Each of the
original compositions was composed between 1970 and 1980 with
the exception of Evening with You written shortly before
this recording. The cycles Songs of the Night and Wandering
both find a generous homogeneity of mood as indicated in accompanying
texts. Wandering is nevertheless distinctive in its development
of theme and mood through vignette: whereas each piece can hardly
claim to exist as a separate entity, the progression is a more
or less profound psychological study. Eight Impressions
in contrasting moods are adequately explained by their titles.
Granted the evocative character of this music, the composer-performer
generally notes that the titles did not take form until after
each composition was finished.
Of the remaining
selections, the pieces by Tárrega were composed for guitar.
Those by Debussy and Albéniz, for piano, are transcribed
by the performer. Due to their complexity and tonal range few
of Debussy's works are suitable for solo guitar: wherever transcription
is possible, the guitar's adaptability to impressionistic music
is remarkable. Only La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin here has
an established place in the guitar repertoire, moreover in several
transcriptions and keys. The others in all probability are première
recordings on solo guitar.
Tárrega
is the father of modern guitar technique, especially for production
of tone and use of the right hand. His extraordinarily detailed
fingering notations are preserved. A significant part of his work
is classical and didactic, but the masterly Capricho arabe
(`Arabian Caprice') has a typically Spanish flavor. Tárrega
enriched the repertoire not only with his own compositions, but
with transcriptions of works by various composers. Albéniz,
on hearing his virtuoso piano works played by Tárrega on
guitar, declared the transcriptions superior to the piano originals.
The cosmopolitan
Albéniz founded a national style that influenced not only
music in his native Spain, but also composers, such as Debussy,
with whom he was acquainted in Paris. Albéniz draws on
Spanish folk music, especially the flamenco art that derives ultimately
from the Moors. Guitar versions of Cádiz and Asturias
have often born a suspicious resemblance to each other: many a
transcription seems less an edition in its own right than a copy
of another edition. In a refreshing development on familiar repertoire,
the present transcriptions hold true to the piano original.
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