Programs
Proposals for concert programs
According to the situation and the amount of time available, I think carefully about what I would like to play, in which combination, and in which order. As an illustration, what follows are some possibilities for my concert programs.
My Segovia program, which appears on my cd Segoviana, is a good place to start, because you can listen to excerpts from that recording on this website. The story here is the influence that the young and ambitious Spaniard had on the guitar as a solo concert instrument; he demonstrated that it was every bit the equal of the conventional classic instruments, in both solo and ensemble settings.
SEGOVIANA, the music of Andrés Segovia (1893-1987)
Granada - Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
Dolor (Prélude Basque) - Padre Donostia (1886-1956)
Sérénade - Gustave Samazeuilh (1877-1967)
Segovia - Albert Roussel (1869-1937)
Mazurka - Manuel M. Ponce (1882-1948)
'Folia de España' : theme, 9 variations and fugue - Manuel M. Ponce
INTERMISSION
Andantino from Sonatina - Federico Moreno Torroba (1892-1982)
Nocturne - Federico Moreno Torroba
Estudio sin luz - Andrés Segovia
Sonata Opus 77, 'Omaggio a Boccherini'
(allegro con spirito - andantino, quasi canzone - tempo di minuetto - vivo ed energico)
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968)
(Encore: Manuel M. Ponce - Estrellita)
Sample hour-long midday concert
Played on my 1927 Hauser guitar, fully restored, with gut strings.
G. Frescobaldi (1583-1643) Aria con variazioni
Transcription by Andrés Segovia 1939
J.S. Bach (1685-1750) Siciliana
BWV 1001, transcription by Segovia 1930
Jean Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) Minuet in A
Transcription by Segovia 1939
C.W. Gluck (1714-1787) Ballet from Orfeus and Euridice
Transcription by Segovia c. 1960
Niccolò Paganini (1782–1840) La Primavera ‘cantabile amoroso’
Transcription by Frans Brekelmans Capriccio nr. 4 Maestoso
Capriccio nr. 6 Lento
Claude Debussy (1862-1918) Claire de lune
Transcription by Francis Kleynjans Andante, trés expressif
Miguel Llobet (1878-1938) El Mestre
Testament d’Amelia
Canço del lladre
Leonesa
In the first four pieces the sound of the 1930s and 1940s is suggested through transcriptions of works by Rameau, Bach, Frescobaldi, and Gluck by the Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia. The Ballet, by Gluck, comes from his opera Orfeus and Euridice, which is the tragic story of a man who attempts to retrieve his dead wife from the underworld. Paganini wrote La primavera for the guitar. I made transcriptions of two of Paganini’s favorites from his 24 capricci for violin solo. Claire de lune, by Debussy, based on a poem by Paul Verlaine, is a most poetic and imaginative composition. El Mestre, Testament d’Amelia and Canço del lladre are medieval Catalan folk songs arranged by Miguel Llobet, known in his time as “The Debussy of the guitar.”
My Paganini program is interesting because he is known to the broader public as a composer and virtuoso violinist, but few people know that he played guitar as well and often used that instrument as the starting point for his compositions. Paganini himself said: “If I am the master of the violin, then the guitar is my master.” In this program I play a selection of Paganini’s violin works that he actually composed on the guitar.
Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840)
Sonata no. 24
From 24 Capricci Opus 1 for violin solo: no. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
INTERMISSION
From 24 Capricci Opus 1 for violin solo: no.16, 20 & 21
Nel cor non più mi sento, thema, variazioni & finale
(Encore: Capriccio no. 11 and ghiribizzo La Primavera)