Addison Perkins – Graduate Guitar Recital

Grande Sonate No. I - Matiegka

Wenzeslaus Thomas Matiegka (1773-1830) was born in Bohemia and

was educated at the University of Prauge. He moved to Vienna in his early

twenties where he provided himself to be an accomplished, composer,

guitarist, cellist and piano teacher. Matiegka’s talents were recognized and

he took up the position of Kapellmeister of Leopoldstadt, where he severed

until his death. The Grande Sonate No. 1 serves as a testament to

Matiegka’s knowledge of form and harmony, as well as his knowledge of the

musical scene around him. In a Beethoven-like twist, Matiegka makes use of

the Sub-Domiant Recapitulation, in which the Primary theme of the sonata

returns in IV instead of the standard returning tonic. This nuance of the

sonata principle adds drama, not only because it is unexpected, but because

it delays the return of the home key after the harmonic exploration of the

development section.

Lute Suite in e minor, BWV 996 – Bach

Written between 1708 and 1717 the Suite in e minor by J.S. Bach

(1685-1750) is a staple of today’s guitar repertoire. BWV 996 is most

famous for its beautiful Sarabande and lively Bourrée. Though the suite was

written for the lute, Bach actually composed it (as well as his other lute

works) using a lute-harpsichord, a pear-shaped keyboard instrument that

uses gut strings as opposed to the stand metal strings of the harpsichord.

This also explains why Bach wrote the pieces using standard notation
instead of lute tablature. In truth Bach’s lute suites are keyboard works,

written for lute being performed on guitar.

Prélude No. 1 – Villa-Lobos

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) was a conductor, cellist, pianist and

guitarist hailing from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has been called the most

important figure in 20th century Brazilian art music and even appears on

Brazil’s national currency. As a young man, Villa-Lobos performed Brazilian

folk music around Rio de Janeiro and took those influences with him when

he began studying European counterpoint and harmony at the

Conservatório de Música. It is this fusion of Brazilian folk and European art

music that makes Villa-Lobos such a creative force. Prélude No. 1 presents

this marriage of styles in an ABA form, in which the A sections are

reminiscent of Romantic period emotionalism contrasted by the Brazilian

folk dance of the B section.

Nocturnal After John Dowland – Britten

Perhaps one of the most important pieces ever written for guitar,

Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) wrote the Nocturnal after John Dowland for

guitar virtuoso Julian Bream in 1964. The Nocturnal after John Dowland is a

reverse theme and variation of John Dowland’s lute song Come Heavy

Sleep, with Dowland’s theme not appearing until the final movement. Nor

does Britten simply present the theme in a variety of keys or meters (as is

standard in the theme and variation form), but instead breaks it into several

compositional elements. The leap of a perfect fourth, certain rhythmic

patterns and a descending line in the bass are but a few of the elements

Britten inverts, transposes, or places in retrograde to create the different

variations of Dowland’s theme. True to Britten’s style, the piece culminates

in a monstrous Passacaglia that seems to tear itself apart in a struggle

between e minor and E major. When Dowland’s theme finally emerges from

the Passacaglia, it brings with it a fresh breath of tonality and a feeling of

having finally returned home in E major. This is partly because it is the first

instance of a truly solid tonal center. It is also because the compositional

elements Britten used to create the variations now take on a psychological

aspect as the ear subconsciously realizes it has been hearing Dowland’s

theme all along.

Program Notes by Addison Perkins.