David Starobin Plays Guitar Music By Guitar Virtuosi

I thought David Starobin released his farewell album a couple of years ago. But I'm not complaining. Starobin is a masterful performer. And his releases are always well-recorded. 

Most of the works on "Virtuosi" have been previously released -- but not all. Three selections by W.T. Matiegka. Matiegka was a friend of Franz Schubert, and their styles are very similar. If Schubert had written guitar music, this is probably what it would have sounded like. 

Also premiered her are Five Anecdotes by Andres Segovia. He's the only 20th Century composer on the album. The others all date from the early Romantic Era. But his music isn't out of place. These works explore the possibilities of the guitar while remaining tonal and tuneful.

Starobin plays with remarkable control. He plucks the strings with precision -- even the fasted runs sound clean and accurate. And his left hand technique is flawless. There's never even the hint of a finger slide. 

But most important is what Starobin does with these skills. He plays expressively, giving shape to the music. It doesn't matter how demanding the music is, one only hears the beauty of the sound. 

This is a collection of virtuoso guitar music written by virtuoso guitarists. And it's played by a virtuoso guitarist. 

Virtuosi: Guitar Music by Giuliani, Matiegka, L'Hoyer, Coste, Regondi, Sor, Segovia
David Starobin, guitar
Bridge Records 9600

#ClassicsaDay #ClassicalHumor Week 1

 This month's Classics a Day theme is a tribute to the late Peter Schickle. Schickle was a talented composer of both classical and film music. He's best remembered, though, for his alter ego, PDQ Bach.

PDQ Bach was the youngest and least talented of Johann Sebastian Bach's children. The music by him that Peter Schickle "discovered" is musical humor at its most sublime. The more one knows about classical music, the funnier PDQ Bach pieces are. The works reference virtually every aspect of classical music, from familiar themes to nomenclature. 

But Schickle wsn't the first composer to have some fun with "serious" music. The challenge this month is to post examples of musical humor in classical works. Although most of my posts are PDQ Bach, an equal number aren't. Here are my posts for the first week of #ClassicalHumor.

04/01/24 PDQ Bach: Twelve Quite Heavenly Songs S.16

One of PDQ Bach's more ambitious song cycles is this set of twelve lieder based on the signs of the Zodiac (sort of).

04/02/24 Lord Berners: Funeral March for a Rich Aunt

Lord Berners was Gerald Hugh Tyrwitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners. Although he was a early 20th C. avant gardist, he could never quite suppress his sense of humor.

 

04/03/24 PDQ Bach: Cantata Blaues Gras

Bach composed this work while at Wein-am-Rhine. It was commissioned by Tommy Mann and the Magic Mountain Boys, a roving group of musicians playing instruments from the American colonies.

 

04/04/24 Dmitri Shostakovich: Gallop, from "The Nose"

Shostakovich's 1927 opera involves a nose who runs away from its face and causes mayhem. The music matches the absurd plot, which features a human-size dancing nose.

 

04/05/24 PDQ Bach: Iphigenia in Brooklyn, S.53162

The title of this cantata plays off a couple of things. The Schickle  number of this work references the cantatas written by Gerog Philipp Telemann and Christoph Graupner. They number in the thousands for each composer. Second, several composers set the stories of Iphigenia in Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris. So having her land someplace else seemed only natural.

 

Cesar Guerra-Peixe: More Brazilian Treasures

 I don't know how the average Brazilian feels about their government. But they should be proud of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry has joined forces with Naxos to bring the classical music of Brazil to the world. 

And the world's a better place for it. Heitor Villa-Lobos may be the most famous Brazilian composer outside the country. But he has plenty of rivals inside it. Rivals in terms of quality, imagination, and innovation. 

This release features three works by Cesar Guerra-Peixe. He was a composer who comfortably lived in the worlds of classical and popular music. He produced music for radio broadcasts, documentaries, and feature films. His work as an ethnomusicologist was unparalleled. 

His book on northeastern Brazilian music, Os Maracatus do Recife, is still a primary source for the subject. And that knowledge of native Brazilian music permeated his own work. 

The Concertino for Violin and Orchestra is his most famous and popular composition. In it, the violinist mimics the sound of the rabeca (fiddle). It's an earthy sound, and one violinist Abner Landim delivers convincingly. 

The Concertino was written in 1972, and this release features two other works from that time. A Retirada da Laguna (1971) is a multi-movement tone poem. It depicts the battle of Laguna, a turning point in the Paraguayan War of 1864-70. Not to worry. You don't need to know Brazilian history to get caught up in the drama and pageantry of this piece. 

The Museu da Inconfidencia (Museum of the Inconfidência) also has historical references. Each movement depicts a museum exhibit. Collectively they document the failed 1789 rebellion for independence.

Guerra-Peixe doesn't just recycle folk melodies. Rather, the elements of Brazilian music are an integral part of his style. That gives his music an unusual sound, and one I found quite appealing. 

Goias Philharmonic Orchestra; Neil Thomson, conductor delivers some inspired performances here. So well done, Ministry!

Cesar Guerra-Peixe: A Retiada da Laguna
Concertino; Museu da Inconfidência
Abner Landim, violin
Goias Phiharmonic Orchestra; Neil Thomson, conductor
Naxos

Sinfonia of London and John Wilson Continue Fine Series

When I first received this release, I tried to guess the theme. Grażyna Bacewicz was Polish, George Enescu was Romanian. So an album of Eastern European music, then? But Eugène Ysaÿe was Belgian, so no.

As the liner notes point out, all three composers were also virtuoso violinists. And all three were part of the Franco-Belgian school of string playing. While they may have all had common training, they had very different ideas of how to use it.

Ysaÿe's "Harmonies du Soir" seems a celebration of string sounds. With resonant harmonies supporting beautifully-turned melodies. The work demonstrates just how emotive strings can be, and how much joy that can give the listener.

The string orchestra version of the "String Octet in C major, Op. 7" was authorized by Enescu. It has a more full-bodied sound than the original, of course. But there's more to it. The extra instruments allow a greater contrast between melody and harmony. This makes the work a more dynamic piece, especially as played here.

Bacewicz's "Concerto for String Orchestra" is just that. Big demands are made on the players (especially the first desks). And the Sinfonia of London delivers. 

This is an SACD release. If possible, listen to this through an SACD player. Or choose the highest resolution digital files available. It will make a difference. You'll hear greater detail. And you'll also have a better sense of space.

That three-dimensional sound stage really makes these works come alive. It also highlights the interplay between instruments, something key to all three works. 

Top-flight recording, and top-flight performances.

Bacewicz, Enescu, Ysaÿe: Works for Strings
Sinfonia of London; John Wilson, conductor
Chandos CHSA 5325
SACD

David Johnson Solo Piano Music: Unfamiliar and Appealing

David Johnson was an important figure in Scottish music. He did ground-breaking research into 18th Century Scottish folk music. His work established links between folk and classical music of the period. 

Johnson was responsible for reviving several early Scottish composers of the era. And as an instrumentalist and concert promoter, he brought this music to the public. 

Johnson was also a prolific composer, although his music isn't well-known. This album collects the twelve preludes and fugues Johnson wrote in the 1990s. He was a research fellow at the time. The initial pieces were written as one-offs. 

But as time went on, Johnson came to think of them as a series. He composed the later installments with that concept in mind. The pieces all share a common four-note motif. -- B-flat, B natural, E and A. In Germanic spelling, B natural is "H." It allowed Bach to spell out his name musically. And it allowed Johnson to reference Bheatha -- the Gaelic word for life. 

This is a fascinating collection of pieces. Some are quite simple. Others sound challenging to play. Johnson writes in a primarily tonal style. But that doesn't limit him to simple harmonies. 

Christopher Guild has a strong background playing Scottish classical music. And that experience informs his playing here. Johnson often referenced Scottish music in these pieces. Guild ensures they're played with the proper phrasing and rhythmic bounce.

Charming, witty, and thought-provoking. 

David Johnson: 12 Preludes and Fugues for solo piano
Christopher Guild, piano
Divine Art