Guitar World

Delightful guitarist Peo Kindgren is entertaining us here with his rendition of the famous Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel. He tells us he begun by attempting an arrangement of The Fool on the Hill by the Beatles, and ended up with this! Many thanks Peo for your contribution, and score download is available from http://www.per-olovkindgren.com/ipnmonitor/

Here is a delightful rendition of three pieces by Jean Marie Raymond, played by Bernard (cyrloud) from youtube.

1) Chanson D’Elfée

2) Souvenirs D’Algarve (Memories of holidays in Portugal)

3) El Azul de to OJos (dedicated to the composers Mother)

I understand the score to Souvenirs D’Algarve can be found in the magazine “GUITARE Classique no. 45″ (Studio Press) If anyone can help me locate this, I’d appreciate it, a lovely piece, similar in style I think to Peo Kindgren’s compositions, specifically, “I Miss You”..

With some public performances coming up, and so  putting my head on the block again :oops I thought I’d share my play-list ideas with you…For the present, I am modifying my classical repertoire, and including more songs, thinking of my playing venue and the occasion. So, here is the list I am currently revising to play;

Cazone D’Amor, Maria Linnemann

Vincent (Starry Starry Night), Don McLean

Here Comes The Sun, George Harrison

Looking Through The Eyes Of Love, Marvin Hamlisch, Arranged by Cesar Amaro.

Before Silence, Per Olov Kindgren

Milonga, Cardoso

Cancion Del Cuna, Leo Brower

Julia Florida, Barrios

Cavatina, Stanley Myers

A few “reserves” to include, dependent on how much time alloted to play, Eterna Saudade, Reis, and the usual Recuerdos Alhambra, Tarrega. The latter is nearly always requested anyway.

As you can see, a romantic play-list, again Am I embarassed to include nearly all romantic? Well, I guess that’s the style I enjoy playing most, and best I think. I would like to spice things up a little, but currently I practice far less than I should, so my list needs to be not hard to play. If any guitarist knows any music perhaps more dance like which is quite easy, I’d love to hear any recommendations

Many thanks, and enjoy your music.

The latest in my guitar masterworks series is Choro Da Saudade by Agustin Barrios, a haunting choro with elements of Bossa Nova in sections two and three of the piece. The images in this post  are taken from photographs taken in San Juan Bautista, Paraguay, the birthplace of Barrios, for which  I am grateful to svmma of flickr. 

Guitarist Rob Tucker, then playing in a dance band, first came across this piece and thought it a terrific Bossa styled guitar solo, and it inspired him to take up guitar in it’s classical style. Rob wrote many articles on Barrios, after becoming attracted to his music. It was Rob who wrote to John Williams in the ’70’s, suggesting a possible recording dedicated to this forgotten composer of guitar. Around two years later Williams responded with his first album of Barrios, dated 1977. So Choro Da Saudade played a significant part in the emergence of Barrios the composer in the following years.

The piece has been interpreted by guitarists in many different ways, such is the scope for interpretation here. I have often been haunted by the piece, and set out  the origin and feelings inherent in the music….

Origin of Choro Da Saudade.

The origin of the Choro is of course Brazil, and the type of music played by street ensembles. Some even take Choro as a type of “street serenade”. “Saudade” is a hard word to translate, it refers to nostalgia, or feelings of yearning, such as in homesickness. The musical idiom of the piece is steeped in carioca, To understand the feelings in the music, you need to understand the nature of the carioca.

When people of Brazil, or Rio De Janeiro to be more related to the idiom and the music, incur a loss they will sing you a sad song about it. But it will be followed by extemporaneous joy, such as a dance, before returning to the main theme of lament. It is this sad/happy/sad elements interspersed which forms the structure of the music in this Choro.

The first time the work was featured in a concert programme of Barrios was dated November 1929, though it’s possible “Aire Brasilero”, played as far back as 1925, may have been the same piece. The manuscript was written out by Barrios in 1929, dedicated to Americo Camargo, the son of a good friend who had died tragicly young.

The structure of the music is in three parts, played in the order of;  A, B, A, C, B, A. Note the main theme, A, keeps coming back to haunt, as in the feelings of yearning or lament.

The Cathederal at San Juan Bautista.

Guitar Techniques

Choro is a really hard piece to play well, possibly the hardest in my repertoire. It is notorious among guitarists for it’s long left hand stretches, many finding impossible to play. It may be that this piece is the first example of the hinge barre being used in guitar. This is where the left hand barre stretches across the strings, but instead of being across fret one, the tip of the finger reaches to fret two. Thus enabling the hand to reach to higher positions.

Preferred recordings

My preferred recordings of this piece would have to be Wulfin Lieske, David Rusell, and Robert Brightmore. Those renditions in my view come closest to portraying the feelings of lament, interspersed with spontaneous joy, required to do the work full justice.

To close, here is Andrea Dieci from Italy, playing Barrios Choro Da Saudade, a fine rendition.

I’ve often thought about the difference between a decent amateur performance and a polished professional rendition of a piece of music. The elimination of buzzes, squeaks and clicks are obvious factors, but there is more to it than that..I think a lot of it has to do with cleanness of playing, like each note and overtone getting no more or less it’s intended duration, and rhythm.

Julian Bream Masterclass

I watched an old Julian Bream masterclass recently, where a player was interpreting Granada by Albeniz. This is a piece not too hard to play perhaps, but to get it precise is another matter. By that I mean it’s one thing to play the notes, but very easy to fall into the trap of indulging oneself in the music to the extent of dwelling on notes for effect, particularly if you have visited the city of Granada itself, and fell in love with it’s beauty.

Rubato Effects

The problem with pausing on certain notes is that it’s all too easy to lose the rhythmic pulse of the piece. In his class, Bream stressed to the student that the accompanying notes, the three quavers in thirds above the melody, must be exactly on the beat. And any “melodic bending” as Bream himself put it, or rubato effects, must fall within the same rhythmic framework, and not to take any longer overall than each bar indicates.

Watch a brief extract from the masterclass with Bream explaining;

 http://guitar.markantony.net/video/Bream.flv

The lesson here being that rubato effects can still be incorporated into our playing, but not to the extent of destroying the rhythmic pulse of the music.