Guitar Music

[Mandryka]

I'll  kick this off by asking about Fernando Sor.

I only know him through the selection of études that Segovia plays. But, in Segovia's hands, this sounds to me like extremely fine music.

Are all the études good, or does Segovia cherry pick? What about the rest of Sor's music, the minuets, variations etc ? And. of course, are there any other guitarists who you enjoy in the Sor études?

[canninator]

I'll  kick this off by asking about Fernando Sor.

I only know him through the selection of études that Segovia plays. But, in Segovia's hands, this sounds to me like extremely fine music.

Are all the études good, or does Segovia cherry pick? What about the rest of Sor's music, the minuets, variations etc ? And. of course, are there any other guitarists who you enjoy in the Sor études?

The Etudes start from the very basics of the guitar, e.g. the early Op.31 and 35 numbers, up to true virtuoso concert pieces, e.g Op.6 in particular. Segovia picked a series based on their musical value and their utility in developing key skills on the guitar. Allegedly, he selected them as a key series of pieces to maintain his technical skills on the guitar during the period he was drafted into the army.

The Sor etudes as a whole (Op 6, 29, 31, 35, 60) are without peer in the guitar literature. Modern playing requires people study some 20th century etudes (Brower, Villa Lobos for example) but Sor lived and breathed the guitar and these compositions are brutal in exposing technical weaknesses.

There are some real beauties in the Segovia set, Op 35 no.22 (Segovia edition no.5) is particularly beautiful and is alleged to have inspired Beethoven to write the Moonlight sonata. Segovia wasn't the only person to produce his own edition of Sor etudes. Sor's student, Napoleon Coste, also did as did another famous guitarist whose name escapes me off the top of my head. Both Segovia and Coste edited tempos, fingerings, and even changed the odd note here or there. With access to facsimiles, there is no real need to use the Segovia or Coste editions and I don't know of anybody now who works from a Segovia edition rather than the original.

As for recordings, the Naxos guitar series has a lot of Sor Etudes but I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit through a lot of the early Op.35 or 60 pieces (unless they were a guitarist) to get to the later gems. David Starobin specializes in modern and 19th century guitar and so probably has plenty of Etudes recorded on Bridge records somewhere. If you want it all in one place though I would recommend this



It has a lot of Carcassi, Sor, and Brouwer etudes and includes the entire Segovia edition. Actually a nice recording all round.

[snyprrr]

I had that Tanenbaum once.

First things first: get that cheap John Williams' "Spanish Guitar Music" on the Sony budget. Pound for pound, the all-time champ.

(Then, I'd get Julian Bream's "Nocturne", for some 20th cent.)

[canninator]

I had that Tanenbaum once.

First things first: get that cheap John Williams' "Spanish Guitar Music" on the Sony budget. Pound for pound, the all-time champ.

(Then, I'd get Julian Bream's "Nocturne", for some 20th cent.)

Yes, the John Williams is cheap. He is technically pretty flawless but I'm not too keen on his tone, the sound is far to bright (a personal thing...I use synthetic gut myself, I prefer the mellow sound). I would recommend his early guitar recital as a better starting point.



Also a great double CD, also very cheap, and pre-Greg Smallman guitars. All round much more satisfying.

The Bream recording of the Britten Nocturnal Op.70 on RCA is long out of print so you'll pay top dollar for it (even for the EMI re-release). The Bream recordings in the 20th century repertoire are, however, without peer and so its a good rec, if impractical. Good contemporary recordings can be found here.


and here

http://www.jamesboyd.co.uk/index.html

This is a self-produced recital of the highest quality.

Craig Ogden's recording is rated pretty highly but I don't have it.

[canninator]

(Then, I'd get Julian Bream's "Nocturne", for some 20th cent.)

I had a look and see that the Bream recording of the Nocturnal is in the Britten Collector's Edition so if you have that you have the greatest recording of the greatest guitar literature of the 20th century.

[snyprrr]

I had a look and see that the Bream recording of the Nocturnal is in the Britten Collector's Edition so if you have that you have the greatest recording of the greatest guitar literature of the 20th century.

That Barrueco(?) VoxBox is also a must have.



For 20th Century, the albums, "Sheer Pluck", and "New Dance", offer a wide variety of nibblers.



Naxos has a great guitar series. Any one of them, and there are lots, all by different artists.

[The new erato]

I had a look and see that the Bream recording of the Nocturnal is in the Britten Collector's Edition so if you have that you have the greatest recording of the greatest guitar literature of the 20th century.

Yes I totally agree on both counts. An amazing work and a great disc!

[canninator]

That Barrueco(?) VoxBox is also a must have.

For 20th Century, the albums, "Sheer Pluck", and "New Dance", offer a wide variety of nibblers.

Naxos has a great guitar series. Any one of them, and there are lots, all by different artists.

Yes that 3 CD set by Barrueco is superb. The opening Praeludium of the Bach Suite in E is absolutely mind blowing for the technical mastery of the guitar. It is so well played that I don't think I have ever heard the individual musical lines as transparent as that on a guitar. My only quibble with the set is that they are older recordings and on some repertoire his more mature recordings on EMI are preferable. As case in point is the Giuliani Op.45 (Theme and Variations on La Folia d'Espagne) where he races through Variations 1-4 like a man on a mission. The original scoring clearly indicates Andantino up to Poco Adagio for Variation 5 so he's just playing it too fast albeit superbly.

Sheer Pluck and Newdance are also great recs although I think Sheer Pluck is OOP now and so pricey. Quite frankly, any of David Starobin's New Music for Guitar series is worth a punt.

And finally, yes, thank heaven for Naxos. They have been absolutely superb for the guitar.

[canninator]

BTW I'm off to see recitals by both David Russell and Nigel North in two weeks. Excited much? Um yes I think so.