Britain's No. 1) Classical Guitar Monthly ‘STEPANRAK _ Composer — guiti meee cles acti aaDONN POHREN Revised and Updated fart of Flamenco ‘pf: POHREN Theft “a bible for flamenco aficionados”. Guidepost Magazine “. book full of understanding for the gypsies and our art”. ‘Carmen Amaya “Best book that has been oritten on the subject”. Art et Dance Magazine (Paris) “The Art of Flamenco is an extremely important addition to the literature on this subject”. Domingo Manfredi Cano “This is an extremely interesting and noteworthy publication. The Cleveland Public Library, with nearly three million The Art of Flamenco Size 6Y2 x 8% 218 pages plus 32 pages of photographs Hard cover £12.00 ISBN 0 946570027 Cheques/PO’s should be crossed and made payable to Musical New Services Ltd., Guitar House, Bimport, Shaftesbury, Dorset. (Overseas readers please add 50p and ‘make payment by a Bankers Draft or International Money in Sterling). ‘THE WORLD'S LEADING GUITAR PUBLISHING SPECIALISTS This is the famous first book on flamenco from the pen of the renowned flamencologist Donn Pohren. In print again after 12 years, ‘The Art of Flamenco’ is not just a ‘all you ever wanted to know about flamenco’ book, Donn Pohren’s deep understanding of all aspects of flamenco enable him to present to the reader a penetrating study of the history of the art in all its aspects — dancing, singing and accompaniment. In addition there is a section on the flamenco guitar makers, a list of important recordings and a comprehensive bibliography. The book is illustrated with a multitude of historical and contemporary photographs and the author has brought the contents up- to-date with amendments and new material. A must for all lovers and students of flamenco. volumes, has had no book on flamenco. The general catalogue does not even contain a subject card for it... The book appears to be the result of phenomenal research as well as the personal experiences of the author”. Hispania Magazine “It seems hard to believe that an Americano could in ten years have become imbued with the soul and meaning of a foreign art form, and articulate about it rationally on paper, but here itis Hard-hitting text that should sell for a long time... If you have any connection with this art form, you could not spend your money to better advantage”. ‘Antiquarian Bookman MUSICAL NEW SERVICES LIMITEDGuifar International Editor: George Clinton Reviews Editor: John Duarte Acoustics: John Taylor Psychoacoustics: Graham Pick History: Matanya Ophee Music: Lance Bosman Editorial Assistant: Sally Ansell Photo Printing: Alan Sexton Sales & Advertising: Geoff Clinton Contribuors Kevin Arsen Michael Edmonds Juan Parra (USA) John Arran Derek FauxBowyer Roberto Austel lan Gammic (France) ‘Anthea Gifford Carlos BarbosacLima. Frances Gray sa) Eustagulo Geilo Ernesto Bie (Gras) José L-Romaaillon ‘Spsia) Sandra Hambleton Reginald Smith Carlos Bonet Eric Hi Brindle Els Breuters PeterHllloway John Schneider (USA) Holland) Graia) Phillip Thorwe ‘Sarah Clarke Darrylirving (USA) Robert E- Tucker Emesto Cordero Sharoalpbia (USA) Timothy Walker (Puerto Rico) Jobnfamer Send Witte Edson Cost (Braci) Paul Magnussen (Denmark) Mary Crawick Joba Mill Weodsimiers France) Karen Dungaard Wawrskiewice (Poland) Hugh de Camis Nielon (Denmark) Luis Zea (Venezuela) NorbertDams CorozdaOtere, John Zaradin (WiGermany) (Mexico) Published monthly by Musical New Services Ltd., Guitar House, Bimport, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. Telephone: 0747-3427 Printed by Roger Bowskill (Printing) Led., 8a St. Davids Hill, Exeter, Devon ‘Typesetting & Design by Crane/Barnden Ltd, Frog Lane, Ilminster, Somerset Distribution UK newsagents, newsstands, wholesalers: Spotlight Magazine Distribution Ltd., 1, Benwell Rd, London N7 7AX Tel: 01-607 6411. UK &overseas music shops: Musical New Services Ltd., Guitar House, Bimport, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. Tel: 0747 3427. USA music stores ete: Juan Orozco Corporation, 155 Avenue of the Americas, ‘New York, NY 10013. Tel: (212) 691 8620. Overseas newsstands: Europe: Hatchette Gotch Ltd. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Affica, USA: Gordon & Goteh Ltd. Every care will be taken but the publishers regret that they ‘cannot accept responsibility for any manuscripts submitted to them. © 1985 by Musical New Services Ltd. January Issue Vol. 13. No. 6 4. Guitar Talk 7. Letter from Spain 9. Diary 11. Spin Rak 45, John Mack 18. Pixinguinha 19. Carinhoso ~ music solo 23. Travels in China 25. Recordings 27. Guitar Music from the 1éth to the 18th Century 28. Learn Guitar with John Mills 31, Images of Brazil 33. Performance Workshop 35. Ensemble Workshop 37, Jazz om the Classic Guitar 40, Ragtime Guitar 42. Opinion 45. Londonderry Air — music solo 47. Danze Andaluse ~ music solo 50. Music Reviews 50, Concert Reviews 51. Record Reviews 52, Book Reviews Gover photo: Paul Magnussen JOSE RAMIREZ *~De Camara”’ Concert Guitar Christmas Draw 1985 Complete form at foot a pase 54 and return tous ‘Musical New Services Ltd., Guitar House, Bimport, Shaftesbury, Gnitar Jouuory 19853Nath We would like to add our regrets to Matanya Ophee’s news last issue that the American, bimonthly, Guitar & Lute, bas folded. His comments on the lute as an essential adjunct to the guitar are interesting as is his speculation on this being the reason for the demise of G & L, As far as Guitar is concerned, ‘we have always maintained that a strictly classical music guitar ‘magazine has limited appeal. A recent questionnaire, to a sample of our readership, still confirms our view’ that, although the classic or classical or nylon guitar (the last, perhaps the most accurate description of our instrument) is more popular than ever, today’s catholic tastes ask for much more than so-called classical music. (And Guitar’s readership js made up of more than 95% players of the classic guitar). Thus, Eric Hill’ series Jazz on the Classic guitar shares over 60% ‘readership interest with Philip Thorne’s classically orientated series. Brazilian, Latin-American, Flamenco and Ragtime all claim a large readership interest. The important feature of the results from the questionnaire was the request “Please keep Guitar as it is right now, ths is its best best ever period.”” We can only conclude from this that, as we are doing 50 wel, we'll continue inthe same vein! Nevertheless the hall was full for the first recital of the week, given by former prize winner Arnaud Dumond, who came second in 1972, had another go the following year and came first. He played several of his own works, which are very attractive, and available from hhim at Route de Buissonnets, F 27930 St. Vigor-Evreux, France. Best of all was his encore, Failing, originally a double bass piece in which the performer has to talk all the time, mostly about how difficult it is to play and talk at the same time, especially when the main idea isto fail, so that if you succeed at failing, how can the piece justify its name? Although I was unable to Letter from France attend the following two 26th International Guitar nights, Antoine Chaigne Competition, Radio France, provided me with the 1984 following account of ‘Tom I have always encouraged Sheeley, after I had requested visitors to France to come in something ‘not too technical’: October, partly because of the “Just think of a guitar by the competition, and partly sea, on the beach of a summer because the season is usually night in California, one’s gaze beautiful, with the famous lost in the blue clouds and horse chestnut trees turning white horses combing the gold against a brilliant blue waves .. . this boy exudes the sky. This year however the pleasure of playing and rubs weather has’ been fairly his tummy in delight after each disappointing, with much rain piece”... Antoine refused to and wind, and the fallen leaves. tell me what his playing was mixing to confusion with other actually like. It was Hervé unwanted, and usually canine, Quemener, who produces ‘matter on the pavements. ‘weekly guitar programmes on Pes ‘Marcelo Kayash 4) Guitar Tanwary 1985 his local radio at Gennevillirs, just outside Paris, who was more forthright about the following recital by Tomas Maller Pering, whose very correct appearance in bow tie matched his equally correct but slightly unimaginative playing, Pering appeared t0 have Lisctian hands and a pianistic touch on his instrument The following day began badly for competition organiser Robert Vidal, with a phone call from Alvaro Pierri, scheduled to interpret the composition finals that night, complaining of extremely painful gout in his left hand, We wish him well and look forward to hearing him play the compositions on February 25 or 26 next year when the jury meets for the selection of next year’s finalists. Finally Vidal contacted Mikulka at 4pm, and just 44 hours later Mikulka was on stage with @ recital whose programme was different from that planned the following evening. He played brilliantly and delighted and confounded us with Rak and Koshkin, as well es some Villa- Lobos. For the finals of the performance competition the large hall was, as always, packed full with 2 rather more discerning audience than one often finds at guitar recitals. Before giving a recital, limited strictly to 25 minutes between entering and leaving the stage, cach finalist has had to play to the jury and take a sight reading test, all of which can influence the final result. First fon stage was the 20 year old Czechoslovak Jaormira Jeckova. She had a tendency to startin too fast and she was not well served by a rather poor ‘guitar that stayed out of tune after she used an F sharp tuning for Dowland, but her playing was musical, and some extremely nimble but controlled Paganini was most impressive, In contrast to her was the second candidate, the Brazilian Marcelo Kayath, playing for the occasion on a borrowed Fleta, to which he did justice, keeping it in tune the entire’ time and_playing with the most masterful touch T have ever heard in a Paris final. One felt that were he less nervous and able to respond more to the music, Kayath might one day become a great player. The third finalist, Argentine Eduardo Castafiera, played a rather trite programme and his Bach had rubato in every bar, although his playing was otherwise steady and competent. Last on stage was another Caechoslovak, Jan Irving, playing again on an indifferent guitar. He was not unlike Mikulka in appearance, and played some Obrovska very stylishly, but his instrument was out of tune and his audience contact very poor. Vladimir Mikulka enter- tained the audience yet again while the jury retired until Vidal arrived with the results. Considering the uproar that has been known on similar occasions, this evening passed quite peaceably, even if the cheers for Castafera, who won third prize, were of such duration that Vidal was obliged to cut short the merry making, Second was Jaromira Jezkova, while Marcelo Kayath came first with a prize of 11,000 francs 1 later asked Vidal if the finalists could not be loaned better guitars. In fact this idea had already been put forward, but it either raises practical difficulties (problems and transport, lengthy hotel bills and 50 on} or, if the guitar is Tent for a week, can cause the finalists even greater problems of adaptation to a new and maybe very different instrument. ‘And, talking of new guitars, Vidal ‘also told me a new ‘competition is to be launched next year in Castres (1985). No = “not another guitar competition — but a public audition of new instruments, which will be on display first, and then played by the same guitarist, performing the same piece, behind 2 screen, The jury is the public, Interested luthiers should contact the Hotel de Ville, 81108 Castres. Sable For the third year, the “International Classical Guitar Competition — Interpreta- tion”, was held at Sable Sur Sarthe, France, during the Summer Festival of International Music andAncient Dance, from 26 — 30 August, 1984, The ‘jury was headed by Prof. Reginald Smith-Brindle, Director of Department of Music, Surrey University Other’ members —included:- Madame America Martinez Serrano — Professor at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique, Seville; Monsieur Dick Visser — Professor at the Strasbourg National Conservatory Monsieur Paoto Manzo — Professor at the Cuneo State Conservatory, Italy; Monsieur Christin Gouinguene — Director of the National Music School in ‘Meudon, France and Monsieur Betho Davezac — Director of the Sable International Festival Five candidates took part in the final which comprised a set work = (M. Castelnuovo Tedesco’s Swite for flute and guitar, Sonata Op. 205), and a programme of their own choosing. The flute accompaniment was provided by Jean-Louis Beaumadier, soloist with the National Orchestra of France. ‘After due consideration, the jury decided not to award a first prize this year, but awarded second prize 10 Guy Dethommeau, and equal third prize to Frangoise Bruneau and Jacques Marmoud. ‘Guy Delhommeau was born in France in 1956. He began his guitar career at 14 years old, with Yvon Rivoal, in Nantes. He studied with Alexandre Lagoya and won first prize at the national Conservatory. Guy Delhom- ‘meau has given concerts in Spain and Germany. His free choice programme included pieces by Scarlacti, Albéniz, Villa-Lobos, (Prelude No. 2) and Leo Brouwer. Frangoise Bruneau was born in France in 1961. She studied guitar with Betho Davazec at the National School of Music in Meudon, gaining = gold ‘medal in 1982. The free choice programme included Sor’s Gran Solo Op. 14, Suite No. 4 by JS. Bach and Fandango by J. Rodrigo. Jacques Marmoud, born in France, 1965, studied guitar with ‘Oscar’ Caceres and Alexandre Lagoya. He won a gold medal and the special “Prix ’Excellence” awarded Francoise Branca Jacques Marmoud by the Grenoble Conservatory, a well as first prize in the 1982 Bartoli Competition. He chose to play Britten’s Nocturnal and Fantasia No. 7 by John Dowland, Paco Pefia in Poland Flamenco music has recently become very popular in Poland. At present, there are many Polish guitarists ying to play this very interesting and beautiful Spanish music. Paco de Lucia was the first great and famous flamenco uitarist to play in Poland. His two, wonderful concerts, which were given with his group Paco de Lucia Sextet, took place in Wroclaw and Lodz in May 1984, and were great events in Polish guitar history. ‘The second one is surely Paco Pefia, who came to Poland in October 1984, to give three recitals; in Gdansk, Warsaw and Cracow. His concert in Cracow took place ‘on the 10th October, in a hall at Wawel, a historically ancient and monumental Polish castle. Paco Pefia’s concert caused immense interest_among_ the guitar-loving Polish public, ‘who came from all parts of the country to hear his playing. Unfortunately, a lot of people ‘were disappointed as all the tickets were sold. However, Paco Peffa consented to give an additional concert in Cracow fon Lith October especially for Polish youth. Everyone was grateful for his kindness in giving the extra concert which included a varied programme, steering the audience through a lot of emotions and profound experiences. It was a truly, remarkable event. ‘Wlodzimierz Wawrzkiewicz Stépan Rak: Diary items At the end of January Musical New Services will be bringing four an album of Rak’s most important pieces — The Sun, The Last Disco, and Homenaje 4 Térrega. The collection will provide 45 plus minutes of stunning music for the guitarist searching for new programme material ‘The above pieces will also form part of Rak’s programme when he comes to the Wigmore Hall on Sunday 20 October to perform a concert sponsored by this magazine. This is sure to be a ‘House Full” event, however our readers will be advised well in advance about the earliest booking ‘opportunities. Letter from Greece ‘The name of Maria Callas is not one that springs immediately to mind in connection with the guitar, though if you are a singer or a pianist you might make the connection mare readily; since the famous diva’s death there ‘has been an annual ‘Maria Callas’ Competition in Athens {for singers (opera, oratorio and Lieder) and pianists. This year (1984 as I write) the competition was, for the first time, for guitarists, organised by the Athenaeum International Cultural Centre and running fom 5 — 12 November. ‘The world does ot exactly lack — guitar competitions, though some are far more ‘important than others, and it can be hard for a new one to establish itself on a wide geographical basis; the organisers were, therefore, at pains to engineer an ‘unexceptional framework and to aim for a genuinely ‘international’ character in all respects. The rules were based fon those recommended for such events by UNESCO (and used in the prestigious Geneva ‘Competition) and the Jury was far from ‘local’: Ruggero Chiesa (Italy), John Duane, President (UK), Dimitris Dragatakis (Greece), Angelo Gilardino (Italy), Gerassimos Miliaressis Greece), Jana Obrovska (Czechslovakia) and Robert Vidal (France). Two other announced jurors failed to arrive — Gabriel Esterellas (Spain) missed his plane and couldn’t get another in time, and Dimitri Fampas (Greece) was seriously ill, The programme booklet identified 41 competitors from 13 countries but only 29 arrived (the sole UK entrant was among the missing 12) for the first stage, representing 10 countries as far-Nung 2s Brazil, the USA and Japan. OF these 16 were admitted to the second stage (@ programme, partly imposed, partly freechoice of about 45 minutes), nine of the countries surviving. Five finalists (the prescribed ssumber) faced the last hurdle, that of playing a concerto of their own choice with an orchestra in the Pallas Theatre. What could have been a wearisome time for the Jury proved not to be: two performances of the Vill- Lobos Concert were separated by one each of Giuliani Op. 30, Aranjuez and Ponce’s Concierto del Sur, a ‘concert’ of some 2 hr 20 min. Finally, and by a ‘comfortable majority, the First Prize went to Elena Papandreou (no relative of her ‘country’s leader) of Greece. At less than 19 years of age she is already an experienced and relaxed performer with ample technique, excellent tone and Guitar January 1985.natural musicality; the concert platform seems her natural environment. Second place went to Tevan Romer of Yugoslavia. Recollecting that he had shared First Prize with Barbara Sieker of Germany in the 1983 Mettmann Competition, I said to him: “You seem to be having trouble with the ladies; his answer was “Yes — but i is a very sweet trouble’ — typical of the good spirit in which the competition took place. By further coincidence, the Third Prize was taken by Joachim Schrader (Germany), the outright winner of the Mectmann Competition in 1981. There ‘were two Honorary Mentions, the first to Luigi Dosso (Italy) and the second to Markos Tsetsos (Greece). If it was the latter's first experience of playing with an orchestra, which, as he was not quite 16 years old, it may have been, it id not show; if his musicality develops to the level of his technique, he will be a force to be reckoned with. The technical level of the contestants was, overall, one of the highest I have encountered = most of those who failed did not do so because they could not get their fingers there on time, and one could not say that any one country had supplied the ‘poor relations’ High technique, like most other facets of the guitar, is now an international phenomenon. The whole event (Italians favour the more impressive term ‘manifestazione’) was organised with energetic and decisive efficiency by two of the leading ladies of the Athenaeum, Louli Psichouli and Anna Koukouraki Enjoyable and, as this was in Greece, educational, social activities abounded, and only the combination of the Greek custom of ating dinner no earlier than 11.00 p.m, and an earlyish start on the ne (same?) morning, coupled wi the two-hour time-difference, occasionally reminded one that (was it Bernard Shaw who said it?) youth is a wonderful thing = too wonderful to be wasted fon the young! Maria Callas, welcome to the world of the guitar — better late than never. John Duarte ©) Guitar Jarnarv 1985 Toyoko Yamashita Festival In our October report of this festival, we inadvertently left out, from our typescript of Laurie Randolph's hand. written leter, the name of Neil Smith (England) from the list of participants. We apologise to Neil for this omission, Pepe Martinez We hear from Seville that Pepe ‘Martinez, one of the old school of Flamenco guitarists, has had a stroke, leat New woods for old London’s October Gallery was the venue for an interesting promotional event in October last’ when Paul Fischer presented the fruits of his trip to Brazil (courtesy of a useful Churchill Trust grant) and subsequent experiments using untraditional Brazilian hardwood for the guitar’s back & ribs. Ostensibly the reason for the project is the acute shortage of *Rio’ sosexood, Paul Fischer discussed the seven guitars he had made using different Brazilian hardwoods for the back & ribs, and John Mills played on each in turn to a jury as well as an audience. ‘The usual procedure in such tests (there have been many in musical history) is for the instruments tbe played. behind a screen: trapazeid shaped violins, *perfect” copies fof Strads eve., performed on and compared 10 the genuine article. Guitar took part in one such judging when a BSI Committee listened to Julian Bream play two guitars, one of which was made of laminated ‘wood, behind 2 screen and into play the guitar at present. We wish him a speedy recovery. the microphone of a medium- priced Grundig tape recorder. (The only conclusion of value being Bream’s comments on laminations and his plea for a simple and cheaply designed but solid timbered learner's guitar.) On this occasion John Mills played from a position on one side of the doorway to the auditorium. The reason for this was to stop the jury from being biased due to recognition of the different woods — a silly precaution, for obvious reasons, and merely resulting in a very restricted sound. In any case, the fact that the Buitars were made over a period of 18 months (the last and the one judged to be the best, strung up only three days prior to the test’) with the consequent varying periods of maturing and playing in, would appear to act against any criteria needed to differentiate between the guitars. This taken with the general acceptance that itis practically impossible, even using the same timbers, to make two guitars with the same sound, made any valuation of the seven guitars entirely capricious, Acoustics expert Dr. Bernard Richardson then gave a lecture on his work on guitar acoustics at University College, Cardiff. This was the most interesting Feature on the programme, and it was a pity that he was not allocated more time. Dr Richardson’s findings will wssuredly ramify to the advantage of luthiers everywhere. However, his talk was centred on the table {strutting systems etc.) and as such had litte relevance to the object of the exercise Since it is accepted that the back & ribs are responsible tor only 20% or so of the guitar's sound, one may question the value’ of exclusively considering Brazilian woods as an alternative t0 “Rio! Luthiers have long produced sound instruments using arieties of walnut and mahogany, for example. Also, in any ” discussion about ‘alternatives’ mention must be made of Indian rosewood which is actually preferred by any of the world’s top makers. Moreover, in his Anticle ‘New woods for old” published in Guitar July 1983, Dr. Eugen Follman, who is an acoustics enxineer and heads a company specializing — in exporting wood for musical instruments, and who was Paul Fischer's host in Brazil, established that in terms of excellence the fast disappearing rosewood Dalbergia Nigra has ‘no superior in Brazil. If this is accepted then the already acknowledged Indian rosewood, which is more available “and less expensive than *Rio’, remains the ideal Considering all this the October Gallery ts, however well intentioned, offered litle in the way of “scientific? information or helpful insights to luthiers and players alike NEXT MONTHIN GUITAR MARCELO KAYATHLETTER FROM SPAIN by Paul Magnussen oto: Poel Magnuson Pressure of work unfortunately prevented me from producing, ‘my usual report on Paco Pefia’s Encuentro Flamenco in time for the November issue, but many people have expressed an interest; also, readers have been asking ebout Granada guitar- ‘makers. I was there earlier in the year, as I shall narrate below, ‘and was introduced to @ young luthier of great promises I also visited Joaquin Garcia in Torremolinos. $o, I thought I would Jump these accounts, which I hope will be of interest, together under the above (rather nebulous) heading. An unexpected invitation Paul Durham is an amateur classicel guitarist well known around London for his great enthusiasm, his interpretations of Spanish/Latin music (particularly Granada), and above all for his beautiful tone. Hearing Paul play at the Coach and Horses in Ickenham (where Paco Peiia and Martin Carthy also used to come), well over twenty years ago, was one of the reasons I took up the guitar. It is Paul’s concern with sound which has taken him around the world, like Ulysses, in search of the perfect guitar. (Heit was who introduced Edward (Bryn) Jones. fo Antonio Marin, as mentioned in the September isstie; he also introduced Julien Byzantine to Joaquin Garcia). Few amateurs know a8 much about the guitar. We once idly totalled up the instruments he had hed over the years in the search for perfection. The result was amazing: Ramirez (4), Esteso (2), Kolano, Nakade, Fischer (2), Rubio (2), Romanillos (2), Contreras (2), Bellido (2), Marin (3), Marin/Bouchet (3), Alejandro, Jones, Conde, Giannini and several cheapos. I was, therefore very interested when he invited me to come to Spain with him to see the work ofa new young maker (and, of course, have afew bevvies). ‘Two promising young luthiers René Baarslag has his workshop at Santo Sepulcro 8, Barrio ‘La Quinta, Granada. His name is so hard for a non-Dutchman to pronounce that most people just refer to his instruments at ‘René’ guitars. He has a degree in structural engineering, and hhas made some very interesting asymmetrical alterations t0 the usual strutting. I was impressed by the clean and well separated sound of his guitar, which reminded me rather (in - | A. el ‘Rene Baarsleg tone) of @ Romanillos. René quotes his price in Deutschmarks, DM2,400. As this is currently about £660, it is an attractive buy. After visiting Marin and Bellido, we moved on to Torremolinos (although this is not normally thought of as 2 centre of guitar-making). At Pasaje de la Fuente 904, La ‘Nogalera, we met Alex van der Horst, who makes under the ‘name of Alejandro. He did not, unfortunately, have any of his, top guitars to show us atthe time, though Paul spoke highly of them. He showed us some of his student-model guitars. When I made an adverse comment about the tone of one of them, he said “I know, but [can soon fix that — Pll show you.” He then, astonished me by taking out 2 plane and removing 'ainch from the bridge on the spot. He was right too, the problem was completely fix Joaquin Garcia ‘Next, at Davila Bertoli 12, we visited Joaquin Garcia, whose double-back guitar Julian Byzantine praised in the January 1984 issue. I can confirm every word: Joaquin hed an experimental model there that was not quite finished. Since Julian wrote at length, I will reffain from describing its ‘quality, except to sey we couldn't tear Paul away from it — 20 much so that we missed the plane going back! Although Joaquin said it was an experiment, and not really intended for sale, he made another trip back to Spain a month later to buy it when it was complete. ‘What amazed me, however, was the quality of Joaquin’s ordinary guitars. I had a top instrument by a world-famous, ‘makcr that I hed been happy with since 1975, but the ‘single? ‘was so superior that I immediately bought it and sold the other one. The Garcia was far easier to play; the separation and sustain were better; and the tone clearer, with a slight ‘Spanish’ colouration. John Mills agreed, and added that the ‘The ‘Single’ and ‘Double! Garcia Guitars. guitar was very well balanced. T showed it ro Paco Petia, who knows a good classical guitar (as well as being one of the few flamenco guitarists who can play one without scratching it) He described it as ‘absolutely beautiful — the sustain is ‘marvellous’, and congratulated me on acquiring it. Twas able to visit Joaquin again a few months later, on the ‘way to Psco’s festival. I found him still experimenting, with six new ‘single’ guitars, all different in construction. They ‘were not yet strung, but he showed me their distinct sound by ‘knocking on the tables with his knuckle. (One of these guitars ‘was later sold to Pierre Morin, the winner of the 1982 Guitar January 1985: 7Canadian Broadcasting Corporation competition). He also showed me a guitar he had made twenty years ago, with an innovation he had never followed up on: it was a small lever built into the nut, which raised or lowered the pitch of the sixth string slightly (on the ‘Scruggs peg” principle). The amount of variation is the amount the average string goes up (ot down) during performance after re-tuning the bass to D (or to E from D). To change the position of this lever, with the left for right hand, takes a fraction of a second; I tested it thoroughly, and it worked very well. So Joaquin has apparently solved one of the concert-performer’s most itritating problems: the lever is much faster, and more accurate, than using the machine-head while playing Cérdoba Since I first attended, two years ago, Paco's Encuentro Flamenco bas increased greatly in size and importance, due to the addition of John Williams’ course, the involvement of the Town Council (Ayuntamiento), and a great deal of time and trouble taken by Paco and his wife Karin. In particular, much work has been put into redecorating the patio in the Plaza del, Potro (where students gather of an evening) and providing a bar, with Spanish snacks. However, this has succeeded too well. What has been lost can be described in one word: intimacy. Two years ago the patio was bare, except for tables and chairs, and there were far fewer students (albeit from many different countries), all passionately interested in Flamenco. We would gather there in the evenings to relax and play, and the local lamencos would ‘come too, surprised and delighted at all these forcigners who loved their musi; there were many memorable jam sessions. One time, with the rapt attention ofall, the local padre sang Soleares to Paco's accompaniment. ‘Now, however, with the greater attendance, the bar and the increased importance of the event attracting outsiders, there ‘was scarcely room on the petio to turn around. It could take over twenty minutes to get a drink. The music had virwally disappeared, and (except for one notable occasion after a concert) what little there was, was swamped in the general wash of talk and noise. The bar staff were surly and unsympathetic, and, on one occasion, actually threw some Teaians who were singing and playing out — into the Plaza, With the exception of the last-mentioned incident, however, itis hard to see how all this could have been avoided — itis a direct consequence ofthe increased size of the event, without which many other excellent features (such as the number and variety of concerts) would not have been possible. Paco Pena's Masterlaz. Agreat variety of concerts Speaking of which, this variety was indeed impressive — there was almost no aspect of guitar music that was not represented Enrique Montoya has recorded several albums (including some with Sabicas), and has an excellent voice; but he is really more a popular than a flamenco singer, and not really my cup 8 Guitar January 1985 of tea. However, he was very well received, especially by the Spaniards. Paco Peha and Adrian Lynch, playing in the Open Air Theatre, were the best I had heard them together, and the sound quality (courtesy of J.W.) was excellent. I enjoyed this concert much more than Paco de Lucas, in the same venue a few days later. OF course, Lucia’s worst is still better than ‘many people's best, but on this occasion T would have liked to hhave rationed him to ¥ the number of notes, so he would have been forced to make the most of each. Maybe, after his brilliant London concert, Iwas expecting too much, James Tyler and Barry Mason gave an excellent recital of merry solos and duets on lutes and related instruments. Of particular interest were the pieces played on the Baroque guitar and Baroque mandolin, showing just how different this ‘music sounds when played on the original instruments. John Williams and Ben Verdery provided one of the most successful evenings of the Festival, due not least to Ben’s fractured — Spanish announcements and engaging stage- personality, which resembled Jerry Lewis's more than Scgovia’s. The programme (Praetorius, Bach, Falls, Sor, Newman, Albéniz and Granados) was wel suited to a general audience, Anthony Newman’s work replacing (wisely, I think) Brouwer's Micrepiezas; the stmosphere was marvellous. John also provided a later concert to a packed audience in the Open Air Theatre The lecture by guitar-maker José Rodriguez was frankly a dud, as it was read almost entirely ftom notes, verbatim. More interesting wes the subsequent concert by the Quinteto Reginaldo Barbera, on 2 Bandurrias, tenor bandurria, guitar and (acoustic) bass guitar. Eduardo Fali was another winner. Considered the premier performer of Argentine folk music, he displayed an amazing interpretive range, and an incredible variety of different rasgueados and effects on the guitar — including at one point (for a particular tonal effect) playing thumbaunder, lute style Chano Lobato is an excellent flamenco singer, and was well accompanied by Manuel de Palma. He had the audience in the palm of his hand, playing up to the well-known civic pride of the Cordobés by telling @ varity of jokes and anecdotes about Seville and Cadiz. Ghano Lobato and Manuel De Palma: Inticlllimani are of course well known in England, with their hit Flight of the Condor. In their concert at the Open Air Theatre, packed once more, they displayed marvellous musicianship and professionalism (in the face of some severe P.A. problems), and an amazing breadth of repertoire. ‘While in Cérdoba, my opinion of Serranito's playing did a double flip. I had been prejudiced against it by a particularly awful record of duets with Manuel Cano (much of which was not even in tune). Hearing him accompany singer El Chaparroso beautifully in the Advanced Flamenco Guitar class, however made me revise my opinion; but his concert gave me reservations again. He seemed pre-occupied with playing the ‘maximum number of notes per second (not particularly cleanly, either), and gave the music no room to breathe, but rushed everythings Bulerias will stend up to this sort of thing, ‘but to do it to Serranas is appalling. I did, though, really enjoy some semi-classical pieces towards the end of the concert, especially Luz de Luna, which he played with two young friends. Inmaculada Aguilar gave 2 good concert of flamenco dance (although perhaps a litle classical and over-choreographed). I unfortunately missed that of Loli Flores, and so am unable to compares like that of singer El Chaparro, it took place before I arrived A great variety of classes ‘Trying to keep up with all the classes nearly sent me crazy: flamenco guitar from Paco, Manuel and Serranito, flamenco dance from Loli and Inmaculada, and classical guitar from John. I got the impression that the standard was slightly higher than last year in the dance classes, and lower in the guitar. AAs in previous years, there were two sessions of a fortnight each, From July 9th — 2ist, Paco taught advanced (and Manuel elementary) flamenco guitar, and Loli taught flamenco dance. From July 23rd — August 4th, the same classes were given by ‘Serranito’ (Victor Monge), Manuel, and Inmaculade. In each guitar class, El Chaparro and. the appropriate dance teacher came in during the second week, to help the class learn accompaniment. John’s classical guitar ‘course fell astride these two periods, from July 18th — 28th. ‘Since I have described Paco’s and Manuel’ excellent classes before, I shall forego doing so again (with apologies to new readers) for reasons of space. John’s class, too, was oriented similarly to last year, although the start-times were even more erratic — sometimes as much as two hours late, with no ‘warning. Unlike last year, when translation into Spanish was provided (and into German if necessary), it was specified this time that classes would be in English (this was to save what John thought was a disproportionate amount of time lost the previous year). By and large, I think this decision is justified: with students from thirty-two countries attending, it is impossible to provide translations for all of them; and those ‘who could not understand enough English to get by, were in DIARY ‘Works by Sor, Dowland, Krieger, Dodgson, Ponce, Brouwer, Nobre, Friday 18 ‘Amsterdam Guitar Tio Wigmore Hall 7.30pm Works by Vivaldi, Biberin, (Chobanian, Bach, Meijring. Wednesday 23, q Hull. 8.00pm, vie tio ina Wednesday 28 — Rev hneter eng Pcl Reem Wigtore Hall 7.30pm ‘Works by Bach, Dodgson, Friessnegg, Rodrig, Dyens. ‘Saturday 26 ‘Anthea Gifford Institute Galery, Civic Theatre, Cooksidge St Leds. 8.00pm ‘Sunday 13 ‘Amsterdam Guitar Trio Sunday 27 Derkhire Guitar Sociey ‘Nigel North & Maggie Cole (ute & ‘South Hil Park, Bracknel, harpsichord) 8.00pm ‘Wigmore Hall 3.30pm Wednesday 16 Sunday 27 ‘Simon James ‘Jie Waller, Bill Baumann & Doug Ewell Court House, Ewell Court Towne (continental ate) Ave, Bwell, Surrey ‘Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, USA, Tel 765.9398 Wednesday 16 ‘Sunday 27 ‘The Omege Players Jalan Bream (Queen Elsbeth Hall 7.45pu1 Wigmore Hal 7.30pm the minority. Of course, there is a trade-off, between amount covered and amount understood. As always, the class was directed towards the music (rather than where-to-put-your- fingers), and John remains in my estimation an outstanding teacher. A bonus was provided by the director of the ‘Municipal Orchestra, who gave five students the chance to play concertos (by Vivaldi and Geminiani) on the final Sunday. This was the first time Thad met Serranitos he proved to be ‘most entertaining character, lively, humorous, and @ natural raconteur. (A great football fan, he wanted to organise a match between the flamenco guitarists and the classical guitarists, but unfortunately nothing came of it). Like previous teachers, he divided his class according to ability,but he had a novel and effective approach to falseas (variations): the advanced ones harmonised with the simple ones, so that both halves of the class could play together! Chaparro proved a much more reliable singer than El Pele last year, and his demonstrations of the cante were exemplary. Serrenito’s accompaniments followed him like his shadow, and, as I intimated previously, I far preferred the quict simplicity of these sessions to his ‘concert material. Serranito in Concer “The Festival concluded with a Grand Finale in the Open Air ‘Theatre featuring many of the artists already presented, plus the Cuadro Solera de Huelva flamenco company (and a first chance to hear Ben Verdery play with his wife, flautist Rié Schmidt); after which, I had only to say goodbye to many old friends, and look forward to next year. Monday 28 Friday 8 February Gala Concer for Peace Erie Hl John Williams with special guests Purcell Room ‘Royal Festival Hall 7 30pm ‘Sunday 10 February Wednesday 6 February Benjamin Verdery ‘Angel Romero Univ. Califoria at Santa Cruz, Faitfield Hal, Croydon, Surrey USA. 4.00pm 8.00pm Concerto de Aranjuez Taf: 108-420-2323, Jentone - Chanterelle Fentone Music are honoured to have been chosen as, «exclusive distbutors for Eclons Chantarelfrom January 1965 Amongst the many publications avalable are: The Guitar Works of Napoleon Coste The Complete Works of Giulio Regondi The Collected Guitar Works of Mertz Catalogue in preparation, free upon request. FENTONE MUSIC LTD. Fleming Road, Earletrees, Corby, Northants NN172SN ‘Telephone: Corby (05963) 60961 Guitar January 1985. 9Pei 7AN VU let ate US oy PTY Co LL GOYA What is it that makes our company indispensable to you if your business is Spanish guitars? MANUELM. PONCE ANDTHE GUITAR CorazénOtero 1D Rebate ‘This, the ony bograpby of Mexico'smostimportant ccompaser (and possibly the most Could it be that we stock FORTY EIGHT different models from five top makers ranging from £25 to ‘over £2000? 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New Services, ‘Guitars Bmp Sheesseny Dera (Svearantearaplense aap “tndeiakepymntby 2 Bensers Dra or erotonalbeney Gresser 6 ‘As far as accessories are concerned — hardcases, covers, footstools etc — nowhere else will you find better value for your money, Trade enquiries: Juan Teijeiro Music Co. Ltd., Alhambra House, 5 The Campsbourne, London N8 7PN. Tel: 01-348-9191 negureciaameeet pl EUROPE’S LARGEST STOCK OF SPANISH GUITARS Why not join the regulars who always expect to find something special at THE STUDIO? They are never disappointed and neither will you be. 1985 BRINGS EVEN MORE EXCITING INSTRUMENTS Hand made vihuelas by luthier Javier Rojo. Special ebony ‘Double Top' model from Manuel Contreras. ... Nuevo en esta plaza — the up and coming young luthier from Madrid, Manuel Caceras, and also Camacho, Dieter Hopf, Vilaplana, Ramirez- *Camara’, Marin Montero, Bernabé, Alvarez, Granados, Alhambra, Sanchis, Cuenca, Goya, Carmelo del Valle. SAVE TIME, SAVE MONEY: Visit the shop that really cares and understands the needs of the guitarists! HLP. FACILITIES; ACCESS & VISA CARD ACCEPTED LONDON GUITAR STUDIO Mon-Sat 16 JAMES STREET 9.30-7.00 LONDON W1 Tel: 01-493-1157 10° Guitar Jomuare 1985“I must see pictures when I compose” S$TEPAN RAK _ Interviewed by Lance Bosman Photes: Gare Clon Strange, that certain sounds which might otherwise strike the car as repellent, can have a stimulating effect in a descriptive context. The abrasive discords that jar the senses in an abstract musical setting, may stir the imagination given @ narrative form, say in that of The Miraculous Mandarin or The Rite of Spring. The orchestral outbursts and percussive eruptions that surge through these works stir up pictorial images, regardless ‘of the barbaric and pagan implications in their titles. Less vivid, but equally stimulating are the mood pieces of Delius and Debussy. The forms they created elude sharp focus, their tunes and harmonies are often vague, yet they appeal immediately through their atmospheres, impressions and moods. Instrumental effects and orchestral techniques are summoned for expressive purposes. They are dravn into compositions of tonal pictures, soundscapes, possibly as delicate as Holst’s vision of Venus or as heavy and threatening as the movement Mars. Ye, if with quite different aims, those Sonorities are chosen for their acoustic qualities only, with no descriptive associations, they may sound alien and perplexing to the listener. But used to depict a sequence of images they take on a definite meaning: they activate emotion and imagination more than exercise the intellect. This intriguing aspect of sound — its different roles hence the varied responses to it, has entered the domain of the guitar Through secking novel descriptive effects and a new sound vocabulary, the classical guitar’s acoustic capacity has been extended Way beyond its former compass of normal plucked notes, Its percussive range, originally derived from flamenco and through recent innovations, now covers crossed-string drum rolls, multistring tremolo and a new scope of tonal shades produced from muted notes and chords. Audience reaction to these developments seems to depend not so much ‘on the strength of their impact as on the extent and purpose of their application. They can disturb but may also be generally acceptable in being scintillating too. From one extreme is Pavvo Heininen’s solo piece Touching (1978) recorded by Jukka Savijoki on ‘The Contemporary Finnish Guitar’, Here « multitude of tonal-percussive techniques are stretched to breaking point in music tough and uncompromising, its ‘meaning lying within. Where similar sound elements have been applied expressly to convey tangible imagery isin a lively strain of contemporary guitar music from East Europe, particularly Czechoslovakia. A forerunner in this field, Vaclev Kucéra, heightened the emotional and revolutionary spirit of his 5-movement suite Dairio with percussive extensions and all kind of melodic distortion. Comparatively more restrained, but equally imaginative, is Jana Obrovski’s Homage to Béla Barték, One ‘memorable sequence in this piece is the rasping bass melody resulting from right-hand fingers striking the fingerboard ‘while the left counterpoints trills in the treble. More recent, and with growing favour, are the musical graphics of Koshkin and Rak. Championed by Vladimir Mikulka, these composers” works have been received by highly appreciative and, at times, infaruated audiences. Koshkin’s Prince’s Toys is already known as a vivid portrait of a fairyland tableau, drawn from a unique concoction of timbre and tone. Also coming into wider prominence is the Czech composer Stépén Rak. From present hearing, Rak’s music seems to cover a variety of styles with apparently three main thrusts. One reveals his fondness for early music, hence the Renaissance Tempration (1981). Guitar Jannary 1985 ARecalling the character and form of Iute music, this piece, however, is supercharged with tremolo and sharp dynamic contrast. Other pieces take the shape of impressionistic sketches, in particular The Sun (1981). Tracing its rise, zenith, descent and rise again — the complete circle, the sun’s ‘movements and corona are portrayed first by a slow angular melody which gradually expands into a sustained hue of arpeggiated chords and rasgueado. From quite another angle are Rak’s personal dramatic laments and essays. Often taking, initial form through improvisation, these fully exploit the tonal and percussive timbres of the guitar. Applied in a most striking way, they give rise to all manner of illustrative detail, actions and moods ranging from foreboding to frenzy, and never more remarkably than in Hiroshima (1973). ‘Suipan Rak (lf) with Lance Bosman, Cannington 1984 __ Besides improvising as an initial impetus for composing, Stepin derives inspiration by way of the analogy he draws between music and colour. Graphic art and painting, a former study, he regards as having an essential bearing on his present music. Harmony and melody are perceived not just as potential components of musical animation, they also have individual visual colours. So it’s hardly suprising that his ‘music should reach out in several directions, for there is such a diversity of impulses within i. “Byerything I do in music is affected by my years of painting studies, before I took up the guitar. It was a time when T was full of ideas, T appreciated everything, people, landscapes, atmospheres, depressions ~ everything was for me an inspiration. I ried to pur all of those feelings into my painting, and later through the camera when I took up photography asa hobby. [remember tll today all expressions, impressions from then. So now, in harmony and chords T visualise different colours; and melodies are the lines in the painting. Sometimes the colour combinations come before the sounds, sometimes the other way round. Different inversions of chords — even they are shades of one colour. I seein these chords C major 7, D major 7, nostalgia, ofthe autumn. Major ‘ths have this kind of radiance on the guitar, T chink not present in other instruments.” If these visual-aural associations can suggest the material for a composition, its actual starting point is another matter Rather than just fancfally plucking notes from the ar, ideas are consciously sought, either through improvisation of from stimuli outside music. “When an idea has formed, I keep it i mind, but during the process it might change; it changes often bbut not basicaly. IFT suddenly discover a series of promising notes I always explore them for potential. For example, The Sun started just like thiss and there are other pieces like Hiroshima, The impetus for this originated when I was asked ‘on an occasion to play some contemporary Czech music. At that time I dida’t know any so I improvised, beginning with an overlapping of strings to produce a drum rol effect. From that T though, for contrast, to give another drum roll, but in echo ‘now, on lower strings. Yet from another position the drum roll 12 Guitar January 1985 grew fom nothing to a furious full strum across all strings, two minutes long. This all began with improvisation. “I don’t believe in walking around thinking out ideas. For some pieces the idea comes just suddenly, but there are few cases lke that. Tt is more that I have learned different styles of composing, and I set out to write in these or improvise them, and the ideas come. I believe only in work and work. When T started at the Conservatory, I didn’t think T could write for ‘more than one instrument; by the time I finished I'd written for chamber orchestra. Iset myself the task of writing one page of music every day. Ifyou do what you want, then it grows.” Variety is certainly not lacking in Stépan Rak’s compositions. Casting wide, they embrace styles ofthe present day, Toccava (1970) and an astringent S-movement Suite (1974; to those of the distant past, the Renaissance Temptations. Alongside these are the up-tempo folk-slanted solos Rumanian Dance, Moorish Dance (1979), followed chronologically by the classically based Variations on a Theme by Klempire (1976). Traditionally styled, these pieces are nonetheless impressed with Rak’s personal stamp, which often ‘means injections of vibrant tremolo and incisive dynamic alterations. No more so are these demonstrated than in Cry of the Thumb, probably called as such because that's what it finishes up doing after pounding away at a bass tremolo while 4 spirited movement is sustained in the treble. Recalling the recent past are the romantically inclined Remembering Prague (1981), Stépan’s answer to the ‘Spanish Ballad’, and the swooning sentimental Romance (1981). More involved in form and content, and with several facets to them are the Spanish vocations La Guitarra, a tribute to G. Lorea; Homenaje a Francisco Tarrega (1982); Crying Guitar (1979) and First Love (ev. 1984) These pieces are dislocated in structure, the result, of mixing diverse characteristics and impressions that both blend and conflict. Incongruous references to Villa-Lobos and Térrega — that Castle in Spain looming up then receding — are set between personal melodic and harmonic touches. Overall they come across as musical montage, bearing a familiar Latin lavour yet disrupted by inner contradictions ““A listener appreciates reference points. If you include familiar musical parts it helps in understanding, it draws the audience closer. The Tarrega tremolo study, this appears in the homage to Lorea and the Crying guitar. And I like it if people are reminded of Vill-Lobos. He is such a person that you can’t miss him, so big in guitar life. Why make a lie of this. I feel a need to quote him in First Love for Villa-Lobos is also my love. That piece is not only a tribute to a girl, itis love of everything, the Villa-Lobos Ist Prelude which had a very big influence on me. My way of composing at present is such that I would like to do in music what is done in Surrealist painting, not so much Dali as the early 16th century painter Bosch. He puts ideas together which have practically no relationship. So fora piece like First Love, I feel that if I continue in the same way, it ‘would be just common, too normal, the idea would disappear, it would tell nothing. So I have enough of that ides, Thave 19 introduce another one, to find another way and put the next idea against the first. It may be an opposite idea which has nothing to do with th first, but the connection works. I place them at unexpected moments to create sharp change of feling. ‘As in Surrealism they might paint a normal room with ordinary furniture, and then place in that scene something very abnormal. In the centre ofthat room is aflame, just on its own. It doesn’t belong at all o that house, but to other fie. But it now comes very strange and so it has impact. I believe the same about music, that I put into classical melody or romantic like First Love, deliberately placed wrong notes. This hhappens with me all the time, o place the wrong note in an otherwise harmonious surrounding for new combinations, new atmospheres. Again, in the Moorish Dance, there are strange things. ike that fire in the middle ofthe room, the high speed melody is asa normal piece, but I wouldn’t say the whole wasso; there are parts within that clash and yet combine. Like Firse Love, this dance seems like a normal piece but there are reasons that make it not so.” Stépin Rak’s first contact with the guitar came through popular music. Born in Prague on 8th August 1945, it was twenty years on before he began playing, initially at night clubs prior to taking formal studies at Prague Conservatory and Academy. His first tutor was the teacher and composer Stépin Urbin, who recognised and encouraged Rak’s potential for composing. Studies continued with Zdenek His, o whom Stepan also feels deeply indebted. Since then his output has been prolific, with many picces for solo guitar and ensemble with guitar. Of these, the dramatic solo works are continually subjected to revision, reflecting the composer's chat outlook. In addition he has composed for orchestra, including a guitar concerto and a prize-winning version of Hiroshima, among other orchestral arrangenients of his solo guitar pieces. ‘A virtuoso performer, Stgpin plays the standard repertoire and unique programmes of only his own pieces, sometimes throwing in an improvisation on a theme suggested by the audience. At home he performs in ensembles and is presently ‘working on duets with the marimba player Miroslav Kokoska. Visiting England for the first time he attended Canningron Summer Schoo! where we had the opportunity to hear his views. By all accounts his manner was said beforehand to be shy and modest; well perhaps, but not when talking of his music. There is no self-deprecation then: he is confident, expresses his convictions clearly, is conscious of publicity and equal to ert "The concert at Cannington was significant in that, instead of| regurptating the trusted repertoire, he played solely his own music, As a player he is dexterous and dramtic, qualities necessary 10 meet the challenge of his pieces. Somehow the emotive gestures of his playing seem as a physical extension of the indulgence of some of his compositions. On first hearing his larger scale pieces appear over-extended, taken beyond their natural conclusions. In content too, economy sometimes goes by the board, there are so many notes, especially in the Tich tonal expanses of The Sun and Farewell Finlandia. But then, the sim was not only to portray these subjects but to imbue them with a dissipated temporal dimension, an ambience and spirit of place. “Let me say that you can construct something simply for use, with no design. Take a car, i's enough if it has four wheels, a motor and it goes — or would I prefer a Rolls Royce? Everything has its own reason. From the beginning, people try to make their house better. For example, you can see paintings in the caves of early man, a8 a personal expression in their home. I’ in the nature of people to elaborate. So if I design a chair, one that I fel personally for, Tornament it. In music it’s the same for me. First the statement just bares then T insert rmordents, then put it to counterpoint and elaborate in many other ways. Farewell Finlandia is like this, and is a form of chaconne. There is the main theme, a song, continued almost throughout, in the bass or treble, and around this is an ever- changing atmosphere which changes gradually — typical of the Northern states. Ihave been there for five years and so I now ‘understand this, the nature, and it needs ime to convey this in music. It’s not possible for me — I tried many times — to abbreviate that piece. Immediately, I abbreviate it in one area it becomes too long elsewhere. Then if I cut that, or any part, it’s too short overall, so nothing told. It needs such time, an interpretation, it’s not music for everyday. You should hear it therein its environment, be present in the church, or the rocks around Helsinki. Iti a piece of this atmosphere, not a piece for common use on all concert platforms. There are people with certain temperaments that wouldn't understand that rusicat all. Like the Italians for example, who like to move, to dance; but the kind of brooding, the reflection, is more in keeping withthe temperament of Nordic Europeans.” ‘Over natural phenomena is Stgpdn’s concern for human nature, particularly in regard to its deviant and destructive sides. Sound dramas of scenes, actions, events are emotionally and graphically described with the guitar's full acoustic palette, from the softest harmonic to arpeggiated frenzy. One example of such extremes is that mentioned, Hiroshima Opening with distant drum rolls, signifying impending doom, it escalates into a turbulent rasgueado, the ultimate carnage. Though this piece is largely selfexplanatory, others are less ‘obvious in intent. Even so, allusions are perceived from the music’s perspective, its tone colours, contrasts and mood. To convey these, some established techniques are applied, others have evolved with the music. In a liturgic manner, the Czech ‘Hymn (1979) has a widely spaced contrapuntal texture with a peculiar three-dimensional projection. The theme, a sombre dirge, is introduced with a strong bass vibrato, and is then developed as variations. In a way difficult to describe, these are first contained within the guitar, so to speak, as melodic counterpoint, and are then thrust outward as though ejected from the instrument by percussive timbres and muted tremolo. Another ominous, moody work, Voces de Profundis (Hidden Melody) written this year, also alternates sharply in texture, from furtive melody to violent chordal sweeps. Hardly a party piece, its pervading atmosphere is about as genial as that of a Black Mass. Among many effects in this piece is one in particular, a shrill, demonic chatter, produced by rubbing a spoon evenly along a treble string with the right hand, while hammering notes with the left. There’s something creepy going on in these scenes for sure, “T waned to write piece which would spk of such a terible thing! of schizophrenia from the films Paycho 1 & 2. ‘Thats why thee ae abnormal things in it, the wavering bass tin, the percussive strikes which keep breaking sto this bass which Keeps continuing. Then comes a hardly pronounced Treble courtermelody that slowly grows more din. hiss f conflict of ideas, like the waltz that enters, but distorted and Gbscured by harmonics, very mosic box and ina vague period so. tae is in the future of the guitar to do things like this, I think. And it might nspre other composers, fr there ate all sons of tmtried possibile Like in Fir Loe Tus an original idea, a thumb tremolo across two treble sing, best accomplished then the ight hand is kept rigid. There are aot of things ike this to invent; as snother instance, a thumb tremolo but now on lower stings while the upper ones are struck with fingers. ‘This ismy righthand technigue ofthe Thumb Sted. And you an also play tremolo in counterpoint. In Fit Love {produce S contrapuntal tremolo paying melodies counterpoint With the left hand in the normal. way, but withthe ght hand sounding. these. with 2 mulisting tremolo, the. fingers alternating esi upward swesps actos the Se 2nd and Ist Suings. For Renaissance Tempraions T wanted very subdued Colours fr the introduction, so the melody was played with Jas the right forefinger, welt the left of the soundhole and over the frets. Where the variations fven up, the thumb Guitar January 1985.13tremolo enters in the bass, very hard, with a superimposed melody on top. These of course are not authentic Renaissance techniques, they are my own interpretations — the ones I was tempted to write.” ‘The ultimate sim in combining these techniques and resources is to express objects, incidents, sound pictures. Even then, however illuminating the evocations, the most they can do is to allude to the subject behind the musics for sound effects are music matter, without verbal or visual powers of decription. Yet so striking are these compositions in Perspective, connotation and detail that che difference between the composer's perceptions and the listeners envisagement of them seems only that of personal interpretation Perhaps this could be illustrated in the light of the background information given after Stépén’s performance of his Last Disco (1983). Without the advantage of an explanatory narrative accompanying the programme notes, the impression gained from the actual music was of a series of events moving from light to dark, from serenity to disaster. The soft, lullaby tune at the opening is gradually overridden by an advancing rock riff, building up aggressively to an obvious confrontation, This is followed by an urgent, oscillating wail and then a sombre, apparently funereal, death scene in deep counterpoint with harmonics signifying the tolling of muffled bells. Then the soft opening melody returns, but this time against the rumbling echoes of rock riffs. Uneasily on these the music fades out. The feeling of open-ended form here, as we discovered, reflected the inconclusiveness of the actual tragedy Gepicted in this piece. After its performance there lingered a sense of indictment surrounding the music, that an act of folly had taken place, but with no happy ending and no lessons learned. “If [could say I was satisfied with any of my compositions, it would be with this piece. It relates to a true story which happened about five years ago. A gicl was abandoned by her New r= STEPAN RAK (Available end of January) ‘This composer's most important works THE SUN THE LAST DISCO HOMAGE TO TARREGA (each app. 1Smins duration) {44 page album including Rak’s notes on interpretation. £6.95 inc. pip ‘Available from your local music shop or direct ‘rom the publishers: Musical New Services Ltd. ‘Guitar House, Bimport, ‘Shaftesbury, Dorset. parents, lived with her grandparents outside town. They lived in isolation and when they died she was left completely alone. At the age of fifteen she went to Prague and tried to locate her father. When she found him he was a criminal, and even he tried to misuse her. So with no family contact, and innocent and shy, she found herself in the middle of Prague drawn into discos, drinking all night, going with different men. But inside she was always the same girl. In one disco two men fought over her, and when she tried to placate them one killed her. This is a true tragedy of recent times. “The music begins with her life in youth, a slow soft tune in harmonics, nursery-like. Then from this is another distant, ‘ominous thud, a rock beat that gets louder signalling the approach to the disco. I got the idea for this rock sequence from John Duarte’s Sua Cosa, and variations of it convey scenes and images of rock night spots and atmospheres. From the initial rock motif it builds to crescendo of intensity leading to the death thrust. The call of an ambulance is heard and a sigh, the last breath is conveyed with a slow bass and a sigh, the last breath of conveyed with a slow bass glissando, From there the funeral scene follows, a descending ‘bassline, dark colours. And to contrast, the disco beat retums, imposing itself again, determined. Why it didn't end at the death scene is because life carries on and so does the decadence. So it ends just a$ it starts, with the soft melody of, youth against a background of that distant rock rif. “But such stories T have for nearly all pieces of mine: @ programme with a series of episodes. The thought for Hiroshima was tong in mind because I was born on the th August 1945, two days after Hiroshima and one before Nagasaki, So I always meant to express my ascent into life at the same time as many thousands died in a different place on Earth. It was somehow a duty to write this piece, I had to, but it was much later, with the initial improvisation, that the form took place. “Tcan’t write music just for effects; it is always for a reason, a realisation of something inside. My painting pastime is strongly joined to this: thet I can’t imagine writing music without a picture, Whether abstract or concrete, I must sce pictures when I compose. From the point of view of doing a concert of only my own pieces, I know that some of these may be criticised, like the easily sold Remember Prague, But if 1 play only those involved works, it would exhaust the audiences? ears. A standard programme comprises different styles, and therefore so does mine. I also play classical programmes, but I wanted to introduce myself in England as a composer-performer. In that role I would like to be know FOR SALE PANORMO, rosewood, ebony, original and playable conditions, Labelled "sold at Portland Warehouse — 125 Great Portiand Street, Regent Street, London”. Phone best offer to Gosport (0705) 582587 a ae“There's a lot of pseudo-scientific Jargon around” JOHN MACK talks about making guitars Story & Photos by George Clinton ‘At the Salisbury Guitar Festival this year John Mack displayed an interesting contraption which many took to be a sort of executive luthier’s tension relief toy. Actually it was a purposefully built ‘model’ successfully showing how the guitar bridge really works. John built it to satisfy his own curiosity as to what actually happens to the bridge when moved by the plucked string. ‘Apart from the functioning bridge model, John has rigged ‘up a gadget for plucking the string, (not that he can’t play, he’s ‘a teacher and the main guitar force in Marlborough, but his plucking machine enables him to observe at close quarters.) His fret spacing jig, invented some years ago, is marketed by Stentor and used by not a few makers, (one maker reported to John recently that a customer, playing the guitar he was collecting, claimed the guitar’s tuning was the most perfect he had ever heard!) So I wasn’t surprised a bit when, calling to see John I found him in the act of weighing a guitar table, using @ ‘very delicate looking instrument. “I was lucky to get hold of this,” said the guitar maker/cum boffin as he made a minute adjustment to the scale, “it’s an ornithological spring balance for weighing song birds up to the size of @ thrush — 200 grams — s0 it’s ideal for a table.” (How appropriate, especially in view of the song-like quality of the Mack guitar.) “ve been weighing my wood for a long time, with the table and the ‘bridge I think it's especially crucial.” John explained that he was searching for a more tangible yardstick in judging thickness than mere feel, and anyway, the thickness of his tables, governed by the density, thus weight, ‘most times agreed to his traditional training in feel, and where the two differed the weight factor turned out to be the consistent positive element. When you talk to a maker like John Mack it's tempting to get his opinion on many of the holy cows one comes across; like a heavy bridge gives good sustain and some guitars ‘project’ sound more to the back than the front. “There are so many hoary half-truths when you start reading about guitar making, and so much pseudo-scientific jargon around. For example, lots of books tell you that the zensallones {the little blocks fixing the top to ribs) ought to be well spaced ut to make the top more flexible. Now if you think about it, the opposite is true because the guitar front is vibrating a bit like « loudspeaker diaphragm and the speaker diaphragm is held to a surrounding steel ring . .. 0 that it has something to vibrate against. Thinking about this idea recently 1 made my tentellones out of the heaviest wood I had — massaranduba — instead of the traditional pine, and the guitar was a good one. ‘Of course, it could have been a good guitar if I had used more traditional wood. Tl have more idea of the success or otherwise of the heavy wood when I repeat the experiment, but what the heavy wood does is to give a big moment of inertia around the outside. I don't want the outside to move, it’s the ‘middle I want to be flexible, "The other myth: heavy bridges encourage long sustain and light bridges tend to loudness without much sustain? You ty putting on a L4lb bridge and see how much sustain you get! ‘Another way of looking at that is if you pluck a note and them ‘damp the string, the bridge would go on vibrating and the instrument would still sound. Well, it doesn’t work like that, does it? And if it did it would be awful because the bridge ‘would continue to vibrate after the note had changed, In truth the bridge is driven by the string — it’s not vibrating on its John Mace ith his model “Recently at Bristol University, they did an interesting experiment with a ‘cello, which had a bearing on this weight business. They lifted the bridge on a metal gantry until it was no longer in contact with the instrument. They played the ‘cello and it sounded not as loud, but quite reasonable, and they concluded that as the bridge wasn’t conducting the vibrations to the body, it was the flexing of the body and neck ‘which takes up the vibrations ofthe string. Then they put the bridge back but inhibited the flexing by the use of big metal Guitar January 1985 38blocks, and still it sounded reasonable. What they should have done was to have the bridge off and clamp the ends as wel “L may be completely wrong, but lots of guitar makers try and work on the idea of having a bass and a treble side, having an angled crossbar. The extreme being the Kasha system with its big lump of bridge on the bess side and a lighter bit on the treble. I don't go along with that at all, because surely, every part vibrates to every note. You can hear this if you put your car on the rib, whether you play bass or treble. The whole system has to be able to respond to the whole range. It’s an impossible equation to solve. “Tthink you make good guitars by thinking these things out. ‘You can make a good guitar by chance, but if you make a lot of ‘g0od guitars you stand much more chance of making a superb uitar. There is so much that we don’t know about the guitar ‘The violin people are street ahead of us. They know, for ‘example, that if the resonant frequencies of the front and back plates are a semitone apart it doesn’t guarantee that you make ‘good violin but you are in the right direction. In other words they have found out nearly all good violins have got the characteristic. Where do we start with the guitar? We haven't got anything like that. “Idon’t understand this idea about certain guitars projecting ‘more to the back of the hall than to the front. There isa certain sound or volume in terms of decibels which radiates outwards and the only way you can make sound project is to have the medium channelling the sound in a certain area. A guitar, by its nature, docs this to some extent but suggesting that you can hear a guitar better at the back than the front doesn’t tie up with even a basic understanding of sound movement. People seem to think that the guitar is an amplifier, but I don't agree, because if you think in terms of an electric ‘amplifier that picks up a signal, more energy is added to the signal by mains or a battery, and is then pumped out at a higher level, than it went in at. Now with a guitar, you can never get out of it more than you put in. You put in a certain amount of energy with the finger phucking the string and what BRENTWOOD GUITAR STUDIO ‘7 Coptfold Road, Brentwood, Essex (Nr. Multi Storey ‘Car Park) Telephone: 0277-22694 sv sok the wide cet of punish Guitar in Be ‘CONTRERAS, RAMIREZ, CUENCA,SANCHIS, ALHAMBRA, ‘GOYA, FIESTA from (31.5010 £108 (WIDE RANGE OF STRINGS & MUSIC FOR ALL TASTES AND GRADED ALBUMS 1-4 for GUITAR (DEALER ENQUIRIES WELCOME) Ie ewer 16 Guitar January 1985 you get out is actually less than that. What you are doing with the guiter is that the string vibrates a very big distance comparatively, but because ofthe surface area, it only pushes a tiny litte bit of air and that transfers to the table of the guitar where the large surface area pushed a large amount of air, but only a litte distance, so we have a string pushing something a long way, transferring to a table pushing something a little ‘way, But the two amounts of energy have got to balance and of course, you never manage with any mechanical system to get ‘out what you put in because of losses due to friction and so on. ‘What we mekers don’t know is how much less do we get out than was put in. If we knew the efficiency, for example, is it ‘equal output to input, i.e. 100 per cent? Or is it 9/10ths output to input, ic. 90 per cent? So this is where the scientists can help us to determine the efficiency of the guitar. It’s very easy to measure the input of a guitar, but very difficult to measure the output. So if we could get a reading back from the scientists, saying the guitar is, say, 95 per cent efficient, then ‘we, as guitar makers, would know we were following @ false trail trying to make louder guitars. If that was the case, then ri tensipna reik reed zo Ibs Forces acting on bridge: Altering saddle height alters proportions of A-B; als sce of C & D. String tnsion at vest = 20s. the only way to look at making a louder guitar would be to look at the input side. Perhaps we should even re-think the stringing. Having been stuck with nylon strings now for 45 ‘years, nobody seems to have done much research. People have accepted that nylon is the best and only material to use, but I am not so sure, Having listened to some old Segovia records think that turning to nylon strings in some ways was a backwards step. (Both Segovia and Bream have commented on the superior sound of gut strings — Editor.) “The crux of making a good guitar is the correct balance between weight and stiffness of the top. The fixed tension of the string produces a rotating force on the bridge, tipping the front down and the back up. When the string is plucked, the tension of the string is increased, and it comes back to a static state again, and then it is increased on the other side as the string is vibrated from one side to the other. This increases the tilting force on the bridge so, twice in one cycle, the bridge is tilted down at the front and up at the back. The force which pushes the bridge back up again is the whole springiness of the system, created partly by the dishing of the front itself, partly by the fan strutting and partly by the bridge. When people say the function of the fan strutting is to carry the frequencies across the table — and some very reputable guitar makers say this to me — it seems to me to be piflle. The function of the fan strutting is two-fold, one is to support the tremendous static forces on the guitar and the other is to push the bridge ‘back up once it has been pushed down, in conjunction with the stiffness ofthe bridge and the siffhess of the table itself. So the whole system has got to be in balance. If you think about it, you can only get the system perfect for one particular frequency, and people who say they make the perfect guitar don’t really understand thet it is not possible to make theperfect guitar. This is because you have a system designed to work over a very large scale of frequencies — if you include the overtones of the instrument — not to be perfect for one particular frequency. I built the model because I wanted to see what forces were working. There are all sorts of funny things that happen ifyou alter the angle ofthe string across the bridge saddle. There are different forces working on the bridge, and the proportion of the forces alters from one thing to another — when you alter the angle of the bridge saddle, also when you alter the height of the bridge saddle above the table, Not many people have experimented with the bridge since Torres, and I think if there is any weak link in the chain of things that happen with the guitar, the bridge is where we ought to look. ‘The contact between the bridge and the bridge saddle, to my rind, is very unsatisfactory; so is the way the string works on the top of the bridge saddle. In John Taylor’s very good book (Tone Production on the Classical Guitar) he says if you pluck, the string in a vertical plane above the guitar table, you get @ better sound than if you pluck it sideways, because you are only pushing the guitar table up and down one way. Icouldn’t, really accept this. When you pull the string sideways you are only tilting the angle very slightly. If you look, the angle is so, litle different and yet the sound is quite different. I made a ‘mechanical plucker to test this. You do get a difference in tone quality in the two methods of plucking. This puzzled me for a Jong time, think the answer is that when you pluck the string ‘Sideways, itis rolling to and fro along the bridge saddle and BLACKBURN GUITAR STUDIO Classicals from £45, Ramzez, EB. Jones, RE. Spain, Contreras, Dieter Hopf, Sanchis, Cuenca, Goya, Granados, Electrics & Acoustics, Fender, Gibson, Westone, Ibanez, fete Amps, Pedals, Music, Cases, Accessories, Personal Service. Visit THE SPECIALISTS, {41 Preston New Road, BLACKBURN, LANCS. (above Post Office) Tel (0254) 665905, J “What I've been talking about is my own small attempt at looking at the way the guitar works. Some of the ideas may not be true, but until the scientist comes up with a better explanation T'll stick to my own ideas. At least I question everything I've read and learnt over the last dozen years, and I try to rationalize everything I do. In the end though, you can still wake up and realize you know nothing.” ‘Those words are typical of John Mack's almost self-effacing modesty. He shouldn’t worry too much though, for through his constant re-thinking, his guitars, always fine, are now examples ofthe finest. A fine Mack belonging tothe Eat: stich THE GUITAR STUDIO Heanor, Derbyshire Guitar's by Ramirez, Contreras. Hopf. Cuenca, ‘Sanchis, Granados, Goya, Fiesta, prices from £50, ‘Also SIH Michael Gee guitar £375. Classical guitar tuition, music, strings, accessories. ‘Telephone 0773-76881 Guitar Janay 1985.17PIXINGUINHA CARLOS BARBOSA-LIMA The Brazilian composer Alfredo de Rocha Vienna Junior, “Pixinguinha”, was born on April 23, 1898, in the district of Piedade, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The surname “Pixinguinha” came up after he got the disease bexiga (small- pox) during the epidemic that raged in Rio at the beginning of the century. He started being called “Bexinguinha”” at that time — the diminutive adds an affectionate touch in the Brazilian tradition — and, after that, “Pixinguinha”. His family, however, used to call him “Pezinguim”, the surname given him by his Affican grandmother, a word that, in her original language, meant “good boy". At the age of eleven, Pixinguinha was already playing cavagninko — a small guitar with four strings, played with the plectrum mostly. Among the chorées (great ‘“choros” players) of that time, he composed his first piece called Lava de Leite (a can of milk), which was a choro, By the time he was fourteen, he was playing the flute at the beer pub “La Concha” fom p.m. until midnight, still wearing short pants; this was his first job. At that time, he made his first record. A year later he was conducting ensembles of Brazilian music. In 1914 he published Polka Dominante his first big hit, Five years later, in a famous local controversy with Sinhé, he ‘composed, in collaboration with his brother China, the equally successfial samba Ja te Digo(I'm telling you). In 1922, with the ensemble Os Oito Barutas (The Bight Buddies), he visited Paris for six months. He was enormously successful and was enthusiastically received by the French audiences for his virtuosity as a flautist and for helping gain wider recognition for Brazilian popular music in the world’s music centre of those days, Pixinguinha was 2 multifacet’ musician — singer, percussionist, flautist, saxophonist, composer, orchestrator, arranger and conductor. I's difficult to decide which was Pixinguinha’s most accomplished skill, since his wide-ranging. musicianship led him to cover many areas of music. The significance of his contribution to Brazilian music was such that Mario de Andrade — a major musicologist and art critic in Sao Paulo, in his book Macunaima, made Pixinguinha his main character, in the chapter describing a scene of macuomba (voodoo). Pixinguinha appears in the work as “Ogam”, player of atabaque (a percussive African instrument), a Black son of Ogum, “Bexigento” (with smallpox) and player of fado by rofession, PTAs composer, Pixinguinha made a remarkable contribution in establishing Brazilian music in its different aspects and directions. Some of his songs made a strong impact in Brazilian culture, sung throughout generations around the country and played by all kinds of combinations of instrumental ensembles. Among others, we can mention Carinhoso, Lamento, Rosa, Ingénuo, Pagina de Dor, Cochichando, ete ‘The songs Carinhoso and Roso, recorded by singer Orlando Silva in the late 1930s, made a hit in Brazil comparable with the one’s of Antonio Carlos Jobim, a few decades later. Pixinguinha was admired and hailed by great Brazilian musicians such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ernesto Nazareth, ‘rancisco Mignone, Radamés Gnattali, Bleazar de Carvalho; and abroad by jazz musicians including Louis Armstrong. Pixinguinha learned and mastered the saxophone, under Armstrong's influence, introducing and establishing it in Brazitian popular music. In Brazil, Pixinguinha wrote scores for several musical plays. (equivalent to the Broadway productions in U.S.) and-for two movies. Interested in the guitar, Pixinguinha had the collaboration of Jofo Pernambuco in his ensemble “Os ito Batutas”. Pixinguinha took part in many radio programmes in Rio, as flutist or saxophonist in duo with guitarist Laurindo Almeida, between the late 1930's and carly 1940's. In the late 1950’s, Pixinguinha introduced guitasist/composer Baden Powell, as his protegé, to the Brazilian audiences, I was fortunate to have met Pixinguinha in my early teens through Brazilian television, and he encouraged me most enthusiastically together with the great Brazilian mandolinist, Jacob. When Pixinguinha died, in 1975, all Brazil mourned him. At his funeral, more than two hundred thousand people were present singing Carinhoso, his most famous tune, as a final tribute to their beloved composer New Handsome Binders in stock Fle your precious copyot Gutar'n 7 an Easibinder a3 soon as you receive \ wth grey pinsea withthe tile a ‘Guitar gald blocied over bus Price £478. ep Cheques’ PO's sould be Guitar, Quiter House, Bimport Shaftesbury. Dorset. (Oversoas"reacers plea 3640p and moke payment by 2 Barkers raft or NO string Bolton-Guitar-Studio AA Uwe Er el ee] 3K atfine range of classical and Blectric guitars by Sanchis, Cuenca, Goya, Contreras, Asturias, eS ee a fe offer a quick efficient mail order ser res an Serene ee eam eee ivan rome 18 Guitar January 1985Carinhoso Arranged for guitar by ALFREDO VIANNA Carlos Barbosa-Lima (Affectionate) (Pixinghuina) antro.) Lento, declamato com un'poco rubato Psonoro e legato cantato il basso gv z om = quasi rit, e Tz bi 4 oo4 5 ©: ~ crese. oe =——. Preludiando, liberamente sempre legato ae Poco pitt mosso e un poco rubato (= 57-60) pee, 4 Pot m a ‘tise 2 4 aes 7 i” = 7 © stmamente al ‘a sonore poco ral. : @® crv-——_—_, as ‘Tempo ( d= 54) rd ba 2 pO FS gn, 7 4 i H i ' dim. p molto espressivo crese. oF 7 © Copyright 1985 by Carlos Barbosa-Lima — Guitar January 1985 19poco rit. eS te & of r iy dim. 7 2 arpeggio senza rigore di tempo a my ipctamsate Seen = (CLV) oy ° cy 3 b io eI 7 ¢ P sempre calmo sonoroe legato ——— cI co», @ @ opt oe he bi 7 4 f molto espressivo 20° Guitar January 1985¢vI—>_cvn: aN, cr 4 (cv) CvI——\ >= @® bd 2 TE a eco Qatempe VE a t t Bo pore omen a, ety ost or tts 1 vided c1— CN te jaa ae 7D 2. atempo i # Se 43 Zz game, nS D.M. al-? cantato 1s O08 ® 19 Guitar Jomary 1985 24THE TWELFTH CANNINGTON INTERNATIONAL GUITAR SUMMER SCHOOL 3-10 AUGUST 1985 Musical Director: John W. Duarte Deputy Director: Chris Kilvington Tutors: Frances Guest Artist: Jukka Savijoki (Finland) evening concerts. Excellent social f please write for brochure giving full details to: GUITAR SUMMER SCHOOL fonso Montes, Neil Smith, Luis Zea S: class and individual tuition/ensemble playing/lectures/afternoon and ies and a well-stocked music shop. ALFRED A. KALMUS LTD. 2-3 Fareham Street (Dean Street), London W1V 4DU. LUIZ BONFA, and COLE PORTER ‘THE ENTERTAINER and selected works by SCOTT JOPLIN ‘These excellent records are available at £6.99 each from Musical New Services Ltd, Guitar House, Bimport, Shaftesbury, Dorset. 22° Guitar January 1995 OYA The Economic Guitar from Spain These outstanding instruments are already proving to be of great help to teachers who wisely want to initiate their students on a solid top guitar. The range has now been increased to six full size models and prices starting as low as £44 make them an ideal solution for teachers who have students with small budgets. Every guitar is test played and adjusted before leaving the warehouse. GOYA has proved to be not only a good choice but the ONLY choice for the discerning buyer. Trade enquiries to: Juan Teijeiro Music Co. Ltd., Alhambra e, 5 The Campsbourne, London N8 PN. ‘Tel: 01-348-9191TRAVELS IN CHINA Being an account of a concert tour in the Republic of China by the French guitarist, Jean-Pierre Jumez. The last episode in this series of notes from the journal of Jean Pierre — the construction and tuning the P'-P’a — delights of the performances — comments om the desire to hear music ith human dimension — farewells A linear development that started 1500 years ago, is the main justification for the present technique of playing the p’-p’a. I cannot help but think that our guitar never benefitted from ‘more than 200 years of continuity. The methods used are, therefore, quite distinct from ours. For instance, instead of plucking the string in one direction, as we restrain ourselves in doing, the p'-p’a player will use each finger twice: up (p'i) and down (p’a) getting a slightly different sound respectively. Thus achieving a variety of timbres doubled up, 2s compared to ours. A wide modulation can be obtained, therefore, even ifthe general effect differs from the guitar, mainly because of the compactness ofthe instrument. Furthermore, when going through Iran, 2.000 years ago, the instrument gained another feature: The fretboard, instead of being lat, is convexed between each fret (the frst four frets are the ivory handle itself), the following ones are pieces of hard ‘wood glued to the table.) ‘The result is that each note can be augmented, up to a tone and a half, by lateral distortion (as on the sitar) thus producing effects unknown to the guitarist. The basic tuning is E A B E. The octave is divided into 12 half tones, evoking the signs of the Zodiac, and 12 allegorical animals, Before serenading me, the young girl gives me a lengthy description of the poem depicted in the piece. The reduced size of the instrument serves only better the grace and femininity of the music interpreter. ‘The great Chinese master, Liu De-Hlui hes been struck by the span of sound colours which I endeavour to use on the guitar. He is interested in the challenge and attempts to give me a demonstration of his capacities in the field. Everything I know is obviously known to him as well: he uses drum effects, flute sounds, harmonics, metallic nuances and many other striking elements, The tremolos are particularly impressive, Spanish Guitar Centre (MIDLANDS AREA) Pe orien hate apn EHS) ‘We continue to offer the most comprehensive stock of music, strings & accessories inthe County witha extremely ecient mail erder service (Catalogue & Price list £150). Our Sclstion of guitars isslao on ofthe finest including: Ainsworth, Alhambra, Alvarez, ‘Aram, Booth, Fleeson (aso Late), Arcangel Fernandes (ecolecors tem), Gee, Jones, 2 {Sra ol noth Marsa Ny Gals, Ramirez, Roberts, Tamura (10 ing), Tatay, ~ Vilaplana (Flamenco), Welford et SPANISH GUITAR CENT “4 Nettngham Road, New Basford, Notngham. (Ne. it 26.Mt) Tel 622708 due to the “return” technique. Why not do it on the guitar? With our six strings, so close together, it would be difficult to achieve, Come to think of it, Ihave always wondered whether in music, width did not affect depth? All Arab classical music, for instance, is contained in practically one octave, without any polyphonical pretension, but what richness one discovers when the subtle divisions (unlimited) are perceived and identified! Yet how mediocre does it become when accompaniments are added, in the Western fashion. How fascinating is the sound of a solo violin, be it in the West, or in India! Compare the arpeggios of a diatonic harp (Paraguayan or Celtic) to those, more complex of its chromatic equivalent, all laden with mechanisms? And what about the burst of a hunting horn next to the sterilized sound of the harmony horn? ‘Add four strings to the guitar (to make it a ten string guitar), you will obtain a better belance, no doubt, increased possibilities — I will not deny that, but the soul is just not the same. Has anybody thought of adding a couple of strings to the viotin? I would not be surprised if the popularity of the guitar is partly the result of a desire to hear music of a more human dimension, As the p'i-p’a demonstration continues, my breath becomes shorter and I realize how fortunate it was that I had the sense not to be condescending toward my admirers. Thinking back on the film showing an almost arrogant Isaac ‘Stern in China, I see how ill-advised he had been, what poor ‘understanding and lack of prudence! Other young people delight me with works full of delicacy and virtuosity. All conspired to impress me! Unfortunately though, time is up. Liu De-Hiui presents me with his recording of a pirp’a concerto he has played with the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Seiji Ozawa (who was born in China). Guo-Ping sweats under the strain of translating all the aesthetic comments we exchange before reluctantly leaving. Finally I am given a magnificent old painting, depicting, of course, 2 Indy p'cp’a player. The charming young guitarist Presents me with a fan chiselled in fragrant sandalwood, We drop by the Peking Hotel, where Gro-Ping, floored by ‘my clumsiness in packing, fishes a music score from under the bed and a shoe from the tub, and under my admiring eyes, ‘manages to shut my suitcases. Lunch with the Cultural Counsellor. Fruitful conversation: my experiences “in situ” versus his official contacts, not less relevant. Beijing Airport, 18th March, 1983. ‘The Committe: took the trouble to accompany me for the last farewell — guitarists, p'i-p’a players, officials, journalists, and of course, Guo-Ping who desparately tries to spare me the cruel verdict of the airline on my excess (but not excessive) luggage. ‘And when crossing to the transit lounge, cheered by everybody, including the custom officers and the policemen, I sadly realize that the trip back will seem long without the fascinating stories of my travel companion. Subscribe to Guitar ‘See page 54 for det Guitar January 1985. 23A Classic Combination DAVID TANENBAUM & DADDARIO Guitarist David Tanenbaum is recognized by the press and the public as an exciting artist and master ofthe gular He isthe win her of the First Prize in tne 1977 Carmel Classic Guitar Festival Competition. David Tanenbaum has appeared throughout the United States, Canada and Europe in recitals, master cassesand with orchestra. He has been heard as solo'st withthe Chicago Symphony and San Fransisco Symphony erchestras, and with the vottrey Ballet during ther histor 1ou ofthe Sovet Union, in the fal of 1962 Allen Hughes of ne New York Times wrote that David "piayed so musicaly and so expressively that the listener Was led directly to the essonce of each composer”, ana Heuwell Tieuit of the San Francisco Crronicle said his “whole recital ‘came as close to perfection ashas been heard from a guitarist within memory.” Oavid Tanenbaum is {currently onthe faculy othe San Francisco Conservaioly of Music, David Tanenbaum uses D'Addario Strings. 10 {= Wigmore Hall J Berar nt eee ee Ered Sunday 13 January at 730 pm Yoshi lwanaga guitar 4.S.Back: Solo Cello Suite no. 1 BWV 1007, Solo Violin Sonata no. 1 BWV 1001; Stephen Dedgsons Partita no. 1; Freissnegg: Variations on The Trout by Schubert; Rodrigo: Invocation and Dance; Dyens: Saudade no. 3. £4.80, £3.50, €2.50, £2.00 Friday 18 January at 7.30 pm Amsterdam Guitar Trio Johan Dorrestein, Helenus de Rijke, Olga Franssen. Vivaldi: Auturnn from The Four Seasons; Muntrakul: Collections for three guitars (1983); Bibertan: New Work; 4.S.Bach: Bradenburg Concerto no. 8 BWV 1051; Chiel fi he Insects are coming (1963) £4.50, £3.50, £2.50, £2.00 ‘Sunday 27 January at 7.30 pm Julian Bream guitar Tippett: Sonata: The Blue Guitar (19831; Sor: Fantasie op 30; Mompou: Suite Compostelana; Granados: 3 Danzas espafioles; Music by Weiss and L. Albéniz. Stalls AL! £7.50; M-T, AA, BB: £6.00; UX £3.50; Balcony: £6.00 Limit of two tickets per person, on sale ‘rom 27 December (mailing ist 20 December) Friday 1 February at 7.30pm Sergio and Odair Assad guitar duo Sor: Fantasie op 54; Rodrigo: Tonadile; Rameau: 5 Pieces; Piazzolla: Tango Suite; Music by Castelnuovo: Tedesco, Dowland and Gnatalli £4.50, £3.50, €2.50, £2.00 26 Guitar Yannary 1085 THREE OF THE BEST (From John Duarte) CLASSIC GEORGE GERSHWIN {A Fogay Day, Embraceable you, Fascinating Rhythm, How Lang Has ‘This Been Ging Oa?, Love Is Here To Stay, Love Walked In, Nice Work It Cpe Geren Summertime, The Man I Love, They L Can't Take Taat Away From Me. CLASSIC JEROME KERN The Way You Look Tonight, They Didn't Believe Me, All Tae Things Are ‘You, Dearly Beloved, Smoke Gets In ae ‘Your Eyes, I'm Old Fashioned, Long. Boot ys a Hp ee GAY Berson The ls Who neon Nema Wore JAzz & POPULAR SONGS Spanish Harlem, Ain’ Mishehevin, The Girl Next Doct, Taking A Chance On Love, Lullaby Of Birdland, Eleanor Righy, Basin Suet Blues, On The ‘Sunny Side OF"The Street, Far Away Places, What A Wonderful World, (They Long To Be) Close To You, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, ‘When Sunny Gets Biue, Stardust, Fy ‘MeTo The Moon, [Fall In Love Too Easily, Days OF Wine And Roses, Sophisticated Lady, Stormy Westher, ‘The Gil From Ipanema, £3.95 EACH Available from Musical New Services Ltd., Guitar House, ‘Bimport, Shaftesbury, Dorset, WE ARE SPECIALISTS IN GUITAR RECORDS: CLASSICAL - JAZZ - FLAMENCO - FOLK LATIN AMERICAN - BLUES - RAGTIME Also large stocks of Lute and Mandolin Records. Dave Barcock, 9 The Drive, Kinsley, Northampton “Folephone (0604) 715414RECORDINGS ‘Weare, so we are being persuaded to believe, at a watershed in the history of recording: the compact, laser-read disc is about to sweep all before it. Whether or not the concomitant benefit to fidelity will encourage us to junk our present, considerable collections of primitive vinyls, not to mention the costly hardware needed for their reproduction, remains to be seen. ‘There is of course the alternative solution, merely to add the new equipment, swallow hard and shell out the astronomical sums currently being asked for compact discs — coexisten Everyone must find his/her own answer. There is not too much to tempt the simple collector of guitar music yet, though the situation will no doubt change, as also the asking prices. Over 30 years ago a similar decision about long-playing versus shellac 785 had to be faced; later, without drastic expenditure, stereo versus mono. We all encompassed these changes, thongh technical problems caused the early death of discs at 16.67 and even 8.33 r.p.m., and sales-resistance did likewise for quadrophonic sound. However the situation may resolve itself, there remain interesting facets of reproduction per se, irrespective of the intervening technology. ‘The artist who made one of the old 78 r.p.m. discs (I've seen cylinders only in museums) had to sit/stand there until he/she got it right; if it went wrong you couldn't patch it up. How ‘many runs this took determined whether the performance on the disc was fresh and spontaneous or lack-lustre through tiredness. Sometimes a compromise would be made, the odd slip allowed to pass in order to preserve an otherwise golden interpretation; thus you will hear Segovia’s finger slip in his early (1927) recording of the Sonatina of Torroba. Nowadays it is commonplace to splice tapes, the issued recording being patched together from God knows how many different takes, though a few artists are very capable of getting it right at the first or second take, without need for such surgery. It might be argued that this is artificial, producing a performance that never was, which, though true, is not quite the point. There are few guitar concerts in which the player's fingers do not go astray at least once, but we still enjoy them if the performance is good enough in its totality; in a way we may say that they more truly represent the artistas he/she is. A friend (who shall be nameless), soon before making his first disc, told me: ‘I will not allow any splices. When I die, shall I present God with an John Duarte edited tape of my life?” Admirebly honest — but misguided, as hhe came to accept before the recording took place. In a concert, a slip is made and it passes; like the concert as a whole, one hears it only once. The same slip in a recording is heard every time the dise is played, one comes to wait for it and it becomes an irritation. ‘Live’ recordings (how does one record a dead artis?) are particularly subject to such flaws, though if none ‘occurs then one has the benefit of a spontaneous performance, not primarily directed at the microphones. The recording studio can be oppressive to many players (not just guitarists) and re-takes to eliminate mistakes can produce cumulative tension, leading to inhibited and careful performances. A concert performance, which is not ‘for posterity’, need not generate the same counterproductive tension. ‘There is another aspect of recordings that is more difficult to deal with, though not for the performer. Music is not ‘close: order drill’ and its essence is the variety of treatments any one piece can receive from various artists, or even the same artist at different times. No one recording can give variety, not can it be regarded as The Perfect and Only Way of playing a piece, yet if one has only one version of it in ones collection it may ‘become just that, through sheer familiarity. The risk, to which amateurs and hero-worshippers are the most vulnerable, is hard to evade even if one is aware of it. About 40 years ago I ‘learned’ the Brahms Violin Concerto through innumerable playings of Heifetz’ recording of it on 785 (which I still have) and today, though I know how stupid it is, I am still mildly irritated when I hear others deviate from it, no matter how excellently. Beyond being one’s guard there is nothing one can do about it except to have several versions on the shelf, which may be beyond the resources (or wish) of most people; the temptation to expand the range of ones recorded music, rather than the multiplicity of versions of any one piece, is oe SIN CoN UNE Roe eS ARANTUEZ: Classi Silvor ‘ARANTUEZ: Classic Gold ARANTUEZ: Spanish Silver AARANTUEZ: oncert Silver ‘ARANJUEZ: Concert Gold DADDARIO:Proarte, Normal DADDARIO:Pro-Arto. Herd Tense ‘AUGUSTINE: Gold AUGUSTINE: Silver AUGUSTINE: Red e440 e440 £5.50 £550 AUGUSTINE: luo ‘AUGUSTINE: Imperial Blue TABELLA: Flamenco TABELLA: Concert LABELLA: Golden Superior ABELLA: Noise Foo FRONTLINE: Normal Tension FRONTLINE Hard Tension FRONTLINE: Ball End CONCERTISTE: Forte (CONGERTISTE: Famanco sas e405 35 1078 JUSTINE.CONCERTISTE:X-Forto £5.75 Tie baying sine now! $5.25 e625 S600 e400 S810 e335 £30 fs fas £4.93 SAVAREZ: Supe ss. SAVAREZ: Low fs40 SAVAREZ: Cristal. High Tension £5.60 SAVAREZ: Cristal Sigh £3.00 ersten DANIEL MARL Nermal Tension OMEGA: Normal Tension £2.05 #75 esas POST FREE Cheques PO's should be crossed and made payable to: Musical New Services Ltd, Guitar House, Shaftesbury, Dorset. (Overseas readers please add 50p per set) Guitar Faruary 198525