persian lute—the barbat
(carved from a single piece of wood)—was
imported into Mecca, quickly replacing
the older lutes, and made its way across
North Africa into Spain. There are no cer-
tain surviving images, so we really don’t
know whether barbats had soundholes or
not, much less rosettes.
In 750, Islam’s original Arabian-in-
fluenced ruling clan, the Umayyads, of
Damascus, were murdered at a banquet
given by a rival family, the Abbasids. The
new leaders completed a new capital
(Baghdad) in 766 and an era of Persian
influence commenced. Almost concurrent
with the shift in power and capitals, the
lutenist Mansur Zalzal al Darib (d. 791)
introduced Baghdad to a new form of the
lute called the ‘ud al-shabbat—the “won-
derful lute”—that was shaped like a fish
known as a “shabbat.” This became the
modern l’oud (sometimes rendered l’ud,
ud, or oud). At some point, if not from
the outset, these four-course l’ouds fea-
tured soundholes, often with a perforated
web of wood spanning the opening—a
“rosette.”
The Reign in Spain
Several Umayyads survived the massacre
and soon established a second flourishing
caliphate in Cordova, Andalusia, Spain. In
822, the great lute virtuoso Abu l-Hasan Ali
Ibn Nafi (or Ziryab, 789–857) relocated to
Cordova. If introducing Europe to forks,
asparagus, multi-course meals, bangs, and
seasonal fashion wasn’t enough(!), Ziryab
(nicknamed “Blackbird”) also brought the
new shabbat l’oud, adding a fifth course to
it along the way.
By the 13th century these Arabic (or
really Persian) lutes, like intarsia, had
begun to migrate into the rest of Europe,
becoming the Renaissance lute. Through-
out the period of the lute’s popularity
in the Baroque, its elaborate decorative
rosette reflected its Islamic heritage,
although over time it grew increasingly
more “organic” in design, also recalling its
ancient floral origins.
 Historic Lutherie

Carved rosette from a 17th century lute

Baroque guitar by Metto Sellas

Musicians with (probably) German guitar ca. 1860

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 47
a whirlwind history of guitar rosettes
Ancient
mosaic-tiled
floor
The Guitar Rosette
The relationship between l’ouds,
vihuelas, and guitars in Spain is
extraordinarily complex and remains
to be fully elucidated; there’s no
space to weigh-in here. In any case,
guitars probably emerged in northern
(Christian) Spain around 1000 AD. No
known physical examples from before
the 15th century have survived, and
artistic representations are notori-
ously unreliable guides. However,
by the end of the Renaissance in the
16th century, guitars had also fol-
lowed lutes out of Spain into the rest
of Europe. Like their pear-shaped,
bowl-backed cousins, they were often
given carved rosettes. Some rosettes
were even built in multiple descend-
ing levels of parchment, making them
almost reverse 3-D images of the old
carved rose.
As Europe moved into the Baroque
period, artists (including luthiers)
increasingly indulged themselves in
embellishment and ornamentation.
Rosette decoration on guitars began
to spill over beyond the carved
soundhole into the area surrounding
it. These flourishes could be simple
carved or inlaid rings or complex,
magnificent floral patterns of inlaid
mother-of-pearl. By the 17th cen-
tury (at least), guitar soundhole sur-
rounds could also include a whole
range of inlaid intarsia mosaics.
Guitars continued to grow in
popularity while lutes receded into
48 Fall 2019
history, remembered mainly in the
West in the various forms of Spanish
lauds, bandurrias, Italian mandolins,
and certain citterns. The new-found
popularity of guitars put them in
the hands of more ordinary folks
who couldn’t afford carved rosettes,
fancy pearl, or even mosaic sound-
hole inlays, and through much of the
19th century, simpler ring rosettes
predominated. However, toward the
end of the 1800s, both inlaid pearl
and intarsia mosaic rosettes began
to see a resurgence.
By the early 20th century, some
rosette styles had geographic ref-
erences. For example, small pearl
“teeth” (or triangles) typified Valen-
cian guitars, which were heavily
exported throughout the Spanish
Empire, including especially to
Mexico, where luthiers adopted
the designs. While many luthiers
approached rosettes as individual
works of art—they require great
patience and skill to construct—
others, such as the José Ramirez
house—treated them as a form of
branding, standardizing their dis-
tinctive “S”-curve rosette designs
and side-slotted, center-pointed
headstocks in order to easily identify
(and promote) their guitars.
Back to the Future
Today, the tools for designing mosaic
guitar rosettes are far more sophis-
ticated than the guitar-makers of a Baroque guitar

1974 Zen-On Abe Yaganisawa Model 65
1972 Giannini AWN300
century ago could have imagined. A variety
of computer software programs—many of
them free—are now available to help you
plan both the overall design and the com-
plex tiles and slices needed to create them.
Just click on a few tools to alter the pattern
or the colors. It’s way less work than using
graph paper and colored pencils and no
doubt lots more fun.
Where there’s software, can machines
be far behind? For makers who produce
guitars in batches, CNC machines and laser
cutters can precisely and cost-effectively
cut channels for rosettes and purfling. They
also can be used to make exotically shaped
components if the design is more “mod-
ern.” While advanced cutting machines
may be employed in mass-producing guitar
rosettes, assembling the bundles of colored
wood used for traditional rosette designs is
still a manual task
There are many individual luthiers who
still hand-craft their own rosettes, especially
if they only produce guitars one or a few at
Historic Lutherie
2011 Kremona Orpheus Valley Rosa Morena
1956 Geronimo Villafan
a time. The cost and steep learning curve
associated with CNC cutting machines is
undoubtedly prohibitive to many. However,
increasingly third-party rosettes—often of
stunning beauty and complexity—made
in specialty shops can be used to make a
guitar beautiful with a fraction of the effort
and cost. Yet even despite this modernized
methodology, the fact remains that as every
rest stroke nears the rosette, your fingers
are still just millimeters away from millen-
nia of guitar history!
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 49
a whirlwind history of guitar rosettes
Guitar Rosette Construction
There are numerous approaches to creat-
ing classical guitar rosettes, and surveying
all the variations is beyond our scope here.
This overview is more conceptual than
tutorial.
There are basically three general areas
of a modern rosette: an inner ring around
the soundhole, the central decorative
mosaic, and an outer ring, usually mirror-
ing the inner ring. Additional strips of sim-
ple line purfling may separate these areas.
The peripheral rings are often made of
diagonally laid veneer strips, herringbone,
or checkerboard, etc.
The central mosaic is the most chal-
lenging part of rosette design and execu-
tion. First comes the mosaic design itself,
usually done on graph paper. The squares
are filled in to create the curves, angles,
50 Fall 2019
and colors for a roughly square “tile” of
the rosette. This will be the basic repeating
element of the mosaic and it can be beguil-
ingly simple or mind-bogglingly complex.
Appropriately colored pieces of veneer
wood are scraped to a regular thickness
of about 0.5mm. Then these veneers are
stacked up corresponding to each verti-
cal column of squares in the design grid,
glued, and clamped. Oriented just like
the appropriate vertical design column,
thin length-wise slices are cut off to make
0.5mm-thick planks whose end-view will
match each corresponding vertical design
column. There will be a different plank for
every succeeding vertical column in the
graph design.
Next, the planks matching each ver-
tical design column are glued together to
make a “log” (or “loaf”). The end-grain of
Historic Lutherie
An in-process rosette as seen in the
José Ramírez Guitars workshop
the assembled log should now match the
graph-paper design. Because a rosette is
ultimately round, the side closest to the
soundhole needs to be slightly narrower
than the outside, like a slice of pizza. Some
luthiers shave to get this taper, others
apply stronger clamping pressure to that
edge to compress it while gluing.
The final log is then sliced parallel to
the end-grain (think bread slices) to get
individual tiles that will be inlaid to make
the mosaic design.
Some luthiers employ a jig and con-
struct the entire layered rosette before
inlaying it into a recess cut into the gui-
tar’s top. Others construct them layer by
layer right into the top itself. Once glued
and dried, the inlay is scraped level with
the guitar top et voila, a classical-guitar
rosette! CG
JOEY LUSTERMAN PHOTO
 «A Great Album...»
– Classical Guitar Magazine

«Truly a masterwork of modern-day

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Fusion Reviews

“…you will definitely not go away

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fantastic throughout.”
– Classical Guitar Magazine

«I love your new CD! Beautiful

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performances! It’s a new, exotic
journey and concept that works
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– Sharon Isbin, Grammy Award®
winning, International Guitarist

«Delicado will please longtime fans and also

might serve as a fine introduction to some of
Brazil’s greatest composers.»
– Bobby Reed, Downbeat Magazine - June 2019

Delicado was recorded

with SAVAREZ ALLIANCE
CANTIGA PREMIUM strings
 A
LOVE
LETTER
TO THE
SPANISH
GUITAR
A bold and beautiful
new book traces the
evolution of the
instrument over two
centuries
—By Kathleen A. Bergeron

Guitar depicted in this story: an 1818 instrument made by

noted woodworker Juan Riudavets for Spanish King Fernando VII

52 Fall 2019
 Historic Lutherie

rançoise and Daniel Sinier de Ridder

had been repairing antique musical
instruments, especially guitars, for
museums and private collectors for more than
four decades before they decided to publish
a book about their work. In it, they described
a select group of instruments and the luthiers
who made them, and outlined how repairs were
made, through description, drawings, and pho-
tographs. That first book, focused exclusively on
instruments made in Paris, quickly sold out. Two
similar books, also on French guitars, followed.
(See Classical Guitar, Spring 2016, for more on those
books.)
When the couple announced some years back that
they planned to do a volume on the guitars of Spain,
expectations were high. That book, The Spanish Guitar,
1750-1950, is now available (sinier-de-ridder.com). Like
the other three books, it is beautifully designed and
printed. But there, similarities end. Longtime colleague
Jérôme Casanova was added as coauthor. There is a
new publisher, Camino Verde. And, where photo-
graphs of guitars in previous books were like ele-
gant police station mug shots—front, side, back,
perhaps a close-up—those in the new book are
more artistically presented, with three-quar-
ter angles, several two-page spreads, and
some photos so dramatically close up
that the individual tiles in a rosette
are easily counted. Instead of a table
of drawings with measurements
for each guitar in an appendix in
the back, the new book features
woodcuts, engravings, and paint-
ings that illustrate how the Span-
ish instruments looked at vari-
ous times in history. In all, there
are 420 images spread across
the book’s 208 pages.
Instruments featured in the
previous books, while significant
in their own right, were also res-
toration projects, so the hidden
secrets of construction, like joints
and bracing, were exposed to the
camera. The guitars in the new book are
chosen not only as examples the builder’s
innovation or craftsmanship, but also for their
particular role in the evolution of the Spanish or

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 53
Authors Jérôme Casanova (L) and Françoise and Daniel Sinier de Ridder
classical guitar through two centuries. Many of those instruments
are from the collection of Marian and José Romanillos (the noted
luthier and author of such books as Making a Spanish Guitar and
Antonio de Torres: Guitar Maker—His Life and Work), and
their contributions, both in instruments and knowledge,
were significant enough for the authors to dedicate the
book to them.
Yet, says co-author Françoise, “All the gui-
tars presented in this book passed through our
hands, sometimes just for an examination, some-
times to learn, sometimes to restore, but always
to delight.”
That, in fact, is the chief difference between the
two types of books by Sinier de Ridder: The earlier
ones are, in effect, elegantly published documen-
tation on specific instruments of significance. The
Spanish Guitar (La guitare espagnole in French) is a
gorgeous love letter to the instrument’s evolution
from vihuela, bandurria, and lute to today’s classical
guitar as first imagined by Antonio de Torres 200
years ago.
It is noteworthy that Torres began making
an impact at precisely the midpoint of the span
of this book, around 1850. And he is clearly the
book’s star, with 22 pages on nine Torres guitars,
including “La Leona,” built in 1856 and considered
by some to be the first “modern” Spanish guitar.
54 Fall 2019
There is also a two-page spread of Torres’ famous papier-mâché
guitar, which lives in the Museu De La Musica in Barcelona.
Françoise explains the selection process: “We wanted to take a
guitar of each material—cypress, maple, mahog-
any, and rosewood, plus some rare pieces from
museums.”
There are also many other familiar
names among the luthiers in this book,
including Contreras, Arias, Simplicio, Fleta,
Ramirez, and Santos Hernandez, to list just
a few. One name that might be a surprise is
that of Christian Frederick Martin, the same
C.F. Martin whose name appears on the head-
stock of thousands of steel-string acoustic
guitars today. These days, the American com-
pany makes very few Spanish-style guitars,
and the guitars it does make are not typically
hand-made by specific luthiers; they are what
might be called industrial or factory-made
instruments. Françoise explains that in
Europe, luthiers were designing and mod-
ifying their instruments to fit the custom-
ers in their cities or villages. Martin, after
immigrating to the United States, modified
the concepts he learned in Vienna to fit the
requirements of a much larger constituency—
an entire country. For example, the Viennese
 Historic Lutherie

style of guitar, with its Stauffer-style curved What she’s referring to is Hans Weis- form to edit this book—maybe some note-
headstock and figure-eight body, gave way shaar and Margaret Shipman’s book Violin books posing problems and the solutions
to something more akin to the classical gui- Restoration: A Manual for Violin Makers, we propose. No books exist that can help
tar we know today. But eventually, this, too, widely regarded as the definitive book on a young restorer find solutions to all the
changed. The particular Martin instrument violin repair. First published in 1989, it potential problems. For us, it’s extremely
featured in the new book was built in 1842 has 42 chapters, 125 photographs, and 60 important to preserve and restore guitars
and looks like a typical Spanish guitar, with drawings. Find a shop that repairs violins with the same care and, rigor as violins
gut strings, rosette, and fan bracing. But and you will probably find that book. have been for more than two centuries.”
within a year, Martin would begin experi- “We already have a lot of material [for Such a volume (or multiple volumes if
menting with X-bracing to better support the book]; some chapters are almost fin- required) would be a true magnum opus
the greater tension that steel strings would ished, like, for example, on worms and their for Sinier de Ridder.
bring. And that divergence from the straight damage. But we do not yet know in what We can hardly wait. CG
line of the evolution of the Spanish guitar
into something new was so significant that
the authors felt it needed to be recognized.
Françoise and Daniel have been exam-
ining and repairing instruments like these
for half a century, and they have seen and
worked on virtually every type of fretted
instrument—from horribly abused vihuelas
to the only existing playable guitar built by
Stradivari. Operating in Europe (France),
rather than America, they have the wide
perspective and respect among their peers
to be able to say that the work of C.F. Mar-
tin is significant enough to have a place in a
book on Spanish guitars.
They also ask questions that the less
knowledgeable among us might be too
uneducated or self-conscious to ask, much
less propose an answer. A case in point:
After noting that they could find no actual
examples of guitars of 17th or 18th century
Spain, and only one Spanish Baroque guitar,
they ask why. The theory they offer is that
perhaps the Spanish Inquisition ordered
their destruction. They follow their theory
with examples of similar efforts—how Oli-

Classical
ver Cromwell ordered the destruction of BM, MM, DMA,
Celtic harps in Ireland, how the Netherlands and diploma
did the same with bagpipes, and Norway
with violins. Incidentally, the authors have
repaired all three of those types of instru- Guitar Private lessons
and master classes

Studies
ments, as well as hundreds of guitars from
France, Spain, Germany, Italy, and England, Chamber music
among other places. performance
In some regards, this might be consid- Sharon Isbin, Department Chair
ered the couple’s ultimate book, a culmina- Guitar history
tion of sorts. It would fit nicely in the library and literature
of the most dedicated aficionados of the Celebrating 30 Years
classical guitar, as well as be a source of Fretboard harmony
Photo: Jonathan Tichler

knowledge for those who know nothing of

the instrument but wish to learn. Scholarship
Will this indeed be their final book? Apply by December 1 assistance available
Apparently not: “We still have a big project,”
says Françoise, “but of course it’s compli-
juilliard.edu/guitar
Pre-College program
cated. We would like to write the ‘Weisshaar
& Shipman’ for the restoration of guitars.”

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 55
 MOMENTITO
who made
Luthiers are finally escaping from centuries of anonymity —By Graham Wade
ome years ago, in the 1980s, when
I was staying for a day or two at
Julian Bream’s magnificent house
in the English countryside, the great luth-
ier José Romanillos joined us for dinner.
After a wonderful meal, prepared by Julian
himself, and several glasses of excellent
claret, our tongues and our spirits were lib-
erated and an intense discussion followed.
José Romanillos at that time had not
published any of his remarkable studies
of luthiers and guitars. But his point of
debate was essentially that throughout
history the makers of instruments had
been sold short. While there were innu-
merable biographical studies of
performer/composers, such as
Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart,
and Beethoven, etc., where were
all the books about the men who
created the musical instruments
for these great players? Going
back further, who made Luis
Milán’s vihuelas, or John Dow-
land’s lutes, or the guitars of
Francesco Corbetta, Robert de
Visée, and Gaspar Sanz?
When one thinks about
such things the questions mul-
tiply. José’s argument was that
whereas eminent performers
played for patrons, mainly aris-
tocracy, and were thus identified
with the ruling dynasty in a feu-
dal society, instrument makers
were often regarded as artisans,
hardly worthy of the attention of
scholars, historians, and critics.
The musicians themselves and
their compositions were con-
sidered to be of greater value
for study and attention than the
instruments on which music was
produced.
In the 16th and 17th cen-
turies, it may not have been
possible to earn a living mak-
ing vihuelas, lutes, or guitars.
Instruments could be made by
56 Fall 2019
Luis Milán’s
carpenters and furniture makers to order,
though some of the results may not have
been of the highest order. As we know from
experience these days, fine instruments
can only be created after a long period of
apprenticeship, trial and error, and pos-
sibly a fortuitous combination of lucky
circumstances where improvements grad-
ually evolve to achieve a kind of musical
perfection.
Unfortunately, vihuelas, lutes, and
early guitars were not durable instru-
ments. They were easily broken or dis-
carded for one reason or another. The
high-class guitars of the 17th century,
vihuela?
greatly ornamented and expensively
crafted for the aristocracy, were another
kettle of fish. They tended to be preserved
in museums in the long run, their marvel-
lous ornamentation in inverse proportion
to their ulterior musical potential.
But some instrument makers were
indeed revered and loved above all others.
The Amati family of violin makers, oper-
ating from Cremona, Italy, in the mid-16th
century was rewarded by having the coat-
of-arms of Charles IX of France on the back
of their instruments. Next came the great
Antonio Stradivari (ca. 1644–1737), who is
said to have studied with Nicolò Amati as
a young man. Altogether, about
650 of his instruments have sur-
vived and are now among some
of the most valuable artifacts on
the planet, including one of his
beautiful guitars.
In 1987, Romanillos’ amazing
work of scholarship Antonio de
Torres: Guitar Maker—His Life
and Work (Element Books) was
published, giving for the first
time a comprehensive account
of the life of a great guitar maker
as well as a description of every
extant guitar created by Torres.
In a foreword, Bream com-
mented: “It is my own personal
opinion that the old classical
guitar used by Sor and his con-
temporaries was to some extent
an ill-thought-out instrument. Its
pedigree was based on the 18th
century Baroque guitar, in itself
an admirable instrument partic-
ularly for songs and dances of a
light, frothy character. . . . The
sound texture of a Baroque gui-
tar, moreover, was largely that
of an alto instrument.” With the
discarding of paired strings and
the addition of an extra bass
string in the last decade of the
18th century, the Spanish guitar
“evolved almost miraculously
 Historic Lutherie

José
Romanillos
wrote the
definitive book
on Antonio
de Torres and
is a highly
respected
luthier himself.

JOEY LUSTERMAN PHOTO ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 57

 MOMENTITO Historic Lutherie

overnight—The metamorphosis was pretty
dramatic, from a light alto instrument to a
seemingly profound bass one, its tessitura
corresponding roughly to that of the violon-
cello.”
The two “mid-wives” who “finally
brought the guitar into the romantic era”
were of course Francisco Tárrega (1852–
1909) and Antonio de Torres (1817–1892).
Though Tárrega received torrents of
biography, analysis, and adulation, it was
Romanillos who redressed the balance by
directing our attention to the luthier with-
out whom Tárrega’s genius (and the subse-
quent history of the guitar!) would certainly
have taken a different path.
In the more egalitarian world we now
inhabit, guitarists have an enormous
respect for the immensely creative work
that luthiers achieve. We can no longer
regard guitar makers as anything less than
who they really are—the bedrock of the
guitarist’s art. Their instruments mold our
playing and develop our artistic destinies in
subtle and wonderful ways.
First, they have unique skills to produce
from pieces of wood a living, singing, respon-
sive instrument. Second, their personalities
imbue their creations with their own unique
emotional and intellectual characteristics.
In marvellously diverse ways, a fine Spanish
instrument represents the passionate quali-
ties of the Spanish nation, an English guitar
spells out understated attributes of logic
and order, the six strings of a high-class
Japanese guitar often echo in some magical
way the ancient timbres of chordophones
from Asian culture, Australian instruments
explore the boundless spirit of adventure
and innovation of that great continent, etc.
However, even now things are not
always what they seem. While at an Inter-
national Guitar Festival in Corfu, Greece,

BE AUTHENTIC.
OBERLIN
CONSERVATORY
OF MUSIC

some years ago, I sat on a beach with an

American guitar-maker, armed with a few

BE INSPIRED.
beers to keep us cool. A few miles away,
Albania was visible—a mysterious and
somewhat alien country at the time—and
out in the bay an American submarine on
the surface acted as a sentinel for what-
ever reason.
The guitar maker provided one of his
guitars as a prize at the festival. We began
talking about the pecking order that pre-
vails at such a gathering. Meals were laid
out in the open under canvas and you had
to be careful where you sat in order to be
with your friends and not find yourself iso-
lated among a group who spoke only Greek
or Turkish or German. The star performers
of the Festival were the brightest and most
attractive personalities, the glamorous set
who scintillated at every turn.
“I’m at the bottom of this particular
hierarchy,” said the guitar maker sadly, “the
lowest in the pecking order!” I sympathized
with him but disagreed. There was a lower
category I felt—myself—who was offering a
mere one-hour talk on the course (though
perhaps promoted up a notch by being a
member of the jury for the competition).
Later I recalled the words of José
Romanillos, spoken 20 years previously,
At Oberlin, original thought and individual artistry are our highest goals. That’s why about the inferior status of so many instru-
students here receive training in all facets of the art of playing classical guitar. ment makers throughout history. Do some
You will pursue a rigorous and highly individualized technical regimen as well as an luthiers still feel disadvantaged in some
intensive repertoire-based course of study. You will learn from accomplished faculty way? Was this an instance where the
and esteemed guest artists. You will perform numerous recitals, each one representing famous epigram of journalist and novelist
a balance of your musical interests and your pedagogical needs. You will be encouraged Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (1808–1890),
to make your own arrangements and to write and perform your own compositions. was applicable: plus ça change, plus c’est
And you will leave Oberlin an authentic musician with an artistic voice all your own. la même chose (“the more things change,
the more they stay the same”)? Surely not,
Oberlin Conservatory of Music | Office of Admissions one would think, but I leave it to our wise
39 West College Street, Oberlin, OH 44074
440-775-8413 | www.oberlin.edu/con readers to come to their own conclusions
on such matters.  CG

58 Fall 2019
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 METHOD

LEARNING MUSIC WITH BACH

‘Invention No. 1’ offers a glimpse into Baroque style and ornamentation  BY RHAYN JOOSTE

Invention No. 1, by J.S.

Bach (1685–1750), is a
short keyboard piece which
makes for an excellent
entry into Bach’s music.
This lesson will explore
keeping time, playing in
a duo, melodic variations,
and ornamentation.

60 Fall 2019

Micro Study 1
Micro Study 1
0 2 3 0 2 3
Guit 1
i m i m etc.
2 3 0 2 3 0
Guit 2
p p etc.
Micro Study 2
Micro Study 2
Main Idea
Guit 1
Augmented
Guit 2
(Lengthen Rhythms)
OVERVIEW
Invention No. 1 was probably first composed
around 1722–1723 in Cöthen, Germany. The
piece arose out of a very simple need: Bach
was trying to teach his second child, Wil-
helm Friedemann (1710–1784), the family
trade—music. He compiled a book of the
basics, which included clef and note names,
ornaments, and a selection of his “simple”
pieces from a variety of sources, such as the
French Suites and Book 1 of The Well-Tem-
pered Clavier, to systematically teach com-
position and the clavichord. Included within
it was a set of new creations, 15 two-part
Praeambula and 15 three-part Fantasias.
Bach obviously thought highly of them,
since he re-ordered, re-wrote, and re-pack-
aged them with the express intention of
using them to teach.
Today, we know these works as the
Inventions and Sinfonias, and they have
been greatly expanded through scholarly
research. Added to the two autograph
scores are the notes Bach made; his stu-
dents’ own copies of the works (a require-
ment of the time); and his commentary and
ornaments. Together, for the modern musi-
cian, these form a practical resource with
which to learn and absorb Bach’s meth-
ods for composition, while also offering
To watch video demonstrations of each of the micro studies,
0 2 3 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 2 0
2 3 0 2 3 0 2 3 0 2 3 0
i m i m etc.
Retrograde Inverted
(Backwards) (Upside Down)
Main Idea
an authentic look into how he realized his
ornamentation and improvisation. These
pieces are parallel to The Well-Tempered
Clavier and are eminently more approach-
able on our instrument. Bach made it clear
on the Inventions title page that the main
objective is to develop “eine Cantable Art,”
or a singing style of playing.
Invention No. 1 is a two-voice keyboard
work in the key of C major. Its creative seed
is a single idea (motif) contained in the first
bar. There are two versions of this piece, as
Bach elaborated on the autograph score at
a later date, adding in triplet runs. Its “sim-
ple” two parts enable you to concentrate
on Bach’s music, while still performing with
another guitar.
RIGHT HAND & LEFT HAND
The majority of the musical material is
comprised of scales, broken up by thirds.
Micro Study 1 will help with coordinating
the hands, and then the guitar parts. Guitar
1 will be utilizing i m to play, with attention
to angle of attack, on wound bass strings—
think Segovia-style RH. Guitar 2 uses the
thumb (p) switching to i m on the nylon
strings. Coordination of both fingers and
parts are required to effectively perform
it. The aim is two-fold: first, learn your part
go to ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com/method.
V
1 3
1 3 0 1 3 0 1 3 1 2 4
2 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 1 3 0 1 3
Retrograde Inversion
(Backwards & Upside Down)
Transposed
(Up a fifth)
securely; and second, synchronize with the
other guitar. Listening to the other guitar
will be key here. Then, for fun, exchange
parts to get a better understanding of both
voices. Once learned, this approach should
be applied to the whole piece. It will also
help when you begin to learn Bach’s other
contrapuntal works.
TONE & TIMING
This is a single-form piece, which is struc-
tured around the opening motif, bar 1,
and its contrapuntal variants: inversion,
augmentation, transposition, etc. Micro
Study 2 begins with the opening motif in
bar 1, then varies it on the succeeding bars.
And, with the exception of the transposition
motif, they have all been standardized into
C major for clarity. Bach makes it way more
interesting in Invention No. 1, as each one of
these variations can be found in some sort
of guise in this piece. The fun is in finding
them and working out why Bach placed
them where he did, and the harmony he
chose. When playing with another guitar,
strive to keep clear of the other guitar’s
timbre, unless it is a musical decision to
become one voice. This slightly discordant
micro study is perfect for testing out tone
separation and clarity of parts.
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 61
 METHOD

Micro Study 3
Micro Study 3
0 0 2 0 1 2 0 0

Guit 1

i i m etc.
II
0 1 3 4 1 3 4 0

Guit 2

i m etc.

Micro Study 4
Micro Study 4
2 0 (mordent) 3 0 2 0 4 2 0 4 2 0 0 2 1 3 4 1 0 3 0 1 3 4 (trillo) 2 0

Guit 1

1 0 1 3 0 2 0 3 1 3 4 3 4 1 0 1 3 1 3 4 0 1 3 1 3 0 3 1 0 1 0

Guit 1

i p m m i m i etc.

Micro Study 3 uses a motif (bar 7) to
practice that 16th-note up-beat entrance.
Key to getting this in the groove is to keep
time. In other words, do not anticipate the
beat. The tempo must be internalized and
your entrance confident. That means not
relying on the other guitar part to keep
your time; it should be shared. Practice
with a metronome on slow quarter-notes
to begin with, then switch it to half-notes,
so you “keep” beats 2 and 4 while the
metronome keeps beats 1 and 3. This will
develop your internal clock. Once all that
is secure, switch the notes ’round so that
you “keep” beats 1 and 3 and the metro-
nome is on beats 2 and 4. This is a great
exercise to really solidify the pulse, and
your internal time keeper.
ORNAMENTATION
Micro Study 4 utilizes a mordent and a
trillo; ornaments which Bach defined in Wil-
helm Friedemann’s book, to embellish bars
5 and 6. Today, they are known as lower
and upper mordents, and are performed
differently. The guitar parts are the same—
Guitar 1 is the original; while Guitar 2 is the
florid Italianate triplet version of Invention
No. 1, which lends a more improvisatory
feel to the music. A modern interpretation
would use a range of ornaments, especially
trills on the cadences. However, I suspect
that as it was the first piece of the set, Bach
kept everything simple, as compared to
later more heavily ornamented Inventions
such as 10, 11, and 12—thus making this a
great piece to begin learning Baroque-style
ornamentation and improvisation.
EDITION
Music this old has by now been through
many editions, so choose carefully when
selecting any for the guitar, especially if
they have TAB. It is difficult enough to read FINAL REFLECTION
two staves, not to mention any editorial Invention No. 1 is a fantastic, simple
interference. The best advice is to head resource to commence the journey of
for a good modern source of the originals. studying Bach’s music. “The unique bal-
With that in mind, the ABRSM keyboard ance of heart and mind in Bach’s music
edition, edited and annotated by Richard needs to be faithfully reproduced in perfor-
Jones, is highly recommended. There is a mance.” That excellent advice, from Rich-
wealth of extra information relating to the ard Jones, should inform any approach
material, with stylistic considerations and to this music. Learning to perform it with
context added. And you have the added passion, while developing a strong sense of
bonus of making your own duo arrange- musicality, takes time. The Inventions and
ments or using it for extra sight-reading Sinfonias are a gateway into understanding
practice. more intricate Bach pieces. CG

62 Fall 2019
 Watch Douglas Seth perform this piece at MUSIC TO PLAY
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com/musictoplay.

DOUGLAS SETH’S LIVELY ‘PRELUDE FOR

THE VICTORIOUS’ BORROWS FROM BACH
Delaware (USA)-based guitarist, arranger,
composer, and teacher Douglas Seth has per-
formed internationally. His guitar works have
been published through Mel Bay Publications
and his arrangements featured in profes-
sional off-Broadway productions. In 2017, he
released New Music for Solo Guitar, a clas-
sical-guitar recording premiering his original
compositions, and also published  Progres-
sive Character Pieces for the Beginner Clas-
sical Guitarist, Vol. 1, a collection of original
student pieces. He is also a member of the
cross-genre ensemble Mosaic String Duo with
Chris Braddock.
Seth earned music degrees from the State
University of New York at Fredonia and Aus-
tin Peay State University in Tennessee. He
also studied at El Instituto Universitario de
Estudios Musicales in Venezuela. Before
moving to Delaware, he directed the guitar
program at Manatee School for the Arts in
Palmetto, Florida, and he currently teaches
at the Guitar Academy of Southern Dela-
ware, which he founded in 2010.
He describes this issue’s Music to Play
piece and offers a few tips:
“Prelude for the Victorious is a pastiche
of J. S. Bach’s unaccompanied string music.
It is part of a set Preludes composed as
homages to some of my favorite compos-
ers. This prelude is mostly a complex sin-
gle line, complete with implied polyphony,
pedal points, and ornaments. This piece
could be used as a study for navigating
and playing a complex single line musi-
cally. Like Bach’s unaccompanied string
music, special attention should be given
to melodic leaps. A slight accent of the
melodic leaps will accentuate the implied
polyphony in the single line. The player
should feel free to experiment technically.
Although the rapid mordents are played
with a m i fingering, they can be simplified
by slurring them instead. The long final trill
is played using a cross-string a m i p or Rak
tremolo fingering; it can be simplified by
slurring the trill with the left hand.
“I feel the Prelude sits squarely in the
intermediate-to-upper-intermediate level,
with a few advanced Baroque-style orna-
ments. Of course, these ornaments can
be adjusted to suit the player, but with
a little extra effort, they are very play-
able.  Theoretically, playing a single line
like in this Prelude should be quite easy.
However, due to the nature of the guitar, it
can be challenging, because if there are no
droning open strings (like in so much of the
repertoire), there is no extra resonance to
obscure one’s mistakes. Most importantly,
though, have fun!” deguitaracademy.com

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 MUSIC TO PLAY P RELU DE FOR THE VICTO R IOUS
DOUGL AS SETH

Brillante

œ œœœ
4 3 4

#### 4 œœœœœ
œ œ œ
3

œœœœ
1
4

œœœœœ œ
2 1

œ œ œ œ
3 0 0

& 4 œ œœœœœœœ
1 3 1
1 3 0 1 4 1 3

4 3 4
am i 1 3 4 4 1 3 1 3
3

# œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
4

# œ
3

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
& # #
4 4 1
3 1
2 2
3
1 1
0

a p m i sim.

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œœœ
####
3 1

nœ œ
4 4 2

œ œ
5 1

& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ
3
2
1 1 0

p m i sim.

CIV

7
#### œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
2 1 1
œ 1
œ œ
4

œœœ
4 4 3 2 4

&
3 0 0 3 0

œœœ œœœ œœœ œ

3 2
3 1

3 1
2 2 3 4 1
p m i m p i m p i m p i a p i sim. 1 3

#### œ
CIV
9
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ g ww
œ œ
2

œ ggg
1

& œœ w
4 0 0 3 1 0
4 1 1 0 3 2 0
3
2

gg #w
1 1
0

1
a i m i a m i m i a m

64 Fall 2019 Music by Douglas Seth ©2015; All Rights Reserved; Used by Permission.
 ####
œœœœœœœœœ
11

& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
4 2

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
0 2 3
2 0
0 2 1 0 2
1 4 4 1 2 1
4 1 2 4
2 1 2
2 1
4

œ œ œ
#### œœœœœœœœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
4 4 4

œ
13 4

œ
2

œ
0 0 0

& œœœœ
4 4 2 2 4 3 1 2 1
2 0
2 0
4 1

a i m sim.

œ œœœ œ œœœ
œœœœœœœœœœœ
4 3 4

œœœœœœœœœœœ
31 3

####
œ œ œ 3 1 4 4 4 1 œ œ œ 4
15 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 4 2 1 2 2
3 1 1 3 1 1 3 3 1

&
am i am i

œ œœœ œ œœœ
œœœœœœœœœœœ
3 1 3

#### œœœœœœœœœœœ
4 2 4
œ œ œ
*(0 1 3)
17 1 4 3 3 4 œ œ œ 2 1
3
3 1 3 1 1 1 4 1 2 4

&
1 2 2 4 2 1 2 1 2
3

am i am i
*in preparation
for L.H. trill

p a m i for cross-string trill or

Ÿ
refinger for L.H. trill at 2nd position
CII
j
#### œ ˙ . . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
Kr
œ
19

œ œ œ œ
1 4 3

&
4

w œ œ œ œ
2

m i p i m i m i sim.

#### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
21 0 0 13

œ œ œ œ ˙
1

& ˙
œœœ
4 4 4

œ œ œ œ
3 3

w
1
1
œ
p am i p

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 65
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66 Fall 2019
Tempi Moderni Barrios Guitar Quartet bgq.de
EXCITING BLENDS OF OLD AND NEW FROM GERMAN QUARTETS
ore than 100 years ago—in 1907 to
be exact—the first guitar quartet
sprang up in Germany: the Munich
Guitar Quartet, founded by Fritz Buek and
spearheaded by Heinrich Albert (who was
replaced some years later by none other
than Hermann Hauser). The guitar quartet
is still alive and well in Germany, judging
from these two outstanding releases.
Though based in Germany, the young,
fresh-faced Weimar Guitar Quartet con-
sists of an Australian (Stephanie Jones),
a Slovenian (Karmen Stendler), and two
Germans (Hanna Link and Jakob Schmidt).
Their self-titled debut album is a spirited,
energetic, and technically impressive
affair, presenting a truly stimulating blend
of “old” and contemporary pieces, none of
them from the common guitar repertoire.
In the old (or if you prefer, “historic”) cate-
gory, there is a wonderful Collection of Eliz-
abethan Dances—short works by 17th cen-
tury composers William Brade,
Anthony Holborne, Orlando
Gibbons, and Thomas Morley
(including a Dowland piece
he arranged). Then the group
jumps to the 19th century for
a pair of fine Romantic works
(arranged by the WGQ) by two
sometimes overlooked women
composers, Fanny Hensel and
Clara Schumann.
But the majority of the
album showcases pieces by
living composers: Olga Amel-
kina-Vera’s evocative and mys-
terious Nebulae; Patrick Roux’s
Weimar Guitar Quartet weimarguitarquartet.com
sensuous Comme un tango; Andrew York’s
catchy and hypnotic Spin (previously in the
repertoire of the Berlin Guitar Quartet);
Australian composer Nigel Westlake’s Six
Fish, which ranges from flowingly melodic
to delightfully playful to noisily aggres-
sive as it musically describes six aquatic
denizens; Leo Brouwer’s short Toccata,
full of abrupt rhythmic jolts and power-
ful collective moments; and closing with
Sérgio Assad’s Uarekena which, typical of
the composer, combines beautifully lyri-
cal passages with intriguing modern son-
ics. The playing throughout the program
is lively, even sparkling, and the many
dynamic contrasts are handled flawlessly.
At the time of the recording of the Barrios
Guitar Quartet’s Tempi Moderni, the lineup
consisted of Stefan Hladek, Martin Went-
zel, Antje Asendorf, and Ulf Borcherding;
since, the latter two have been replaced by
Kalin Yanchev and Eugen Drabynka. The
BGQ has been around since
1996 and is a well-established
presence, especially in Europe.
The BGQ, too, mostly steers
clear of “popular” repertoire,
instead searching out less-
known works and composers,
and writing their own arrange-
ments. This CD, the notes
explain, “focuses on the mod-
ern—meaning fresh and inno-
vative—sounds of the early
Baroque era and of the 20th
century . . . to explore how
musical styles of distant eras
meet, intermingle, and influ-
ALBUMS
ence each other. We aim to create a setting
of exciting musical contrasts.”
That they do, through a series of
intriguing juxtapositions. For example, the
album opens with Hladek’s arrangements
of four courtly and tuneful pieces drawn
from the 1691 Purcell “semi-opera” King
Arthur, followed by Dusan Bogdanovic’s
“Stir Fry,” with its odd, irregular rhythms
that make it sound like ’50s beatnik music
(complete with shuffling percussion from
guest Alexander Hladek). Then comes a
sequence of Stefan Hladek’s gorgeous hom-
age to early 17th century composer G.G.
Kapsberger called Arpeggiata—which at
once sounds of that era and also like some
sort of contempo Steve Reich-ian minimalist
confection—followed by five short, varied
works by Kapsberger, again featuring some
nice percussion touches. (“Colascione” par-
ticularly sounds simultaneously old and
new, with its prominent “bass” part.) Dow-
land’s stirring Lachrimae Pavan gives way
to Steve Goss’ much darker and more disso-
nant Lachrymae, then to a half-minute BGQ
Improvisation on “Lachrimae,” followed by a
return to terra-firma with Dowland’s Gaillard
to Lachrimae; it’s all quite artful.
The album also includes Tansman’s
much-played (though not by quartets) Scri-
abin variations, a trio of atypical (yet char-
acteristic) numbers by Piazzolla, a jazzy
work from Finnish composer Iiro Rantala,
and a quirky, rhythmically engaging piece
by Estonian pianist Kristjan Randalu, with
more percussion. It all adds up to a fasci-
nating and satisfying excursion for listeners
with adventurous tastes.  —Blair Jackson
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 67
 ALBUMS
Jonathan Leshnoff: Symphony
No. 4; Guitar Concerto;
Starburst
Jason Vieaux, Nashville Symphony
Naxos
A brilliant recent concerto and more
Jonathan Leshnoff (b. 1973), is a highly
lauded composer whose works have been
performed worldwide by over 60 orchestras.
Obviously, the main interest for Classical
Guitar readers is the Guitar Concerto (2013),
which is sandwiched between two astound-
ing works that should be devoured with as
equal relish as the concerto. The music will
take you on a spellbinding journey.
The Guitar Concerto is a beautifully
proportioned work in the relatively tradi-
tional format of I. Maestoso, allegro; II. Hod,
adagio; III. Finale: Lively. Jason Vieaux, the
Grammy Award-winning guitarist, provides
the virtuosity and sensitivity required for
this wonderful new addition to the burgeon-
ing pantheon of guitar concertos taking
the instrument forward into truly glorious
pastures. The orchestra is conducted by
Giancarlo Guerrero.
Leshnoff’s music has a heavily lyrical
perfume and tonal accessibility. The guitar
enters with several acrobatic flourishes
and declamatory echoes from the orches-
tra, and proceeds to drive, Asturias-style,
through a kaleidoscopic swirl of imagery.
The intense second movement, so full of
searching exquisiteness, literally left me
speechless. The finale fairly rollicks along,
and after several listens, the goosebumps
didn’t get any smaller for me.
Though composed by a non-guitarist,
the work is fiendishly explorative of the
guitar’s virtues. This album is an essential
treat!  —Tim Panting
68 Fall 2019
Paris Recital
Stein-Erik Olsen & Egil Haugland
Simax Classics
Masterful exploration of Presti-
Lagoya repertoire
This Nordic pairing share the distinction
of having both been guest performers at
the Cannington Festival presided over by
John W. Duarte (see page 42). The con-
tent of this 2017–18 recording is flanked
by the Toccata and Tarentelle by Pierre
Petit, suggesting that we’re travelling on a
Presti-Lagoya ticket. This is confirmed by
Graham Wade’s notes, which identify all
the remaining items by Rodrigo, Jolivet,
and Castelnuovo-Tedesco as Presti-Lagoya
dedications.
The results are impressive and by no
means unexpected: two highly accom-
plished individual players collaborating
on a level that’s technically assured and
engaging throughout. Naturally, there are
occasional reminders that we’re in the
presence of musicians from the generation
after Presti-Lagoya (Olsen being a teenager
and Haugland a child at the time of Presti’s
death in 1967), so it’s right and proper that
the outer movements of Rodrigo’s Tona-
dilla have a slightly sharper cutting edge
than was once customary, with moments
elsewhere that display an element of
urgency pointing more to the present than
the past. This said, the two slow move-
ments in Sérénade Pour Deux Guitares by
André Jolivet successfully recapture all
that smoky Parisian elegance of yester-
year. The Jolivet is also billed as a “first
recording of [the] manuscript version,”
which is a neat way of ensuring all Presti-
Lagoya completists part with their cash. A
wise investment it will surely be.
—Paul Fowles
Brazilian Guitar Music by Marco
Pereira
Marius Noss Gundersen
Gvito Records
Beautiful melodies and rhythms
Although Norwegian guitarist Gundersen
has produced a number of recordings, this
is the first I have encountered. He has cho-
sen one composer’s work—the widely pub-
lished Brazilian Marco Pereira.
Pereira is a writer whose music fits
effortlessly onto the guitar yet never
sounds hackneyed. It constantly com-
mands attention, as in the opening track,
Estrela da Manha (Morning Star). It sounds
easy on the ear, but certainly not on the
fingers, as its flowing movement traverses
many different chords and figurations
which are definitely not easy. The fast,
dance-based Bate-Coxa is next and, apart
from the melodic interest, has a particular
technique in the chorus where the arpeg-
gio motif and the bass pattern require
great independence in the right hand.
Sambadulu, originally for guitar and
voice, is a finger-twisting, recklessly paced
number, while Irene, a chôro–canção dedi-
cated to Pereira’s late mother, is slow and
lyrical—it has a wonderful set of harmonies
underneath a lovely, haunting melody line.
A set of four pieces dedicated to his daugh-
ter, collectively called O Choro de Juliana,
consists of contrasting dances (Miculom,
Chamego, Pixula, and Sarara) and makes a
lovely set full of rhythms and colorful har-
monies. The more extended Rapsodia dos
Malacos shows a more serious side to his
writing. Another four-piece set, Perequetes,
and the final Baiao Cansado close what is a
superbly recorded and played program of
beautiful music.
—Chris Dumigan
Evocación
Minneapolis Guitar Quartet
minneapolisguitarquartet.com
Captivating, well-arranged music
The Minneapolis Guitar Quartet—Wade
Owen, Maja Radovanlija, Benjamin Kun-
kel, and Joseph Hagedorn—is among the
finest guitar quartets presently working.
Their latest album, Evocación, contains
over an hour’s worth of captivating, centu-
ries-spanning music and provides an ample
demonstration of the art of guitar ensemble
performance and the skill that is needed in
arranging music for a quartet.
Two of Joaquín Rodrigo’s suites for
piano, Cuatro Piezas para Piano (1936–38)
and the challenging Cuatro Estampas Anda-
luzas (1946–52) bookend the program.
Like the piano music of Alberto Ginastera,
Rodrigo’s music can utterly beguile if
well-arranged for guitar ensemble, and here
Joseph Hagedorn has given the guitar rep-
ertoire a generous transfusion of new music
that will surely delight lovers of Rodrigo’s
“evocative,” sometimes quite modern, often
picaresque Iberian musical imagery. Also
successfully translated from a keyboard
work is J.S. Bach’s rarely heard and per-
formed Toccata in D Minor, BWV 913.
A pair of Macedonian works arranged
by the newest member of the group, Maja
Radovanlija—Proseta se Jovka Kumanovk
and Macedonian Girl—are welcome Bal-
kan jewels in this varied program. And Ian
Krouse (b. 1956), who has 11 guitar quartets
to his name, was commissioned to compose
Starwaves, his tenth quartet—it’s a tribute to
English folk singer and guitarist Nick Drake
(1948–1974) and his song “Hanging on a
Star.” Perfectly capturing the dropped-tuning
scordaturas favored by Drake, this is another
fantastic addition to the repertoire.  —TP
Heitor Villa-Lobos: Complete
Works for Guitar Solo
Jan Depreter
QBK Records
Lively and vital looks at familiar works
Shoehorned onto a single 79-minute disc,
this August 2018 recording is comprised of
Chôros No. 1 alongside the Five Preludes,
Twelve Etudes, and the five-movement
version of Suite Populaire Brésilienne. Not
included are such later discoveries as
Valse-Chôro, which was dropped from the
published Suite Populaire Brésilienne (not
to be confused with Valsa-Chôro, which did
make the cut and is present). So, given that
a “complete works” is usually understood
to mean all the material available at the
time of release, Depreter’s offering doesn’t
quite meet the requirement.
The good news is that Depreter injects
disarming new levels of vitality into a pro-
gram some would no doubt categorize as
“worthy but over-exploited.” Nothing rad-
ical is attempted—just a dash of staccato
here and an unusually generous helping of
rubato there. To take one example, the dot-
ted figure at the top of the E major scale in
the outer sections of Prelude No.2 becomes
a jokey and stuttering break in the flow
before normal service is resumed. There
may be nothing on the score to suggest
it should be handled like this, but nor is
there anything to say it shouldn’t. Either
way, it’s sure to raise a smile, even from
those whose initial fondness for the piece
has been eroded by familiarity.
Throughout the proceedings, Depreter
displays more than enough technical
reserve to bring his interpretations alive,
making this an unexpectedly noteworthy
retake on repertoire we thought we already
knew too well. —PF
Abel Carlevaro: Guitar Music
Cristiano Poli Cappelli
Brilliant Classics
A valuable appreciation of a modern
composer and pedagogue
Uruguayan composer Abel Carlevaro (1916–
2001) is perhaps best remembered as one
of those cerebral pedagogues who tends to
attract not so much pupils as disciples. He
also played an often undervalued role in the
early dissemination of the guitar works of
Villa-Lobos. As a composer, he’s known pri-
marily for the Preludios Americanos, which
occupied Side Two of a fondly remembered
1977 LP by Baltazar Benítez. They also open
this two-CD release, which initially claims
to contain “the complete extant music for
guitar,” although Antonio D’Antò’s program
notes go on to concede the absence of the
“concertante works,” effectively narrowing
the brief to Carlevaro’s legacy for solo guitar.
Even so, there’s more than two hours
of quality merchandise to discover, man-
aged throughout with skill and sensitivity
by Cappelli, an Italian guitarist deservedly
acclaimed for a similar project devoted
to the works of Tansman (reviewed in CG
Winter 2017). Much of the fare draws on
its creator’s South American roots, the
milonga idiom being invoked in the titles
of two suites and a further two miniatures.
Deeper waters are explored in the weighty
three-movement Cronomias, in which we
enter what might be termed a “post-Segovia”
soundscape, spread over 17 minutes.
However, the “hit-in-the-making” may
prove to be Carlevaro’s subtly re-textured
Sanz homage, titled Suite de Antiguas Dan-
zas Españolas. Then again, I once incor-
rectly predicted lasting prominence for
Regino Sáinz de la Maza’s not dissimilar
Sanz set, Danzas Cervantinas.  —PF
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 69
 ALBUMS
Les Scenes Panoramiques
Patrick Roux
Les Productions d’Oz
Compelling sonic journeys from
prolific composer
Publisher d’Oz, apart from producing
a huge amount of sheet music, also, on
occasion, has its composers produce CDs
of their own music. Such is the case here.
French-born Roux has more than 60 pieces
in print with d’Oz, and eight of them are
represented here, all available in print, too.
Par Vents et Marees begins with gen-
tly clashing notes spread into arpeggios,
before a melody enters above with a sad
atmosphere, still written in ever-chang-
ing and fast-paced patterns. The ten-
sions increase gradually throughout this
extended piece, climaxing in multiple
rasgueados. The following Entre Deux Rives
describes a boat’s pitching motions on the
water and quickly evolves into an engross-
ing and beautiful piece full of unexpected
harmonies that remain tonal, yet are never
hackneyed in their figurations.
Milonga del Mar is a simpler yet just
as lovely piece, with a hauntingly morose
melody over undulating arpeggios. Valle
De La Luna, named after an imposing
area of Northern Chile, is in two sections,
opening with the dramatic Contemplation,
which describes the enormity and beauty
of the valley, followed by Desert d’Atac-
ama, which takes us along winding roads
on an epic journey through its majesty. At
13-plus minutes, this set has a truly grip-
ping emotive appeal. Aurore Boreale is
slow at first, then builds in complexity and
emotion. The final three works are every
bit as interesting and intense, and show
us conclusively that Roux’s music is well
worth getting to know.  —CD
70 Fall 2019
Wild Dance
Duo Sonidos
Naxos
Brilliant and exciting violin and guitar
pairing
With this album, Duo Sonidos, featuring
Americans Adam Levin on guitar and violin-
ist William Knuth, present the first of three
volumes of violin and vocal chamber music
arranged for guitar and violin by the master
arranger and guitarist Gregg Nestor.
The violin will probably remain at the
top of the world’s favorite-instrument list,
next to the voice, as few instruments can
compete with its soaring intensity, emo-
tional depth, and ultimately, technical
wizardry. Here, Duo Sonidos celebrate the
intimacy and brilliant palette of the violin,
sensitively partnered with highly inventive
guitar lines and support that delves far
deeper than mere accompaniment. From
the first lines of the spiky blues of It Ain’t
Necessarily So and the sultry Summertime
(Jascha Heifetz transcriptions of Gersh-
win’s Porgy and Bess tunes), we take part
in an eclectic and gorgeous journey. From
the outset, I was impressed by the lovely
tone and authoritative playing of William
Knuth; nary a shrill note. Hauntingly beauti-
ful music in the form of transcriptions of the
collaborations of Karol Szymanowski and
violinist Paul Kochanski arrive with Dziki
taniec (Wild Dance), revealing astounding
textures and vibrantly rhythmic playing
from both musicians.
Every track here is a highlight, from
Rodrigo’s Cuatro canciones sefardies to
Ravel’s Deux mélodies hébraïques to gems
such as the theme from Schindler’s List and
Ponce’s Estrellita. Delightful surprises also
include Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Much
Ado About Nothing Suite, Op. 11 and Lukas
Foss’ Three American Pieces.  —TP
Gerhard & Mompou: Complete
Music for Solo Guitar
Marco Ramelli
Brilliant Classics
Essential collection of Gerhard’s
works
An early triumph for Italian guitarist Marco
Ramelli was his 2011 victory in the inaugu-
ral Scottish International Guitar Competi-
tion, a contest that, sadly, later vanished
into the ether. Then, as now, Ramelli dis-
played a fondness for the challenging, the
mere fact that Catalan composer Roberto
Gerhard (1896–1970) studied with Schoen-
berg being enough to send the timid run-
ning for cover! In fact, Gerhard’s Fantasia,
from the outer edges of the Bream rep-
ertoire, offers an eventful but less-than-
scary five minutes that, in the past, tended
to be performed more in master classes
than concerts. Anyone unfamiliar with the
same composer’s For Whom the Bell Tolls
has no cause to beat themselves up, for it
turns out to be Ramelli’s own previously
uncharted “reorganization” of the inci-
dental music Gerhard provided for a BBC
radio presentation of the Hemingway work.
As might be expected, the music is more
overtly Hispanic than Fantasia, Ramelli’s
subtitles providing a valuable link between
the sound and the unseen action.
However, it’s the contemplative lan-
guage of Federico Mompou that reveals
the true depth and subtlety of Ramelli’s
playing, the space he finds in the opening
measures of Canço i Dansa No. 13 emerg-
ing as the understated highlight of the disc.
It’s moments like this, together with two
“bonus” interludes by Emilio Pujol and,
of course, that substantial revived chunk
of archive Gerhard, that make this release
essential listening.  —PF
Guitarra e outras histórias:
Musica de António Pinho Vargas
Pedro Rodrigues
Slovart
Portuguese composer and guitarist
are a strong match
Sometimes a CD cover is so unassuming
that it’s impossible to guess about the con-
tents inside. In this case, we see the mid-
dle-aged composer and the more youthful
guitarist in a dark-hued, backlit setting,
smiling happily for the camera. So, after a
little research and listening to the (mainly)
piano works by António Pinho Vargas
(b. 1951), I got a sense of what guitarist
Pedro Rodrigues was aiming for with his
album of transcriptions, arrangements, and,
ultimately, improvisations upon composi-
tions which turn out to be most pleasant.
There is not a dissonant passage any-
where on the 11 tracks here. Although Pinho
Vargas has composed operas and a requiem
among many other forms and instrumen-
tal combinations, his preferred instrument
is the piano, and melodies and harmonies
that knock on the door of Keith Jarrett and
his “My Song” era in the 1970s with ECM
Records. It is unnecessary to pigeonhole
the music, but further investigations led to
my listening to Pinho Vargas’ delightful 1983
album Outros Lugares, which features that
hybrid eclectic jazz pioneered by ECM.
With songs like Tom Waits (the eccen-
tric American songwriter) and Fado Negro,
the music takes on a wistful melancholia
which, in the more-than-capable hands of
Rodrigues, flirts with real emotional depth,
avoiding cliché and retaining the listener’s
interest throughout. The guitar is cleanly
captured in all its lonely brilliance, occa-
sionally getting up on the dancefloor, as on
A Dança dos Pessaros.  —TP
The Guitar
Rupert Boyd
Sono Luminus
Exceptional recording of wide-
ranging repertoire
I have previously heard Boyd’s recordings,
including Boyd Meets Girl, his cello/guitar
CD with his wife, Laura Metcalf, so I placed
this one on the player with eager antici-
pation. As a look at the composers repre-
sented reveals, this is a widely diverse CD.
It starts with Roland Dyens’ arrange-
ment (reworking?) of Jobim’s Felicidade,
which you readers who have attempted
it know just how beautifully written—and
astoundingly hard—it is to play. Brazilian
composer/guitarist Paolo Bellinati’s ver-
sion of Jobim’s Estrada Blanca follows, and
it is as much a contrast from the opener
as is possible, but stands as another beau-
tiful performance. Sor’s Introduction and
Variation on a Theme of Mozart is perhaps
the most well-known work here; it’s a piece
that nearly every guitarist has tried at one
time or another. It receives a thoughtful yet
perfectly judged performance.
Bach’s (Lute) Suite in Em, BWV 1006a
in its entirety is next and, no matter what
instrument it was written for—itself debat-
able—is of such a difficult standard that it
requires outstanding playing, which it gets
here. Another highlight is A Closed World
of Fine Feelings by Australian composer
Graeme Koehne, a simply wonderful new
piece that needs to be played more! The
first ten of Brouwer’s groundbreaking Estu-
dios Sencillos show just how fine a guitarist
Boyd is. Two Benitez arrangements of Piaz-
zolla, and a lovely version of John Lennon’s
Julia close what is an utterly exceptional
recording.  —CD
Delicado
Carlos Barbosa-Lima
Zoho Music
A fabulous musical trip to Rio
Carlos Barbosa-Lima is as close to a living
legend as we might hope for in a contempo-
rary guitarist—he has not stopped engaging
and astounding audiences since his auspi-
cious recording debut in 1958, aged about 14.
This album is a celebration of Rio de
Janeiro’s popular music heritage in the
seductive songbook of the guitarist’s native
Brazil, and features works by Ernesto Naz-
areth (Odeon); João Pernambuco (Inter-
rogando); the composer of the title track
(Delicado) and mestre of the cavaquinho,
Waldir Azevedo; and others.
Barbosa-Lima is joined for several of
the tracks by a band featuring his frequent
New York guitar duo partner Larry Del
Casale, percussionist Duduka Da Fonseca,
bassist Nilson Matta, and pianist Helio
Alves. Samba do Avião, a Jobim classic pio-
neered by Baden Powell, is given a lovely
treatment here, with subtle colors and tex-
tures from the whole band.
The opening song, Zèquinha de Abreu’s
Tico Tico, is one of the most instantly
recognizable hits to come from Brazil in
the 1940s. Sambolero, Luiz Bonfá’s haunt-
ing bolero, is beautifully rendered in a solo
by Barbosa-Lima which captures the still
of a night in Rio; it’s one of several fine
solo performances. Jobim’s Chovendo na
Roseira, with its cascading melodies and
sophisticated harmonic twists, has the
band trading passages to create the feeling
of tropical rainfall in Rio.
There are so many joyful surprises to
be found on this fabulous recording!  —TP
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 71
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72 Fall 2019
 PRINT

Concerto in D Major, BWV 972

(for two guitars)
J.S. Bach (trans. Duo Miric)
Lathkill Music, 10 pp. plus parts

Strong duo transcription is faithful

to Bach
This beautiful edition, typeset on heavy
gloss paper, includes an informative
introduction that sheds helpful light on
The Chanterelle Guitar Anthology the ornamentation. The transcription is
Various composers (ed. Michael Macmeeken and Alberto Mesirca) by twin Bosnian sisters Tanja Miric and
Chanterelle, 72 pp. plus CD Darka Miric Kooienga. Set in D, the same as
Bach’s keyboard version, which was itself
styled on Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto, it’s
LOTS OF FAMOUS NAMES IN DIVERSE reassuring that much of Bach’s writing is
preserved. With both guitars tuned down
INTERMEDIATE COLLECTION to 6=D, the thematic material is handed
back and forth. There is no loss of flow and
ubtitled “40 Classical Guitar Miniatures from Sor to Segovia,” this broad com- continuity at the changeovers.
pilation is made up of pieces ranging from the Classical and Romantic peri- The three movements each fit onto
ods through to the 20th century. Composers represented are Lhoyer, Sor, two sheets of paper, though I would pre-
Aguado, Legnani, Carcassi, Coste, Mertz, Regondi, Tárrega, Llobet, Sagreras, Ponce, fer three large sheets—six separate sheets
Barrios, and Segovia—quite an impressive list. can be unwieldy at rehearsal. Dynamic
In my experience of compilation books, I’ve found that it’s usually a case of the markings are generous, and fingerings
contents being a blend of pieces of varying musical quality and/or interest, or works of not too sparse, though I might add more
hugely differing grades. This one, I’m delighted to say, doesn’t seem to have any “also here and there for fluency. Use is made of
rans”; each piece is either musically appealing, worthy of study from a technique- slurs to improve the articulation; normally
improvement viewpoint, or a combination of both. The musical choices have been well these are on the beat, but a few are off the
selected, with some of the most charming and engaging compositions chosen as repre- beat. There are cautionary accidentals, but
sentative of these great composers for the guitar. Not surprisingly there are a number some are in parentheses and some are not.
of lessons and etudes, especially from the earlier composers, but also a caprice (from One note is played at the same pitch on
Legnani) and preludes from Tárrega, Ponce, and Barrios; a nice mix of styles. two strings but is shown with a single note-
The book comes with a CD featuring Alberto Mesirca performing all the works head and two sets of fingers, rather than
included in the hefty volume. He has also written extensive and very useful perfor- the more conventional double notehead.
mance notes for each title. This is a big plus for players looking to get deeper into the As a well-executed transcription of the
pieces, and it contains some excellent study advice. original, it simply remains to convey how
Coming at the rear of the book are biographical sketches for each composer, some complex this piece would be for a duo. It
commentary on editorial policy, and source material regarding the music. is musically impressive enough to interest
The publication is of high quality with a well-designed front cover and clear, easy- professional duos, but the first two move-
to-read scores. Altogether, this is an attractive proposition for the intermediate stu- ments would be of interest to an amateur
dent looking to study some of the music of the famous names in guitar history. duo, and the final movement’s complexity
— Steve Marsh is purely one of speed.  —Derek Hasted

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 73
 PRINT
Milonga de los Vientos
(for four guitars)
Martin Schwarz
Les Productions d’Oz, 8 pp. plus parts
Wonderful milonga should be
widely embraced
Schwarz teaches guitar at Austria’s Anton
Bruckner Private University. The perfor-
mance suggestions at the start of this piece
are particularly helpful in setting out how to
approach this fulfilling and engaging work.
Given the form, it’s perhaps no surprise that
it’s set in E Minor with the deep bass adding
to the sultry, driving rhythm. The arrange-
ment sees Guitars 3 and 4 playing arpeggios
or chords and bass respectively, but Guitar
4 has countermelodies and harmonics, too,
which propel it into the limelight here and
there. The music is split into very distinct
sections, with a charming introduction
leading into a strong and deep melody and
a delicate accompaniment above. Section
B is rhythmic and loud. There follows a
reprise of the opening theme, but in a new,
lighter setting that draws the listener in.
Some effective and very playable artificial
harmonics give sparkle to a gentle middle
section that prefaces a return to the rhyth-
mic passage, again orchestrated in a new
way, with fresh urgency. The final section
sets the characteristic milonga beat against
powerful strummed chords and a punchy
and determined melody.
The parts have no page turns, and the
technical complexity is nowhere near as
challenging as the overall sound might sug-
gest. The competent style of the composer
makes the rhythmic interplay lock together
tightly and reliably, making the piece acces-
sible to ensembles with experienced, but
not professional-level players. Guitarists
and audiences alike will love it.  —DH
74 Fall 2019
There and Gone;
Stolen Moments
Kenny Hill
Hill Guitar Co., 6 and 8 pp.
Different, attractive pieces are
worth the effort
Best known these days as an instrument
maker, Hill is also a fine player who wrote
for the instrument in the ’70s, stopped,
then recommenced in 2010 when the writ-
ing bug hit him again. There and Gone
immediately hits you with its feeling of des-
olation. There is the unusual use of what I
would call a delayed pull-off technique all
over the piece, wherein you play a note,
then another, only to pull off the first one
to an open string—a technique I have seen
in folk music, but rarely in classical. It
gives the music a strange harmonic quality
that is most attractive, once you can actu-
ally get the technique to work! A gradual
increase in volume and movement results
in a block chord over a clashing bass-note
passage that subsequently moves back to
the quieter arpeggiated section. A return
to the opening feeling provides an atmo-
spheric close. A lovely piece!
Stolen Moments has the “disadvantage”
of needing a partial capo that only covers
five strings at fret four, followed by a low-C
sixth string. It is therefore written in C, but
sounding in E. It has an atypical grouping
of 16 sixteenth notes in a five-five-six figura-
tion for much of the work, giving the piece
an odd resonance. The use of open strings
intermingled with fretted notes at higher
positions gives the work an attractive yet
unique sound.
Both pieces are relatively advanced but
well worth the effort! —CD
Various Compositions for Guitar
Niccoló Paganini (ed. Riccardo del Prete)
Ut Orpheus, 44 pp.
Ambitious Paganini project comes
to an end
Everyone knows Paganini for his violin
works, but a glance at a complete list of his
compositions shows quite a large number
involve guitar. For over two decades, under
the heading “Lucio Matarazzo Collection,”
Ut Orpheus has been steadily publishing
the complete guitar-related works of the
enigmatic Italian composer. With this latest
edition, featuring MS 85–105, this project of
17 books comes to its conclusion. To quote
from Angelo Gilardino’s foreword: “This
volume is the result of a raking up of all
the loose compositions that Paganini, with
his quick writing, noted down in the most
varied occasions.” There are 22 altogether,
plus a couple of unfinished pieces.
This edition comes with an abundance
of editorial notes concerning the history
and dating of the manuscripts, informa-
tion about each of the pieces contained in
the book, evidence of the thematic mate-
rial appearing in different works, and the
reproduction of a handwritten manuscript
demonstrating Paganini’s unorthodox way
of fingering an E major chord (with a G#
bass), where he covers the fifth and fourth
strings with a second-finger barre.
The music itself ranges from brief,
16-bar miniatures all the way through to a
couple of works taking up five pages, and
without exception they are pleasant, easy-
to-listen-to pieces. Technically, some are
quite challenging if taken at the suggested
tempo, but most would be ideal student-
study material. The presentation through-
out is excellent!  —SM
Complete Preludes for Guitar;
Complete Studies for Guitar
Agustín Barrios (ed. Marco Caiazza)
Ut Orpheus, 15 and 55 pp.
Two fine volumes of top-notch
Barrios
The eight Preludes in the first book are
some of Barrios’ most famous works, and
justifiably so: They represent the abso-
lute pinnacle of guitar composition. They
range from the Preludio in La Menor, which
moves through some very distant harmo-
nies along its andante appassionato path
while still managing to sound perfectly
natural and reasonable (the mark of a
great composer), to the Preludio in Do
Menor (an adagio), with its sextuplet six-
teenths—another unique and highly play-
able work in such a rare key for the guitar.
Meanwhile, the allegro Preludio in Mi is a
delightful yet tasking work destined to give
lesser players a bit of a hard time! The final
Preludio, Op. 5 No. 1 (in Gm) is a lengthy
work which, if played correctly, will show
off any player’s technique.
The second, larger book of Studies has
14 solos and seven duets for which Bar-
rios has provided a second part to various
pieces by Coste, Sor, Aguado, and Carulli,
as well as including both Estudios de Con-
cierto and Arabescos, and both Estudios del
Ligado, plus the beautiful Estudio–Vals and
the epic, much-played Les Abejas. The fact
that these pieces are, indeed, studies tells
anyone unfamiliar with these works that
they can be very difficult, and yet because
they come from Barrios, they are musically
wonderful and satisfying to play. The edi-
tor Caiazza explains his modus operandi
in the prefaces, and both books are worth-
while additions to anyone’s library.  —CD
Cinq à cinq (for five guitars)
Jean-Maurice Mourat
Les Productions d’Oz, 14 pp. plus parts
A highly diverse set of ensemble
pieces
This book contains five pieces for five gui-
tars, and what an interesting mix of pieces
they are!
Azteca, in 6/8 time, has a deep, driving
pulse in E minor, with some notes repeated
high up the neck in straightforward
rhythms, making it accessible to those of
modest ability. Some of the lower music
in two parts could even be split into two
parts to open up the piece to those with
more humble guitar skills. Chant à 5 places
a first-position melody in C major over
some slow chords that are split among
the other players. A drone centered on the
bass G creates a tension in the final chord,
but leads nicely into Folk Irlandais and the
modal piece “Oh-ro welcome home,” which
shares the tune of “Drunken Sailor.” This
center of the suite is big, with a punchy
sound. Santa Ceciliam, in E minor, is a
charming and tranquil piece in waltz time,
and it leads nicely into the closing piece,
Waltz à 5, in E major.
This will be of real interest to ensem-
bles with limited experience, and to teach-
ers in schools. The five parts are broadly
arranged in pitch order, so that Guitar 1 has
some work up the neck and the other gui-
tars are based in first position. There are
dynamics, but nothing is fingered, though
this is not really an issue, as the demands
are straightforward. There’s plenty of vari-
ety to be found here!  —DH
Shirok: Three Pieces for Solo
Guitar and Guitar Quartet;
Classico . . . Ma Non Troppo:
40 Easy Pieces for Guitar
Giorgio Signorile
Ut Orpheus, score and separate parts;
Giancarlo Zedde: Edizioni, 56 pp.
Friendly and educational works
Italian-born Signorile has added two vastly
different books to his ever-growing num-
ber of publications, many of which have
come my way. Shirok is a set of middle-diffi-
culty pieces, beginning with Mattina Presto
(Early Morning), which is a serene little
piece set in G with warm harmonies and is
the simplest of the pieces here. Shirok (Sci-
rocco) contains a theme inspired by Balkan
music and is set in E minor with plenty of
pull-offs and hammer-ons and some rapid
arpeggio work from the soloist that is not
as difficult as it sounds. The final, Sweet
Argentina, in A minor, is a Tango with easy
strums in the solo part and a few percus-
sive elements to spice it all up a bit and
many nice details to make it fun to play. It’s
a nice, undemanding little set that is light
and friendly to play and hear.
Classico is a didactic volume starting
with pieces of very simple arpeggio pat-
terns, then moving on to pieces with two
voices, all gradually increasing in difficulty
and all with a commentary, albeit in Italian.
There are plenty of character pieces here,
in various styles but all there to give the
player a firm grounding in some of the most
common styles and problems one faces on
a guitar. The final half of the book has some
pleasant and challenging pieces that many
will enjoy working towards. I can see this
being used by teachers and becoming a
very useful volume indeed.  —CD
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 75
 PRINT
Sonata K12 (for two guitars)
Domenico Scarlatti
(arr. Henderson-Kolk Duo)
Les Productions d’Oz, 8 pp. plus parts
Spanish influence in Scarlatti sonata
Although Scarlatti composed other types
of music, including operas, cantatas, and
liturgical pieces, he is most renowned
for his 550-plus keyboard sonatas. Even
though most of these sonatas were com-
posed using the same binary form, he
seemed to find almost unlimited inspi-
ration and variety within that structure.
The good news for classical guitarists,
especially duos, is that a large number
of these works fit neatly onto the finger-
board, although a little modification here
and there, such as octave voicings, needs
to be engaged.
The influence of Iberian music and of
the Spanish guitar upon Scarlatti’s com-
positional style is much in evidence in this
work—both the thematic material and the
frequently used rapid repeated-notes sec-
tions pay homage to this Spanish influence.
Canadian guitarists Drew Henderson and
Michael Kolk have kept this arrangement
in the same key as the original, G minor,
and they have done a splendid job! The
parts are distributed so that both players
are on equal terms throughout; the melody
and bass trade off with each other, often
in a question-and-answer (or call-and-
response) relationship.
The edition comes with full score
and separate, well-fingered parts for
each player. The difficulty rating is in the
advanced area—especially if taken at the
tempo the duo perform it on their web-
site—but in the end, it would be well worth
it for any high-grade guitar duo seeking
some new Baroque material.  —SM
76 Fall 2019
En Terre Inconnue
Jean-Jacques Fimbel
Les Productions d’Oz, 2 pp.
Brief piece is more exercise than
concert work
Jean-Jacques Fimbel is a French composer/
arranger/performer who has done much to
further the guitar through the years, work-
ing alongside many great players along the
way, including the late and much-missed
Roland Dyens. He has written numerous
pieces in his time, many of them published,
as this one is, by d’Oz, and some of which I
have reviewed in the past.
This little (18 bars) allegro is in a
dropped-D D minor tuning and is entirely
in 16th notes. It comes across as somewhat
Bach-ian in its style, as it moves relent-
lessly around, mostly in two voices very
much in the style of Bach’s Cello Suites or
Violin Partitas, and harmonically it goes
through the same territory, as well.
At 84 quarter-notes a minute, it proves
to be quite a handful when there is little
or no letup from the 16th notes, save for
four momentary ritardandi along the way.
So this would be very useful as a study to
exercise or warm up to—at just 18 bars
and less a than a minute long, it is not
really much use for anything else. It could
hardly be considered a recital work, even
if perhaps combined with more of Fimbel’s
other, longer works, though there might be
some ordering of different Fimbel pieces in
which this could reasonably take a place.
Sonically it is both friendly and attractive,
but pleasant as it may be, I suspect it’s out
for intermediate players.  —CD
Swing Valentine
(for four guitars)
Laurent Méneret
Les Productions d’Oz, 7 pp. plus parts
A brash, rhythmic piece
The piece begins with clicks of fingers and
a boogie-woogie-style 12-bar blues riff in a
rather harsh set of parallel bare fourths.
Over the next 12 measures, the texture
gradually thickens, with the addition of
chords and bass. The opening theme
returns with the tune an octave higher,
modified here and there to stay within the
first 12 frets of the neck. The bare fourths
continue, now spread over two octaves.
Then there is a return to the opening sec-
tion, with a thick bass line instead of the
finger clicks. The short piece concludes
with a three-measure coda.
This might prove attractive for a mod-
estly skilled ensemble looking for a piece
that is rhythmic, brash, and not too hard to
attempt, and also to schoolteachers seek-
ing something “modern.” (You can check
out a performance of it on YouTube.)
At the same time, I have some reserva-
tions. The first is that it is very repetitive
and never seems to quite get going—there’s
no contrasting center section for relief. The
second is that the sound is bare and harsh.
The third is the unnecessary duplication of
notes in the lower voices; this could easily
have been written for three guitars without
losing any notes. That would make it stron-
ger in performance with a novice group
and make it easier to get a more balanced
and confident sound with a medium-sized
ensemble of, say, six or seven players.
It is nicely presented with fingering and
dynamics, but rather expensive.  —DH

Omaggio a Salvatore
Quasimodo (for violin and
guitar); Il Maestro e L’Allievo
(for two guitars)
Angelo Ferraro
Berben; 2 scores each; 9 pp. and 10 pp.
Modern, advanced works from
Italian composer
Ferraro (b. 1946) has produced two diverse
pieces here, the first inspired by a 20th
century Sicilian poet. At the top is a quote:
“Everyone stands alone at the heart of the
world, pierced by a ray of sunshine: and
suddenly it’s evening.” It is one movement
and without bar lines, marked Lentamente
beginning with two shrieks on a top G#
from the violin, followed by a few seconds
of dense enigmatic chordal writing for the
guitar. The violin then introduces a plain-
tive song atop some bass/chord work from
the guitar. This leads to a guitar cadenza
and then to more rhythmically complex
ideas from both, followed by a sudden
wind-down and a close on the opening G#.
The “Master and the Pupil” is based on
a seeming improvisation, where the “Pupil”
begins with a reiterating three-note idea,
underpinned by a wandering melody from
the “Master.” The piece is without time
or key signature and unbarred; both play-
ers have many rhythmically diverse ideas
employing a large amount of dissonance.
Suddenly, a passage marked “Rhesis”
goes for three pages (i.e., to the end of the
piece), directly quoting a huge chunk from
Omaggio a Salvatore Quasimodo! It was so
unexpected I wondered if it was a misprint,
but apparently not. No other reference
is made to it or its link with the previous
piece.
The works are modern and technically
difficult, but well written.  —CD
ENSEMBLES IN BRIEF
GET THE
DIGITAL
EDITION
FOR
La Valse Sans Fin (for 5 guitars)
Thierry Tisserand
Les Productions d’Oz, 12 pp. plus parts
Set in 12/8 time, this looks at first sight
to be the same time signature as a Sousa
march, but the pace is a little slower. Even
so, it doesn’t exude a Viennese waltz feel,
and the move to 2/2 time in shuffle rhythm
seems to stretch the waltz concept a little
far. Nonetheless, the motifs and chromatic
harmonies, the depth of the sixth string FALL 2019 BETWEEN CULTURES WITH CARLO DOMENICONI
to D, the peppering of harmonics over the
top, and some interesting rhythm patterns A HISTORY
OF GUITAR
ROSETTES
all combine to make an interesting and sat- MANUEL
DE FALLA
& THE GUITAR
isfying piece, albeit perhaps rather a chal- RAPHAËL
FEUILLÂTRE
lenge for some.  —DH ALEC
HOLCOMB
international
ROLE MODEL
METHOD: BACH
‘INVENTION NO. 1’
Guitarchestra No. 8 (for six guitars)
Mark Houghton
Les Productions d’Oz, 19 pp. plus parts
Just go to
Another in this well-respected series of
store.ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com
pieces for large ensembles, No. 8 is dedi-
cated to Chuck Hulihan (check out Chuck, select this issue,
pardon the alliteration, on YouTube) and is enter the code
subtitled “Pop Song.” With power chords,
a driving bass, punchy rhythm and a top
FL395FR
part that reaches the top of pitch range of when you check out,
the guitar, this will take the listener from and you’ll get the PDF
three sharps to four flats and back again.
At the quoted metronome speed, it far version for free!
exceeds the “3-minute” formula of much
pop music, coming in at over five minutes,
but there’s never a dull moment.  —DH
ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 77
 STAGE Parkening Competitors (front row L to R): Bokyung Byun, Riccardo Calogiuri, Andrea Roberto, Sergey Perelekhov,
Alec Holcomb, Junhong Kuang; (back row L to R): Samuel Hines, Alex Park, Beiyan Liu, Cody Noriega, Christopher
PARKENING COMPETITION INSPIRES 2019 CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH
eld for just the fifth time since its
inception in 2006, the 2019 Parken-
ing International Guitar Competi-
tion drew top players from across the globe
vying for a piece of the largest purse of any
guitar competition. Cash awards of $65,000
were divided among the competitors, with
the top prize of $30,000 going to Andrea
Roberto of Italy. Pepperdine University in
Malibu, California, has been the locus of
the five-day, now-quadrennial event, which
this year ran from May 28–June 1.
The two-day Parkening Young Guitarist
Competition kicked off the proceedings,
drawing ten guitarists between the ages
of 10 and 17 competing for a top prize of
$3,000. Eric Wang, 15, of San Jose, Cali-
fornia, won the final round after playing
Tárrega’s Estudio Brillante, Albéniz’s Ley-
enda, Debussy’s Girl with the Flaxen Hair,
and the first movement from Walton’s
Five Bagatelles. Meng Su, who won the
Parkening competition both as a youth
(2006) and adult (2015), was among the
youth judges this year. “It was so inspir-
78 Fall 2019
Mrofchak, Miguel Checa Paz, Tengyue Zhang, Javier García Verdugo. (Not pictured: Marko Topchii)
ing so see many young talented players,”
Su commented. “It reminded me of myself
in 2006. I can’t wait to see them grow and
shine in the future. Whether they major in
guitar in college or choose different paths,
I’m sure this week in Malibu will be a won-
derful memory for them.”
Fifteen virtuosi from seven nations,
ranging in age from 19 to 29, were selected
for the adult contest. Among them were
fresh faces as well players who have won
top prizes elsewhere.
PRELIMINARY ROUND SURPRISES
Marko Topchii (28, of Ukraine), who has
taken first place in more than 90 interna-
tional competitions, was first up in the pre-
liminary round. He played the set pieces—
Rounds by film composer John Williams,
Giuliani’s Variations on a Theme by Handel,
and movement III of Preludio e Toccatina
from Sergio Assad’s Aquarelle—with a pol-
ished sound and confidence. His rendition
of the Giuliani was not overtly romantic.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF LISA SMITH WENGLER CENTER FOR THE ARTS, PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY, 2019
He seemed more at home with the modern
works by Williams and Assad.
Tengyue Zhang (25, of China), who won
the GFA in 2017, also acquitted himself very
well. He was among the few who added trills
at cadences in the statement of Handel’s
theme in the Giuliani variations, and played
the contemporary selections with insight
and technical finesse. But neither Topchii
nor Zhang advanced to the next round.
Among the six awesome semi-finalists
were Bokyung Byun (24, South Korea), who
won the 2018 JoAnn Falletta International
Guitar Concerto Competition; Riccardo
Calogiuri (29, Italy), who has won eight first
prizes; and Junhong Kuang (19, China), who
at 17 became the youngest winner of the
ARD International Music Competition. Each
played Bach’s Chaconne, four selections
from Torroba’s Castles of Spain, Brouwer’s
Danza Caracteristica, plus a free selection,
but did not become finalists.
I do not bring this up in disagreement
with the judges, who were extraordinarily
qualified. They included Pablo Villegas,
2012 winner of the Parkening competition;
Charlotte Lee, president of Primo Artists tal-
ent management agency; Mia Bongiovanni,
assistant general manager for media at the
Metropolitan Opera; Steve Schoen, former
vice president for sales at Sony Music; and
classical recording producer David Thomas.
But given the talent level, this contest could
have gone differently.
A rule of thumb offered by David Tanen-
baum, who has adjudicated competitions
across the globe, came to mind after the
results were read. “A fundamental question
for me is whether I’d want to hear this play-
ing again,” Tanenbaum said in the article
“A View from the Jury Pool” (Classical Gui-
tar, Fall 2018). The three finalists chosen
were Sergey Perelekhov (22, Russia), Alec
Holcomb (24, USA), and Andrea Roberto
(23, Italy). All are players we’ll undoubt-
edly hear from again.
Throughout, there was a sincere and
mature camaraderie visible among the
competitors. They mingled together and
chatted with audience members while
awaiting each jury decision. Then there
were handshakes and hugs between those
who advanced and those who didn’t, with-
out a hint of disappointment or excessive
celebration.
Perhaps advice given to the contes-
tants at the opening reception by competi-
tion namesake Christopher Parkening had
set the tone: “I suggest that you pursue a Gold Medal winner Andrea Roberto
commitment to personal excellence, rather
than success based on your own God-given
precision to the famous filigreed melody but brought energy and crisp rasgueados
potential. Success and excellence are often
of the second movement. After pausing to the cadenza. For his encore, he reprised
competing ideals.  Being successful does
to retune for the last movement, Holcomb Assad’s Preludio e Toccatina, this time at a
not necessarily mean you will be excellent,
maintained its steady Allegro gentile tempo faster tempo and with added bent notes.
and being excellent does not necessar-
despite the orchestra falling out of sync It was a crowd-pleaser and the audience
ily mean you will be successful.  Success
with him periodically. However, everything responded with prolonged applause.
is attaining or achieving cultural goals,
was in lockstep for the quiet, staccato Jury chair Charlotte Lee announced
which elevates one’s importance in soci-
quarter- notes that close the piece. For the top six winners: Andrea Roberto
ety.  Excellence is the pursuit of quality in
his encore, Holcomb gave an introspective (Gold Medal, $30,000), Alec Holcomb (Sil-
one’s work and effort, whether the culture
rendition of Over the Rainbow arranged by ver, $12,500), Sergey Perelekhov (Bronze,
recognizes it or not.” 
Takemitsu. $7,500), with Bokyung Byun, Junhong
Andrea Roberto came next with Tedes- Kuang, and Riccardo Calogiuri taking
FINAL EXAM co’s Concerto No. 1 for Guitar & Orchestra in fourth through sixth places respectively,
On Saturday, June 1, Pepperdine’s Smothers D Major. His playing was solid throughout and receiving $1,000 apiece. The other nine
Theatre was packed with a crowd eager to and his solos in the atmospheric second participants each received $500.
hear the three finalists play a concerto of movement were quite poignant. He was Parkening expressed his optimism that
their choosing with the 44-member Young surefooted in the scalar and chordal pas- the competition will continue to attract
Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra, sages of the third movement’s cadenza. the finest young players from around the
conducted by Michael Stanley. Holcomb His encore was a serene take on Paganini’s world, “not only to spotlight and inspire
was up first, playing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Sonata, Op. 3 No. 1. the best players of the next generation,
Aranjuez. Looking sharp in a blue suit, he Perelekhov also played the Aranjuez, but especially to focus the musical world’s
smiled confidently at the audience before taking a slightly brighter tempo than Hol- attention on the instrument itself and build
strumming the opening chords of the first comb, but the bassoons tapped the brakes on the artistic legacy of the classical gui-
movement at a fitting Allegro con spirito about a minute in. He had minor slip-ups in tar.” The next Parkening competition will
tempo. He brought both deep emotion and the melody of the slow middle movement be held in 2023.  —Mark Small

ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 79
 FESTIVAL AND COMPETITION LISTINGS

Duo Siqueira-Lima will perform at the

Uppsala Gitarrfestial in October.
SEPTEMBER 20–22
Melbourne Guitar Festival
Melbourne, Australia
Taking place at Xavier College in the
Melbourne suburb of Kew, concerts
include Derek Gripper, Melbourne Guitar
Quartet, Codex Quartet, Gian Marco
Ciampa, Campbell Diamond, and more.
Also, master classes, luthier fair, and
International Concert Artist competition.
melbourneguitarfoundation.com/
festival

SEPTEMBER 23–28
52nd Concorso Internazionale di
Chitarra Classica “Michele Pittaluga”
Alessandria, Italy
One of the oldest and most respected
guitar competitions in the world, this one
takes place in the beautiful medieval city
of Alessandria in northern Italy (about
equidistant between Turin and Genoa).
Required finals piece is Stephen Goss’
Threnody. Marco Tamayo is once again
the artistic director. pittaluga.org

SEPTEMBER 28–29
CG Society of Upstate
New York Fall Festival
Oneonta, New York
The 19th edition of the annual fest held
at the State University of New York at
Oneonta will feature English guitarist
Laura Snowden as headliner, plus a
members’ recital, collegiate recital, and
master class. cgsuny.org
OCTOBER 9–13
Uppsala Gitarrfestival
Uppsala, Sweden
Competitions, master classes, workshops,
and concerts featuring Ricardo Gallén,
Gohar Vardanyan, Stephanie Jones, Duo
Siqueira-Lima, Yamandu Costa, Dos Más
Uno, top EuroStrings artists, and lots
more. uppsalagitarrfestival.se/en
OCTOBER 11–13
Florida Guitar Festival & Competition
Tallahassee, Florida
At Florida State University College of
Music: Open, Undergraduate, High
School, and Recreation competitions,
plus concerts and lectures. Artists
include Rene Izquierdo, Bruce Holzman,
Kithara Duo, Elliot Frank, Dragos Ilie,
Stephen Robinson, Andrew Zohn.
floridaguitarfestival.wordpress.com
OCTOBER 25–27
London Guitar Festival
London, England
Three big concerts at Kings Place:
“Flamenco Pasión” with guitarists
Antonia Jiménez, Afra Rubino, and
Bettina Flater, and more. “Big Night of
Guitar” with David Russell, finals of the
London International Guitar Competition,
last year’s winner Emmanuel Sowicz,
Young Artist Platform. Spotlight on
female composers Errollyn Wallen and
Laura Snowden, featuring Snowden,
Amanda Cook, Vida Guitar Quartet, Giulia
Ballaré, and the G Plus Ensemble. Also,
master classes and workshops.
igf.org.uk/london-guitar-festival-2019
OCTOBER 26–27
Indiana International Guitar Festival
and Competition
Bloomington, Indiana
The 10th annual competition at the
prestigious Jacobs School of Music
at Indiana University. Two full days of
competitions in Open, Senior Youth, and
Junior Youth divisions. Guest concert
by the Assad Brothers. Oct. 27 Open
competition finals streamed at
music.indiana.edu/iumusiclive.
blogs.music.indiana.edu/guitarfestival
NOVEMBER 15–17
9th Antwerpen Gitaarfestival
Antwerp, Belgium
At the Cultural Center and City Hall of
Deurne-Antwerp, in the heart of Belgium,
the fest focuses this year on “Guitar
Plus,” including concert performances
and master classes by Sergio & Odair
Assad, Duo Bandini-Chiacchiaretta,
Tilman Hoppstock, Lovro Peretic,
Csakan 1800 Trio, Duo Orsan-Kreusch,
Duo Adentro, and artistic director
Jan Depreter. Also, luthier expo and
both Junior and International Masters
competitions.
antwerpengitaarfestival.be
NOVEMBER 27–DECEMBER 1
Pleven Guitar Festival
Pleven, Bulgaria
Popular fest in northern Bulgaria
features concerts, four competitions,
master classes, luthier fair, and
product expo center. Artists include
Judicaël Perroy, Zoran Dukic, Michael
Butten, Atanas Ourkouzounov, George
Vassilev, Stela Dinkova, and many more.
plevenguitarfestival.com

80 Fall 2019
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ClassicalGuitarMagazine.com 81
 THE BACK PAGE
SEGOVIA’S “FORGOTTEN” GUITAR
ne of the chilly vaults of the Cuartel
del Conde Duque in Madrid is home
to a precious instrument: a guitar
that once belonged to Andrés Segovia. Made
of spruce and Palosanto de Rio woods, it was
built in 1924 by the famous Spanish luthier
Santos Hernández, and Segovia used it for
the “Russian concerts” he gave on his tour in
Moscow in 1929.
Being a native of Madrid who had visited
“el Conde Duque” on many occasions, I was
surprised to find out about the guitar one
day while driving through the busy streets of
Washington, D.C., the area where I live now.
It was mentioned on a Spanish radio station
and my first reaction was to doubt that I
had heard correctly. The Cuartel––which in
Spanish means barracks––became a vibrant
cultural center decades ago. I have seen art
exhibits, concerts, ballet, and theater within
its fortress-like walls. Why had I never heard
anything about this guitar?
Luckily the news came to me when I was
planning my yearly trip to Spain. “If that gui-
tar exists,” I said to myself, “I must see it.”
After a brief investigation, I discov-
ered that the instrument was indeed
at the Víctor Espinós Music Library,
one of the cultural venues located
within the historic barracks.
Inmaculada Seldas, the director
of the library, not only confirmed
it but kindly agreed to meet me in
her office and tell me more about
this forgotten guitar.
Shortly after our email
exchange, I found myself under the
impossibly blue sky of Madrid,
crossing the cobbled patio of this
Baroque cuartel that Felipe V
ordered built in 1717. It was
made to house up to 600 men
and 400 horses of the Royal
Guard Corps, the elite mili-
tary body in charge of pro-
tecting the King.
I had not visited for
many years, and the Cuar-
tel looked to me even more
impressive that I remem-
bered. The high walls can
do little these days to contain
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82 Fall 2019
Historic Lutherie
BY YOLANDA ARENALES
the joyful hustle and bustle of the surround-
ing streets. Among them are the famous Gran
Vía or the elegant calle Princesa, as well as
the vibrant Barrio de Malasaña. Looking at
the Churrigueresque facade, I could not help
but think that Segovia would have approved
of such a place to house his guitar.
Seldas explained that Espinós believed
that even people of the least means—those
who might have been, as he put it, “strangled
by misery”—should have access to the tools
to create music. Thus, he founded the library
in 1919. In order to gather scores, books,
and musical documents, Espinós contacted
all of his friends and acquaintances, such as
Manuel de Falla, violinist Enrique Fernández
Arbós, and members of the Royal Family,
such as Infanta Isabella de Borbón.
But Espinós also wanted to have some
instruments to lend, so he kept appealing to
his friends’ generosity, and in 1932 he was
able to open the instrument library. Segovia
became the first donor by offering his 1924
Santos Hernández, previously on display
in Madrid’s Bibloteca Musical del Ayunta-
miento, to the library. “His guitar is marked
with number one of our collection,” says Sel-
das.
It was never part of the lending collec-
tion, however, due to security concerns. “It
hasn’t spent a single night outside,” Seldas
adds, explaining that nowadays it is kept at
the depósito, underneath the building, at the
perfect temperature and humidity condi-
tions. She says that is why it was restored in
just one full day of work by the luthier Ángel
Benito Aguado.
Among Segovia’s guitars, the Santos
Hernández was never as much of a favorite
as his 1912 Manuel Ramírez or the iconic Her-
mann Houser of 1937, but it is still considered
an excellent instrument. However, its fate has
condemned it to decades of storage with only
a few opportunities to be played.
In 1994 the Brazilian guitarist Claudio
Tupinamba played it in a tribute to Segovia,
and in October 2016 guitarist Javier Somoza
used it for his album A Guitar for Segovia.
But beyond a few exceptional situations like
those, the Santos Hernández of 1924 faces
the cruelest imaginable fate for a guitar: to
remain silent. CG
 GUSTIN
AU E

est. 1947

ST S
RING
The first nylon string for guitar.
The first choice of Grammy
winner Jason Vieaux.

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Photo: Tyler Boye @augustinestrings