Editorial Classical Guitar News compiled by Therese Wassily Saba HULWiltschinsky Duo ~ incerviewed by Graham Wade Jaroslaw Bilan ~ Colin Cooper LACS (10th Anniversary) ~ Colin Cooper Marek Sokolowski ~ Zbigniew Dubiella Nottingham Guitar Festival - ecliec! by Neil Sinth ‘Music Supplement ~ edived by Nei Smith Segovia ~ A Centenary Celebration Part XV ~ Grahin Wade South Wales Guitar Festival - aul Fowles Music Reviews Record Reviews Concert Reviews Book Review Fundamental Perspectives (Part 8) — Jim Ferguson Concert Diary Views from Everywhere Society News Letters from the Editor Classical Guitar Teachers Classical Guitar Societies Features Editor: Colin Cooper Reviews Editor: Chris Kilvington Music Editor: Neil Smith Managing Editor: Maurice J. Summerfield News Editor: Thérése Wassily Saba History Editor: Harvey Hope Contributors: Roy Brewer, Gordon Crosskey, Chris Dell, Zbigniew Dubiella. Paul Fowles, Paul Gregory, sohn Huber. Ivor Mairants, Marcos, Jorge Morel, Matanya Ophee. David Russell, Rico Stover Maurice J. Summertield, Graham Wade, Reviewers: John Arran, Peter Batchelar, Jane Bentley, Donald Bousied, Raymond Burley, Sarah Clarke, Colin Cooper, Rebecea Crosby, Luke Dunlea, Lorraine Eastwood, Patil Fowles, Stephen Goss, Nicola Hall, Sandra Hambleton, Harvey Hope, Irina Kiceher, Steve Marsh. Emma Martinez, Michael MeGeaty. Joe McGowan Alfonso Montes, Joe Nickerson, David Norton, Therese Wassily Saba, Shuko Shibata, Chris Susans, Neil Stith, Graham Wade ‘Andy Warn. ‘Advertisements: Chris Lackenby We welcome contributions, but cannot accept responsibilty for them. Please tnclose repent label or enuelape if you tea 2 nas 9 peated by COLDEN OFFSET LIMITED ISSN oug0-120% © ASHLEY MARK PUBLISHING COMPANY HanWitschisky Duo page 1 Marek Sokolouskt= page 22 Views-Voronezh page 4THE HILL-WILTSCHINSKY DUO ROBIN HILL AND PETER WILTSCHINSKY IN CONVERSATION WITH GRAHAM WADE IN OCTOBER, 1993 Robin Hill and Peter Wiltschinsky celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of their duo, a career which began while they were both students at the Huddersfield School of Music. Since October 1973, when they gave thetr first professional recital, the Hill-Wiltschinsky Duo hhas gone from strength to strength with overseas tours. recordings. and plans to publish their own compositions. Despite the usual difficulties of a concert career, they have persevered through good ‘umes and bad and are now on the crest of a wave. Peter recently became a father, Robin is married to fone of his former guitar pupils, and they are under new management ~ their full-time agent is Pip Keenan. Their virtuosity and integrity appeal to audiences the world over GW: You've been playing duo recitals together jor as long as 20 years? RH: 20 years exactly in October 1993, yes. So this is the big year for you and your families? RH: This is certainly the best year so far! What plans have you got for the duo in the immediate future? RH: Well, we're going to do more recordings, including some concertos. We have various ideas for a range of different albums, including a Castelnuovo-Tedesco album whieh will include his Concerto and other works for two guitars such as the Preludes and Fugues, Sonatina Canoniea and Fuga Blegiaca. PW: What plans have you got for the duo in the immediate future? Because you are both composers. PW: We like to think so! ‘And you are having the score of quite a few of your compositions published anyway! RH: Yes, there will be a special Hill-Wiltschinsky edition, We are publishing my Three Studies for two guitars which we play, and then Pete's two pieces, Nocturne andl Danza Were these compositions intended for your own concerts? RIF: Yes, primarily. We started by just doing the odd The Hill Witschinsky Duo piece here and there and people seemed to like them so we played them more. PW: We have so many transcriptions now, in fact a whole list of things that could be published, and people kept asking ‘why don't you publish them? So after 20 years it's time we got round to publishing this repertoire. So 20 years ago, to take you back, you met at College and you decided you would form a duo straightcuvay? RH: We were thrown together because our teacher, David Taplin, said ‘You and you ought to do a concert together. Why don't you play this, this, and this?’ PW: We lost touch for a while, as Robin left College earlier than me. Eventually he contacted me and suggested we should do a duo concert. 1973 was ur first professional public concert. About three ot four years after that we got together permanently. We are giving a recital at Huddersfield in October to celebrate the anniversary of those 20 years. Presumably you were doing a lot of solo work at the time but decided to take up the duo.RH: Yes, things seemed to come together right from the beginning, When we hear old tapes it all seems to be rhythmical and working well. There was always a certain something and we managed to make it come alive very naturally without any strain, PW: Obviously the standard of playing was not as it is now. But there was this certain something. Affinity? PW: Certainly. And what was the duo scene like, 20 years ago? Dic Wt seem wide open? RH: There were very few people around in this country who played guitar duo professionally at the ‘ume. PW; Well, we were pretty naive really ~ we didn't ‘now many people, we didn't have many contacts. We just played a lot and got as many concerts as we could. RH: Which were very few and far between at first Well, it seems looking back that it was a more innocent, more naive guitar scene in 1973. In retrospect people seemed less competitive and desperate than nowadays. RH: Our problem then was that we always worked hard together but we didn't know exactly what we were looking for. We just wanted to play . . . Our big inspiration at the beginning was the Abreu brothers, I got one of their recordings and we used to listen to them a lot I remember attending their first concert in this country. The Abreu brothers set you off did they? RIE: Definitely. We'd heard other duos but none of them had the impact which they did. What about Presti-Lagoya? RH: We hadn't heard Presti-Lagoya at that stage, but even so having heard them now and being familiar with everything they have done, we still prefer the Abreu brothers. PW: At least we can only judge by recordings becatise we were not able to see either duo in recital or it might have been a completely different matter. We like bath. So, after this early Inspiration, you gradually ‘expanded your number of concerts? RH: Well there were bad years when things were not going well, But we managed to stick through. R PW: It was the sheer love of playing that kept us. together. RH: Really, over the last two or three years things have begun (0 take off. Things look good now. But ‘we've always done a number of different things as ‘well - teaching, session work, and so on. So perseverance ts the main thing? RH: Certainly it’s vital from a professional point of view when you consider the pure difficulty of the whole thing. I think quite a few people would have called it a day at certain points along the line. One of the difficulties of keeping a duo going is surely the economic factor ~ not only the question of getting good fees for concerts but also spending valuable hours together for practice. PW: That's still not easy now ~ we live 90 miles apart! But of course we practise separately and individually a lot more than we do together. RH: But things are easier now that we do everything from memory. We don't need to practise together in ‘quite the same way. You don't find then that it’s bad to practise your repertoire too much on your own when you're putting together duo pieces? PW: Well, you'l get the odd area where one has a, ‘completely diferent idea from the other about what might be going on. But then the second time we play tt through we might realise it should be played certain way. RH: Well realise, for example, that it's right the way Ido itt laughter) Are you bringing in a lot of new repertoire nowadays? PW: There's a chap in Holland, Marco de Goet, who's transcribing a lot of stuff for us, and he's writing a plece for us in the style of a toccata. He puts together some really hot arrangements. RH: We are of course writing our own stuff all the time, and Mario Gangi has composed Suite laliana for us, which we play quite a lot. He may also be ‘writing a concerto for us, which we hope to feature on a recording entirely devoted to his works. How did you meet Mario Gangi? RI: What happened was that I found his Suite Spagnola in a music shop in London, and we'd never heard anybody playing this. We liked it very much and eventually we recorded it on our first album, and sent a copy of it to him. He then invited us to Italy to play and wrote Suite Italiana for us.Since then we have been back to Italy quite a few limes at his invitation. RH: It tends to be more muste societies and festivals that we do nowadays than guitar societies. So ir used to be guitar societies? RH: It used to be, many times, playing for next to nothing, but when you have family responsibilities, you have to play for real money. A career takes a long while to build up ~ you can't stress that enough, and it takes a great deal of hard work, ‘writing letters, and so on. Also, at last, we have an excellent agent who is working all the time on our behall Robin's mother-in-law REL Yes. Because the career management aspect takes up so rmuich energy? RH: It's a full-time job. You cant do all the practice required if you're having to write all the letters. Pip Keenan started doing this over 18 months ago and she is getting so many new contacts for us. What have you cone in the way of foreign tours? Ricardo Stanton Consulting Bray ret tarr PW: We went to the Phillipines some years, ago, and we've been recently to Holland, Germany. France ‘Muscat and Bahrein. We have tours planned for the USA and the Far East. Then we are going to Bani, in Italy, to judge the Giuliani competition, You seem to have a special affinity with laly, RH: Yes, we go there quite a lot, and Italian audiences are marvellous, PW: When we played in Rome it was a capac audience at the biggest theatre in the city, yet many people couldn't get into the concert. So obviously the guitar is popular over there. What clo you think of the classical guitar scene in Britain now compared with 20 years ago? RH: For us personally it Is much better and we are far busier. But certain music societies still tell our agent when she phones them up that they don't lke the guitar. Ifshe inquires further, they tell her either they had a concert they didn't like or they've never had one before. PW: People often come up after concerts and say Ive dragged my friend along, under duress, and now she Would like to say how much she enjoyed it People are converted to guitar music by a good RH: Often people claim to dislike the guitar when new release! , eT to Wid Bos cseso Ste = aoa 145 Palisade Street reba bots coedthey have never been to a guitar recital. A prejudice is still there to some extent Is this prejudice against the guitar itself or against fawo guitars? RH: Less against two guitars. It’s prejudice against the guitar generally. The prejudice we've come up against has never been against two guitars as such. This is usually among conservative music societies who have string quartets concerts or whatever. PW: If you can get through this prejudice and give a concert, we find that once we've played they usually want us back to play again. These are the very same people who were reluctant at first. It's just managing (0 show what the guitar can do. Well, perhaps people these days don’t hear guitar very much. They certainly do not see classical guitar on television. RH: We've done guite a bit of television over the years but nowadays it consists mainly of doing ‘one item on a news programme. It’s helpful but not what you really need which is an hour-long profile, You very rarely see any classical guitarists on television these days or even any pais 2, I Manuel Contreras Guitars made by Manvel conte of Mire mat ey scan ater a Contemp nsen cena eo tight aad ceded by "odes pees! pe. Pras conuet 1s rrr dis sot Manet Cote Rencavtctenernss | live instrumentalists. Occasionally you might see Nigel Kennedy. It's a very bad situation as far as television is concerned. What about in other countries. Are things easier there? RH: The trouble is you get the best impression of other countries when you visit and it may be the wrong picture. But certainly some of our engagements abroad seem superior to what we might get here. It's the old thing that people think that if you are indigenous you can't be as good as some foreign player PW; One thing we are doing more of, both here and abroad, is concerto work. We are going to Wales soon to play Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Double Concerto. We've also done Rodrigo’s Madrigal Concerto with the Liverpool Philharmonic at the Wural Festival during a night of guitar concertos. We're planning to make a recording of these shortly What about your other future plans? PW: Just to play more and more! RH: Just to play better and better! Every day we feel we improve, we really do, and as long as we can keep doing that, what more can you ask for? We still work very hard. Tunderstand you have quite a few new recordings coming out soon. RH: We've just signed a deal with BMG, who are a Japanese company who own RCA, and this is being released in the Far East. We also record albums for ASV, and we're going to release CDs on our own label, Kudos, which should be established very soon now. How many albums have you made now? PW: Sixteen. I don't have all of those. RH: They're not all out yet. Virtuoso Music for Two Guitars (Hyperion A66113), Sound of String (Teldec 8.44140 ZK), Les Deux Amis (Teldec 8.44141 ZK), Romantic Guitars (Teldec TCD 2479), and Music of Europe on our Kudos label, are the ones released so far. The others will be available shortly, PW: We're also producing a video to promote these recordings with performances of some of the pieces on the new discs. That’s our latest venture.MAREK SOKOLOWSKI — UNKNOWN GUITARIST? by ZBIGNIEW DUBIELLA Zbigniew Dubiella was born in Starogard. Gdansk, Poland, in 1949, and teaches guitar at the Koszalin Music School. He contributes regularly 10 the Polish guitar magazine ‘Gitara I bas’ and to CG. He is often invited to lecture on the guitar, and to be on the jury at guitar competitions, ‘THE 19th century was a period of international success for Polish music through the activities of Frederie Chopin (piano) and Henryk Wieniawski (violin). Unfortunately. in the guitar field, there ‘was a lack of artists in the same class, but we can mention four important names: Feliks Horecki (1796-1870), Jan Nepomucen Bobrowicz (1805- 1861), Stanislaw Szezepanowski (1811-1877) and Marek Konrad Sokolowski (1818-1883). All four became well known in Europe through both composing and playing the guitar, but only the latter, Marek Sokolowski, was especially renowned as a virtuoso performer on the guitar, and was by the far the most outstanding player. He was born on 25 April 1818 in the village of Pohrebyszeze near Zytomierz (Ukraine) of Polish parents, From early childhood he suffered from poor health, and his only passion was music. He played the guitar from the age of six, often practising long into the night. He also learned to play the violin, cello and piano, but the guitar was always his favourite instrument, and he devoted his life to playing it, Self-taught, he had mastered the instrument by the age of 23, wher he made his debut, on 28 May 1841 in Zytomierz, where he performed the Concerto in E minor by Carulli, The event was well received and from then on he performed regularly. He played throughout the Ukraine and later In Moscow, where he was enthusiastically received by audiences used to top-rate performers. On one ‘occasion he attracted an audience of 4000, ‘A prominent Polish critic, Jésef Sikorski, after a concert by Sokolowski in Warsaw, described him as a very gifted musician, but suggested It was a pity that he had chosen to play such a trivial instrument, Although Sokolowski never forgave Sikorski for that remark, from this time onward hhe became interested in all types of guitar. He experimented with 17 strings at one time, but nally settled for 10-string guitars, claiming that these were the most suitable guitars for the transcriptions he made of the music of Chopin, Schubert and Mendelssohn, and recommending 10-string guitar to Regondi when he met him. He was never satisfied with the strings available to him, preferring those from the Italian master Ruffini, which he could scarcely ever obtain. He used to beg friends living abroad to try to obtain MareleSokoloust them for him. In spite of the fact that when Sokolowski was at his peak guitar music was suffering from a decline in popularity, he made such an exquisite sound on his guitar that he confounded critics. In Dresden in 1866 he gave several recitals which, were received with such enthusiasm by Octtinger, a renowned music critic, that he wrote poems praising Sokolowski's excellence. His visit to Germany was followed by concerts in Paris and London between 1863 and 1865, but his greatest triumph was later, in Russia, where he toured in. 1886, Critics were full of praise A. S. Famicyn wrote: Ik was not virtuosity which caused Sokolowski's Usteners to weep. The secret of his success ts real understanding of the music, depth of thought. expressiveness, melodiousness and magnificence = everything that music can contain. From under his fingers flowed, not sounds, but singing deeply touching the audience, who were not expecting anything of this nature. From the Petersburg News: Sokolowskt has discovered the mystery of the instrument, understands it and was thus able fo make his playing rich... and melodious. He managed suchfull sounds from his quitar that they reached ‘every corner of the Nobleman’s Club, not losing any of their depth. Sokolowski was an incomparable interpreter of the classical works of Giuliani, Sor, Legnani, Mertz, Carulli, Regondi and others, but even though he played many of his own transcriptions of music by Chopin and Schubert, the matter of his own compositions remains mysterious. With a few exceptions, his works were not printed, yet he wrote éludes, polonaises, mazurkas, fantasias from Italian operas and many variations around Polish and Russian folk songs. From newspaper reports we know the names of those compositions which were the most popular Reverte, Valse Brillante, Recollections front Scotland, the mazurka Go Ahead. During his life only Deux Polkas-Mazurkas was published. | have in my collection two original Sokolowski compositions which were published in the monthly magazine Muzika Gitarista in Moscow in November 1909. A note at the bottom of the page tells us that N, A. Czernikow wrote out the music. Up to now, it is not known if there are other compositions of the legendary guitarist around somewhere. It is known that he was modest - indeed, to excess - and that he did not try to print his works, The two compositions mentioned are minfatures. The title of the first is Post-mustc Picwure and the other is the one whose opening theme calls to mind the motif of an old Polish song Kiedy ranne Conde Hermance® SUCES. SBNOS. €asteso® Casa fundada en 1917. CiFelipe V, 2. | Tel. 547 06 12. Fax 559 09 85. Prices for flamenco guitars from £579. Prices for classic guitars from £655. FRANKFORT WOSIC FA STAND BO Ka | The grave of M, Sokolow'skt wstaja zorze (When the Dawn Comes}. This étude was recorded by the American guitarist David Starobin on his CD ‘A Song From The East’ (BCD. 9004) in 1987. In the sleeve notes, Allan Kozinn, writes that in 1907 several of Sokolowski's studies were published in the Russian guitar journal, Unfortunately, I do not know if anyone still has them. Many people. especially from Russia and the Ukraine, have sent me compositions by Sokolowski, but these were pieces by another - N. Sokolowski - who lived later, We are not sure if the number of his compositions allows us to Judge Marek Sokolowski as a composer, but we are sure that he was one of the greatest virtuosi playing the guitar in the latter half of the 19th century. Giulio Regondi gave him most of his scores, saying: They will not find any worthter than you On his grave, in the Rossa cemetary in Vilnius, there is a plate bearing the inscription, in Polish: Marek Sokolowski - famous European guitarist ~ died 25th December 1883 at the age of 65. Sources J. W. Reiss, Gitara i jef mistrz Marek Konrad Sokolowski Magazyn - MUZYKA - 1955 W. Zaborski, Gitarzysct Polscy w pierwszej polowle XIX wieku AM Krakow 1952 J. Powrozniak, Gitara od A do Z PWM 1989 M., Ophee, The Post by Marek Sokolowski Soundboard, Summer 1992 U_Rimkievicius, Legendarny spiewale gitary MUZYKA, Moscow 1986YOUR LOCAL CLASSICAL GUITAR STOCKIST SOUTH-EAST SCOTLAND GORDON SIMPSON 5.8 STAFFORD STREET, EDINBURGH EHS 7AY p TYNESIDE ( J. G. WINDOWS 5 “V7 CENTRAL ARCADE, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE 1 CARL FISCHER MUSIC '52 COOPER SQUARE, NEW YORK. b LANCASHIRE { FORSYTHS 4 126 DEANSGATE, MANCHESTER M3 268, MUSIC SUPPLEMENT EDITED BY NEIL SMITH DUERME MI TRIPON by Otilio Galindez Arranged by Alfonso Montes ‘Take care to synchronise the quaver upbeats (1/8th note) between Guitars 1 and 2, Play the harmonics at the opening by ‘planting’ on the Angers on the right rather than aiming for the strings ‘out of the air’ HAMMONDS of WATFORD SALVADOR -SANCHIS” GRANADOS, Al HAMBRA TARAMINE VAMIAHA. ASTURIAS. GOW tnd RECORDING STUDIO Tay HORTUS MUSICUS VIALE LIEGI 7, ROME 00198 SWEDEN GITARREN AB 'SKANSTORGET 10, £11 22 GOTERBOAG. Tel: 031/11 0911 FINLAND, CHORUS PRODUCTIONS OY PL 1, 01101, OSTERSUNDOM, FINLAND FRANCE LA GUITARRERIA RUE DIEDIMBOURG, 75008, PARIS p SPAIN { MANUEL RODRIGUEZ & SONS HORTELEZA 22, MADRID, 26004 Usa ITAR SOLO 1411 CLEMENT ST, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94118 Pe aa eee GUITARS : STRINGS - PCa STU TREES Re LS roaoverrisew BUASSIBAL GUIER Contac: Chis Lackenby Cassel Gtr Olsover Howse 45 Saclville Road, Neweuelle upon Tyne NEO STA Tel: (091) 276 0488 Fax 1091) 276 1625 LATE NEWS I INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTEST “THE GUITAR WORLD’ Subject THE GUITAR In any of its forms and manifesta: Entrants: Amateurs and professionals from all countries. Works: Contestants can participate with a maximum of four works in each of the two forms, Monochrome and Colour fon paper). Free form, within an area no larger than 30 x 40 em of photographic paper. With no mounting or backing of any type. No labels or fadhesive tape on the back. The title, its order num, ber according to the entry form and data on its author should be written legibly (capital letters) on the back of the photograph in ink or pene. Despatch: ‘The entry forms and photographs (under separate) should be sent covers to: FESTIVAL DE CORDOBA, GUITARRA '94 PPM Gran Teatro, ‘Avda. Gran Capitan. 3. 14008 Cordoba, Spain. Only as registered printed matter (no commercial value). Maximum per packet: 2 Kg, We recommend group despatch for photographic clubs and the use ‘of suitable packing to ensure the works are properly protected.Duerme Mi Tripon Venezuelan Lullaby Otilio Galindez arr. Alfonso Montes HAR XL HAR XI HARXIL-HARXIL aNYat time Ped time mf (p subito p sub. ferese...... y 30 HAR XI HAR XILSEGOVIA - A CENTENARY TRIBUTE By GRAHAM WADE Part XV - The mid-1960s During Segovia's customary North American tour in the early months of 1963, during which he celebrated his seventieth birthday, he was invited to perform for the President's Cabinet under the honorary chairmanship of Mrs John F. Kennedy. ‘The concert, entitled An Evening with Andrés Segovia, took place in the State Department Auditorium on 18 March, 1963. The printed programme, embossed with the American Eagle holding thunderbolts and olive branch, was illustrated with an ornate guitar in gold. The appreciation of Segovia inside the programme concluded By the devotion of a lifetime Andrés Segovia has restored the guitar to its high and proper place as a member of the family of stringed instruments. Guitar News (July/August 1963) reported that the concert was the sixth in a series and attracted the ambassadors of Spain, Turkey, Lebanon, Venezuela, Chile, South Africa, Jordan, Burma, Nigeria, the Philippines and Malaya, The concert was also attended by Sophocles Papas who had been friends with the Maestro ever since the USA. debut in 1928. ‘The programme was as follows: ‘Three Pieces, Galilel; Gavotte, J. S. Bach: Two Studies, Sor; Prelude in E, Villa-Lobos; Danza, Granados; Melancolia-Primavera (from Platero y Yo), Castelnuovo-Tedesco; Romance y Danza, Torroba; Torre Bermeja-Sevilla, Albéniz. In an earlier recital in the same tour on 24 February at the Pasadena Community Church, St Petersburg, Florida, Segovia performed other pleces from Platero y Yo, including La Arulladora (Lullaby) and El Canario Vuela (The Canary Escapes). Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's Platero y Yo, Op. 190, originally intended for narrator and guitar, was composed in 1960. The 28 pieces on selected passages from Juan Ramon Jimenez’s lyrical prose episodes on the life and death of the Andalusian donkey, were a substantial contribution to the guitar repertoire But the work, perhaps because of its structure and genre, has never quite achieved the reputation or popularity of other pieces by Castelnuovo-Tedesco. (Eduardo Sainz de la Maza’s Platero y Yo Suite in eight movements (publ. Union Musical Espanola, copyrighted 1972), not played by Segovia, has succeeded in establishing a more secure niche in the recitalist’s repertoire) Segovia himself did magnificent work on his composer's behalf, in due course recording (on his, renowned Hauser guitar) ten of Castelnuovo: Tedesco’s most tempting movements and performing these favoured items at many recitals. Unfortunately Segovia did not publish an edition of these pieces, and so the history of Platero y Yo becomes somewhat tantalising. An edition was eventually published in 1973 as an ‘original text in its integrity’ (i.e. without fingering or scrupulous editing) by Angelo Gilardino and Berben. As Gilardino comments in his Foreword, by the time of publication, ‘an enormous quantity of manuscript versions of these musical compositions’ had come into circulation one way or another, a reference to the fact that many recitalists had acquired copies of the works in one ‘way or another and sometimes performed them. ‘The situation arose in which Segovia launched these new pieces but did not reinforce the process. of disseminating Platero y Yo world-wide with a published edition. Perhaps Segovia wished to select only a few pieces from the 28 and clearly it would be preferable for the entire work to be published. But Segovia on occasion produced editions of pieces that he did not perform (Rodrigo's Tres Piezas Espafiolas, published in 1963 and referred to later in this article, provide a good example, Segovia performing only the ‘Fandango from the tryptich). It is perhaps worth mentioning that Platero y Yo was not dedicated to Segovia but to Aldo Bruzzichelll. though the Maestro's commitment to the essence and quality of these richly romantic idylls was total and the chosen movements of Platero y Yo ideally suited Segovia's temperament and musical needs. ‘A memorable solution for posterity would have been an edited version of the ten pieces that Segovia played. But whatever the precise circumstances, pirated copies roamed the earth. and the problem was eventually partially resolved by Gilardino’s very welcome publication over a decade after the pieces were written. Gilardino expresses his ideas on the matter forcefully in his Foreword: the existence of an enormous quantity of manuscript versions of these musical compositions has engendered such a confusion that tt has become all the more necessary to publish the original text in its integrity . . . A determined denunciation of the hundreds of interpolations which, unfortunately, are circulated abusively throughout the world, is then within the aims of this edition that carries out above alll the exact will of the author. Unfortunately the score as published, carrying 31needs further editing and is, at times, a fascinating example of how unrealistic Casteinuovo-Tedesco’s own writing for guitar could be before editorial work by guitarists tidied up his unplayable chords and unreachable notes. Segovia's first recording of pieces from Platero y Yo (Platero, Metancolia, Angelus, Golondrinas, La Arulladora) on Brunswick AXA 4510 (mono)/ 5XA4510 (stereo) was favourably reviewed in The Gramophone in February, 1963. The recording also featured Passacaglia. Corrente (Frescobaldi) Fantasie (Weiss), Studies Nos 3 & 17 (Sor). Dolor (onostia), La Fille aux chevewx de lin (Debussy) A further recording of music from Platero y Yo was reviewed in The Gramophone in December, 1964. Manuel Ponce’s Sonata Romédntica (in homage to Schubert) was paired with Retorno, El Pozo, El Canario Vuela, La Primavera, and A Platero en el Cielo de Moguer, on Brunswick AXA. 4527/SXA 4257. The reviewer described the musi¢ of Platero y Yo as ‘entirely charming’, but added the comment that ‘Segovia's performance of course contributes much to the charm of both composers and so does Brunswick's recording, impeccable in either of its forms’. This recording was later reviewed by Discus in BMG (September, 1965), praising Segovia but luke warm about the composer: Only when the last sounds die away does one realise the frailty of this salon-type music of Tedesco ~ and to what extent it is hidden from us by the spell-binding of this master magician and poet now in the richness of his seventies. There is litle Segovia cannot thus transmute and there is none of it on this record. (Segovia’s recording of ten pieces from Platero y Yo is now available on compact disc, Vol. 8 of the ‘Segovia Collection. MCA Classics, 0881 10056 2) Another significant event of 1963 was the publication of Segovia's edition of Rodrigo’s Tres piezas espafiolas by Schotts in the Segovia Archives Series, a veritable milestone in the development of the repertoire. But its riches were not to be fully appreciated by recitalists or the public for several years. (Several of Rodrigo’s finest solo works seemed to lie dormant for some time before players were able to focus on the intrinsic merit of the pieces and bring them into recitals and recordings). The following year Segovia’s edition of Fantasia para un Gentil- hombre was also published by Schott & Co, bringing another Guitar Concerto fully and finally into the public domain, ‘The Gramophone reviewed yet another new recording by Segovia in June, 1963. The album (Brunswick AXA4512) featured Eight Lessons (Aguado), Studies Nos 10,15, 19 and 6 (Sor), Caneién , Cancién y Patsaje (Ponce), Granada (Albeniz) Mazurka (Tansman), and Spanish Dance in E minor (Granados). The reviewer was not entirely complimentary: Segovia plays with all his old style and skill, 2 though with a rhythmic freedom, particularly in the Spanish pieces, that seemed to me to hold up the progress of the music, somewhat. Conscious of uttering a very great heresy, I should now hastily add that the recording of the dise is certainty very good. At the Chigiana Academy, in Siena, Italy, that year, Christopher Nupen interviewed Segovia and made several recordings for BBC radio, entitled Segovia and the Revival of the Guitar. In one of the interviews Segovia placed a definite chronology on his early years, saying that his first recital in Granada was in 1909, followed by concerts in Seville, Madrid and Barcelona. In 1917 he had toured Spain and two years later visited South America for the first time with concerts in Buenos Aires, Mexico, etc. In master classes Segovia was recorded in action, advising, ‘Listen and improve the-sense of your sound - correct the acidity ~ otherwise the guitar has not charm’ If 1963 was a most worthwhile year for the guitar, the following year was to prove even more auspicious. On 12 June, 1964, Julian Bream premiered Benjamin Britten's Nocturnal at the Aldeburgh Festival. The next day it was announced that Bream, at the early age of 31. had been awarded the Order of the British Empire in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, a remarkable recognition of his significance in British musical life and the first for any guitarist. The mid-1960s saw of course the rise to fame of the Beatles and a new prominence in the media for popular music in general. The passing of the years has given the pop stars of this decade an almost invulnerable status as icons of an era. But in 1964 this process had not taken place and many, especially Segovia, regarded Beatlemania as little more than a manifestation of an essentially ephemeral triviality. Even George Melly, a sympathete critic of the pop world, implied in The Observer in November, 1963 that because ‘the average age of the fanatic Beatle fan today 1s about twelve’, the Liverpool sound did not have much longer to run. As had happened with various pop idols of the recent past, it seemed reasonable to conclude that a transient phenomenon was occurring which had less to do with music than with haircuts, novelties, images and personalities with whom the very young could identify. But as Beatlemania, with all its implications, became both widespread and apparently durably endemic, journalists who interviewed Segovia grew inordinately interested in his views on the Beatles (and pop music generally). On 23rd May. 1964, Segovia gave an interview with David Ash of ‘The Daily Express in which the ideological clash between the old values of the classical artist and the rising stars of pop was well expressed. Segovia commented: Thave heard of these Beatles but what they play is strange to me. I do not think it is anything to do with art as I know it. Ido not like the movement ofthe boys, the loud electric guitars, the cries, the way the giris go crazy. I distrust quick popularity. An artist should concentrate on his guitar with all his life and let his public come later. We guitarists - or any serious musicians ~ need the stern discipline of life-long practice, many years of selfdental. Many hours and weeks polishing a single passage, burnishing it to bring out its true sparkle. The creation of beautiful imagery demands the cares of gestation and the pains of childbirth. T like everyone to listen to the lovely natural voice of the guitar. A guitar should be shaped simply and with a feminine quality, like an honest woman. It should be built to produce many voices, many colours. Segovia's comments about the Beatles having nothing to do with art as he knew it was totally true to both his own beliefs and those of the majority of classical musicians at the time. Pop culture with its stress on the immediate and the visually colourful with its noisy participative audiences seemed the very opposite of the artistic values of classical music with its years of solitary practice, the images of evening dress. silent attentive audiences of predominantly mature years, and the undemonstrative performing gestures of the recitalist. Stephen Walsh reviewing a recital by Segovia in The Times on 30 October, 1965, described the experience in the following terms: He plays for himself. And as he does so you can hear a pin drop, even among three thousand people... But Segovia’s magic is to draw his listeners into a web of silence and for this only the insubstantial andl elusive will suffice In the 1960s it was difficult to reconcile this concept of music as an art to attend to in silent homage with the hordes of youngsters who screamed their way through a Beatles concert But since 1964 various definitions have undergone structural modifications. George Melly examined the theme of the Beatles and art in a ‘book about the pop phenomenon, published some years later, and squared the triangle by seeing the Beatles as pop artists who reject traditional definitions of art: While themselves admitting to being interested only in what they are up to at a given time, they have succeeded in producing a body of work which has Uluminated a whole landscape and enlarged the horizons of a whole generation. The comparisons with Mozart and Schubert seer to me irrelevant; the Beatles’ aim is different; ‘art’ ts a concept which, as Beatles, they reject. They remain pop artists, but there is nothing to say that pop may not, in retrospect, turn out to have been art afier all (Revolt into Style, The Pop Arts in Britain, George Melly, London, 1970). While the pop juggernaut of the 1960s roared from climax to climax in an apparently unending 34 crescendo, Segovia's Festival Hall recital of 20 May, 1964, was received with less than rapturous critical acclaim as the ‘insubstantial and elusive" qualities mentioned by Stephen Walsh veered towards the inaudible. Even the ever faithful Wilfrid M. Appleby, to whom adverse comment about Segovia was anathema, was not pleased by the small volume of the guitar in the huge auditorium, though he chose to blame the ‘acoustics of the hall rather than the artist's choice of the hall: We met several friends, found our seats, and by the time Segovia entered with his guitar the hall was completely filled. The welcoming applause subsided, Segovia toyed with his guitar untit quietness was achieved, then Handel's noble, (folia-type Aria opened the programme. We soon began to notice the difference between the acoustics of this great hall in comparison with those of the smaller and more intimate Wigmore Hall where we had heard our last London recital. We knew that Segovia was producing subtle tone colours which were practically inaudible to us in the centre of the fifteenth row from the platform. They would have been clearly heard in the Wigmore Hall. (Segovia in London, Guitar News July/August 1964). The critic of The Times was also disappointed by. the sound quality received and commented that “Everything Segovia offered was just simple, black and white music’, a judgement which an undaunted Wilfrid Appleby absolutely refused to accept. Later in 1964 Segovia gave his first master class at the University of California, Berkeley, from 20 July to 14 August. Young performers on the Course (necessarily under 30 years old on Ist July to be eligible) included Guillermo Fierens (argentina), Oscar Ghiglia (Italy), Michael Lorimer (USA), AKo Ito (USA), Aldo Minella (Italy). Christopher Parkening and George Sakellariou (usa). While pop music consolidated its hold on the imagination of thousands of youngsters world- wide in 1964, younger generations of classical guitarists were evolving their artistic identity and future ambitions. In Britain the bulk of the population and the media may not have been entirely aware of Julian Bream's OBE, or the rapidly developing concert career of John Williams, But the classical guitar was now established and forging ahead. While the storm of pop publicity clamoured outside, the small voice of the concert guitar was indisputably a potent force in music, attracting the attention of leading composers. Those who cared deeply about the instrument had much to be excited about. As if to ‘emphasis the point, Segovia took off in September for his second tour of Australia, giving three recitals at Sydney Town Hall on 23rd, 25th and 28th September, each time to capacity audiences. (To be continued)FUNDAMENTAL PERSPECTIVES PART 8: SHIFTING ON A SINGLE STRING By JIM FERGUSON LAST month, I discussed the advantages of learning to play the notes above the staff as soon as possible, which raised the topics of position shifts and one-octave scales on a single string, Let’s now explore these areas in more detail. Example 1 shows a fingering for the first, string’s white-key notes up to high E, which will not only help you reinforce these higher notes, but also work on position shifts. Notice that after you play G you must shift up to A with your Ist finger, and then up to D with your 2nd. Here are some tips that will help you master this useful technique: @ use your arm to make each shift in one smooth motion; @ your thumb should be positioned approximately opposite your Ist and 2nd Angers and not drag along behind your hand; © practice slowly and listen carefully to ensure that cach note rings for its complete value and that there are no inadvertent slides or other glitches; 26th International Guitar Weeks Zwolle July the 10th-22nd 1994 Courses by: John Mills (England) Roberto Aussel (Argentina) On the 16th of July public masterclasses by Roberto Aussel ‘The courses are open for students and graduated guitar-players Free for enrolment Dfl. 1175 - including accommodation and daily dinner For further information apply to: St. International Guitar-Weeks Zwolle Posthox 1415, 8001 BK Zwolle (Netherlands) Telephone: +31 5216 25 70 @ as you ascend, keep each finger on the fingerboard once it's played; when you descend, prepare each position’s notes in advance: © generally try to change positions as little as possible when fingering passages on a single string The next step is to introduce the black-key notes. Although playing an E major scale is an obvious choice, you might want to begin Example 2's E natural minor scale, which has only one sharp (the E Dorian mode has two, and E Mixolydian three}. Example 3 shows E major, whieh has four sharps. Finally, Example 4 shows a one octave ascending and descending chromatic scale played on the high E string, You also might transfer these ideas to the remaining five open strings. Next month we'll discuss some tips that will help you master the higher positions more completely. Fat od rp Example 2 Fes ee Example 3 Example 4 uaBlagkhem Salter Stadio gad music tn Nort Lancs, Ramirez, Lozano, Alhembre, Soni inet trner ore eahcen gitar eee the Speen Natit Ba, more.0 way of fe, Send large SAE for foe lat. ee ee at