October 31st, 2009
Piece of the Month: October 2009
Ojos Brujos by Leo Brouwer
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
I just played this piece at the Minnesota Guitar Society’s OpenStage. October’s theme was spooky, scary, or eerie music. I’m not sure this is any of these, but the title translates to “Witch’s Eyes”. I hope some of the enchantment comes through in my playing.
Brouwer based the music on the melody of a song by fellow Cuban composer, Gonzalo Roig:
OJOS BRUJOS
I´m mad keen to escape
from some eyes I saw yesterday
witch’s eyes [ojos brujos] which looking at me
have wanted to fascinate me
always fixed on me.
That’s why when I look at them
my emotion is so huge
as if a sea made of sapphire
snatched in a whisper
my soul and my heart.
(Translation from the website of the municipal choir of Caspe, Spain)
Posted in Piece of the Month, Recordings | 1 Comment »
May 31st, 2009
Piece of the Month: May 2009
Sarabande from J.S. Bach’s Third Cello Suite
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This is part of a work in progress. Over the course of the next few months, I hope to post all the movements from the suite. I really loved the Sarabande when I first heard a recording of Mstislav Rostropovich playing the full suite on cello. The guitar doesn’t lend itself to the long, slow, sustained notes that the cello can project: part of the challenge performing this transcription is giving it a graceful, stately feel despite the guitar’s limited sustain.
Posted in Piece of the Month, Recordings | No Comments »
April 30th, 2009
Piece of the Month: April 2009
Degnoso by Joao Pernambuco
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Phew, just under the wire for April! I’ve been working on this piece on-and-off since the holidays. The Pernabuco pieces are great pieces to play at cafes and coffehouses. Everyone seems to connect with this happy dance music, and it’s plenty of fun to play as well!
Posted in Piece of the Month, Recordings | 3 Comments »
March 17th, 2009
Piece of the Month: March 2009
Prelude No. 4 by Heitor Villa Lobos
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This is another old piece that I’m revisiting and re-integrating into my repertoire. There was a Julian Bream recording of this piece in the Amherst College music library that I thought was incredible the first time I heard it. I’m still not able to play the middle section with anywhere near the speed that Bream does, but it has improved significantly since I played this piece at my first student recital way back when.
Tags: villa lobos
Posted in Piece of the Month, Recordings | No Comments »
February 5th, 2009
Piece of the Month: February 2009
Lagrima by Francisco Tarrega
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Here’s a very new piece for me (about 4 weeks old). It’s kind of exciting to get something pulled together so quickly. I’ll still want to let it settle in quite a bit and I’m sure my performance will change over time. For instance, I never noticed that I roll or split all of the two note pairs in the A section – probably should dial that down in future performance. Funny the things you never even realize you’re doing. Still, I think it’s a very pretty tune and I’m pretty happy with the recording. This is one of the first entries that I’ve mastered in GarageBand – hoping to post an entry on my new streamlined recording & posting process on my new Mac.
Tags: tarrega
Posted in Piece of the Month, Recordings | No Comments »
