Ferdinando Carulli studys

 

Παρακάτω το πρώτο μέρος από μια επιμέλεια μου στις σπουδές για αρπέζ του Ferdinando Carulli

Link εδώ

14-15/3 ρεσιτάλ και σεμινάριο κιθάρας απο την Βαρβάρα Γύρα στην Αθήνα

 

 

Η Βαρβάρα Γύρα έρχεται στην Αθήνα
για να δώσει ένα ρεσιτάλ με τίτλο
«Μικρές σιωπές για κιθάρα»
στο Κέντρο Ελέγχου Τηλεοράσεων
την Πέμπτη 14 Μαρτίου 2013 στις 9 μμ.
Θα ακολουθήσει σεμινάριο κιθάρας
την Παρασκευή 15 Μαρτίου 2013, από τις 2 εως τις 6 μμ.

***
Βαρβάρα Γύρα
Varvara Gyra

Μικρές σιωπές για κιθάρα
Ρεσιτάλ κιθάρας
14.3 / έναρξη 21.00 / είσοδος 10 €

Σεμινάριο κιθάρας
Ερμηνεία και ανάλυση μουσικών κομματιών από το αναγεννησιακό, μπαρόκ,
κλασικό, ρομαντικό, σύγχρονο και λατινοαμερικάνικο ρεπερτόριο.
15.3 / 14.00 – 18.00 / 45 € για ερμηνευτές & 10 € για ακροατές



Μικρές σιωπές για κιθάρα - 14.3

Η Βαρβάρα Γύρα θα παρουσιάσει ένα ρεσιτάλ με έργα που προέρχονται από διάφορες γωνιές του κόσμου κι αναδεικνύουν τον κοσμοπολίτικο χαρακτήρα της κιθάρας. Πρόκειται για μουσική από την Ισπανία, όπου ο F. Tarrega κι ο M. Llobet συνέθεσαν έργα γεμάτα πάθος, καθώς και για διασκευές έργων για λαούτο του J. S. Bach. Έπειτα, περνώντας από το εκλεπτυσμένο περιβάλλον του Fernando Sor που έζησε στην Aγγλία και στη Γαλλία στις αρχές του 19ου αιώνα, η μουσική του Roland Dyens κι οι αναφορές του στη musette και το τανγκό φέρνουν στον ακροατή έναν αέρα από το Παρίσι. Οι ελληνικοί χοροί του Δημήτρη Φάμπα δίνουν τον παλμό της ελληνικής γης με ρυθμούς αργούς και ζωηρούς, κι η μελοποιημένη ποίηση του Κ. Καβάφη, από την πρόσφατη ευρωπαϊκή περιοδεία της μουσικού με τη Charlotte Rampling, συνδέει την κιθάρα και τον κόσμο του ποιητή. Η μουσικός θα ερμηνεύσει επίσης έργα του γεμάτου ευαισθησία «ποιητή» της κιθάρας A. Yupanqui από την Aργεντινή, ένα βαλς του πιο κλασικού από τους λατινοαμερικάνους A. Barrios Mangore από την Παραγουάη, καθώς και τη νέα μορφή της περίφημης Milonga του αργεντίνου Jorge Cardoso.

«Η ιδέα για τις «Μικρές σιωπές για κιθάρα» γεννήθηκε όταν παρακολούθησα για πρώτη φορά μια θεατρική παράσταση στο ΚΕΤ. Ο χώρος είναι νέος, πολυεπίπεδος, γεμάτος από μια σιωπή που σε προσκαλεί είτε να την ακούσεις προσεκτικά είτε να πεις κάτι εσύ ο ίδιος. Εγώ θα ήθελα να τα κάνω και τα δύο, αλλά με την κιθάρα μου. Κοιτάζοντας τις παλιές οθόνες του Κέντρου Ελέγχου Τηλεοράσεων θυμήθηκα τον καιρό που ήμουν παιδί: στο τέλος του τηλεοπτικού προγράμματος, αργά τη νύχτα, η κρατική τηλεόραση διέκοπτε το πρόγραμμά της κι η οθόνη έδινε τη θέση της στη σιωπή. Ήταν η ώρα για σιωπή, για ξεκούραση και για συλλογισμό. Kάπως έτσι λειτουργεί κι η κιθάρα μου: μιλάει, τραγουδάει, παραπονιέται, χορεύει, ερωτεύεται, κάνει τα χίλια μύρια καπρίτσια της για να δώσει τελικά τη θέση της στις μικρές σιωπές. Μικρές σιωπές για να σκεφτούμε. Μικρές σιωπές για να αναλογιστούμε αυτά που θέλουμε να αρνηθούμε, αυτά που θέλουμε να δεχτούμε, κι αυτά που θέλουμε να βροντοφωνάξουμε. Η σιωπή είναι η πρώτη ύλη του μουσικού. Ίσως κι η πιο πολύτιμη.»


Σεμινάριο κιθάρας - 15.3

Στο masterclass μπορούν να συμμετάσχουν:
- Kιθαρίστες Ανωτέρας τάξης, πτυχιούχοι και διπλωματούχοι που θα ερμηνεύσουν έργα της επιλογής τους.
- Φιλόμουσοι, κιθαρίστες, μουσικοί άλλων οργάνων και καθηγητές μουσικής που θα παρακολουθήσουν το mastrerclass ως ακροατές.

Κατά τη διάρκεια του masterclass οι ερμηνευτές θα επικεντρωθούν στην ερμηνεία κι ανάλυση των μουσικών έργων που θα επιλέξουν οι ίδιοι από το αναγεννησιακό, μπαρόκ, κλασσικό, ρομαντικό, σύγχρονο και λατινοαμερικάνικο ρεπερτόριο. Θα μελετηθούν επίσης η ενίσχυση κι εξέλιξη της τεχνικής του κάθε μουσικού, η αυτοσυγκέντρωση, η από μνήμης εκμάθηση μουσικών έργων, η ανώδυνη κι αποτελεσματική μελέτη καθώς κι η κατανόηση του τρακ.

Δηλώσεις συμμετοχής
Ερμηνευτές: στείλτε όνομα, ηλικία, επίπεδο, τηλέφωνο, ένα σύντομο βιογραφικό και 2 έργα που επιθυμείτε να ερμηνεύσετε στο info@polychorosket.gr πριν τις 8 Μαρτίου 2013.
Ακροατές: στείλτε όνομα, ηλικία, επίπεδο και τηλέφωνο στο info@polychorosket.gr πριν τις 8 Μαρτίου 2013.

Συμμετοχή: Το κόστος συμμετοχής στο masterclass ανέρχεται στα 45 ευρώ για τους ερμηνευτές και συμπεριλαμβάνει 1 ώρα διδασκαλίας καθώς και τη δυνατότητα παρακολούθησης των άλλων μουσικών. Το κόστος συμμετοχής για τους ακροατές ανέρχεται στα 10 ευρώ.

http://www.varvaragyra.com/

***

Κέντρο Ελέγχου Τηλεοράσεων

Κύπρου 91Α & Σικίνου, Κυψέλη / Τηλ. 213.004.04.96.
www.polychorosket.gr / info@polychorosket.gr

Λεωφορεία (στάση Καλλιφρονά): 054, 608, 622, Α8, Β8
Τρόλεϊ (στάση Καλλιφρονά): 3, 5, 11, 13, 14
Τρόλεϊ (στάση Πλατεία Κυψέλης): 2, 4
ΗΣΑΠ: Άγιος Νικόλαος (10 λεπτά με τα πόδια)

free scores Scarlatti Sonata K9 guitar duo Transcription by I.Antonopoulos

Η σονάτα Κ9 του Domenico Scarlatti σε μεταγραφή για δύο κιθάρες.

Μεταγραφή - δακτυλοθεσία : Γιάννης Αντωνόπουλος

17/1/13 : Η Έλενα Παπανδρέου παίζει το Concerto Aranjuez στο Μέγαρο Μουσικής

"13η Συναυλία της Κρατικής Ορχήστρας Αθηνών

Η Έλενα Παπανδρέου παίζει το Concerto Aranjuez

με την Κρατική Ορχήστρα Αθηνών
υπό τη διεύθυνση του Βαγγέλη Χριστόπουλου

17 ΙΑΝΟΥΑΡΙΟΥ 2013/20:30

ΚΥΚΛΟΣ “ESPAÑA!” (III)
Σε συνεργασία
με την Πρεσβεία της Ισπανίας και το Ινστιτούτο Θερβάντες της Αθήνας
- Joaquín Turina: La procesión del Rocío (Η λιτανεία του Ροσίο), έργο 9
- Joaquín Rodrigo: Κοντσέρτο «του Αρανχουέθ» για κιθάρα και ορχήστρα
- Manuel de Falla: Το τρίκωχο καπέλο
Στις 19:45 θα πραγματοποιηθεί δωρεάν εισαγωγική ομιλία για τους κατόχους εισιτηρίων

 Για αγορές εισιτηρίων εδώ

Free scores

 

Free scores των Erik Satie, Mauro Giuliani, Christopher Davis, Fernando Sor καθώς και τα 120 αρπίσματα του Giuliani και άλλες ασκήσεις και e-books απο τον Christopher Davis εδώ :  http://www.classicalguitar.org/free/

Leo Brouwer Etudes 1-10

 

Μια ανάλυση των 10 Πρώτων σπουδών του Leo Brouwer εδώ

Οι πρώτες ηχογραφήσεις των έργων του Agustin Barrios

Ως γνωστόν το έργο του Barrios άργησε πολύ να πάρει την θέση που του άρμοζε στο ρεπερτόριο της κιθάρας. Η άρνηση του Segovia να συμπεριλάβει στα ρεσιτάλ του ή στην δισκογραφία του κάποια έργα του Barrios, ενώ γνώριζε και των ίδιο και -εν μέρη-το έργο του, έπαιξε καθοριστικό ρόλο σε αυτή την αργοπορία. Ένας άλλος λόγος ήταν ότι ο ίδιος ο Barrios δεν είχε καταγράψει σε παρτιτούρες πολλές  από τις συνθέσεις του, ενώ είχε εκδώσει μόνο εννιά. Ήταν μάλιστα συχνά η απειλή των στενών του φίλων που τον ανάγκαζε να τις καταγράψει στο χαρτί (όπως του Borda Pagola που τον κλείδωσε σε ένα δωμάτιο μέχρι να γράψει ένα αρκετά μεγάλο μέρος των συνθέσεων του). Ο μύθος λέει ότι εκεί ο Barrios έδωσε το όνομα Las Abejas (Οι μέλισσες) στην γνωστή του σύνθεση για να αποδείξει στον φίλο του ότι εργαζόταν σκληρά σαν τις μέλισσες. Γενικά απο το 1944 που πέθανε ο Barrios μέχρι το 1977 που ο John Williams κυκλοφόρησε τον δίσκο του που περιείχε αποκλειστικά έργα του Barrios (John Williams Plays Barrios 76662 / M35145 LP) ελάχιστοι ήταν οι κιθαριστές που είχαν ηχογραφήσει έργα του μεγάλου συνθέτη. 
 
Ο Williams δεν ήταν όμως ο πρώτος που ηχογράφησε κάποιο έργο του Barrios όπως συχνά πιστεύεται, αν και πριν από τονδίσκο του '77 είχε προηγηθεί η ηχογράφηση του danza paraguaya στο LP του 73 Music from England, Japan, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Mexico CBS M 73205. Πριν από την επική προσπάθεια του Williams άλλοι κιθαρίστες είχαν αναγνωρίσει την ποιότητα του Barrios και ηχογράφησαν κομμάτια για τα οποία οι παρτιτούρες ήταν διαθέσιμα. Ο πρώτος που ηχογράφησε έργα του Barrios ήταν ο Laurindo Almeida στο LP Guitar Music of Latin America (Capitol P832 1) του 1956 όπου περιέχονται τα Preludio Op. 5 No. 1 και το Chôro da Saudade. Ο Almeida εξέδωσε και σε παρτιτούρες επιμελημένες απο τον ίδιο τα La Catedral, Preludio Op. 5 No. 1 ,Waltz. op8 no 4 και Aconquija. Για αυτούς τους λόγους θα πρέπει να θεωρείται πρωτοπόρος στην προσπάθεια καθιέρωσης του έργου του Barrios.

Ο επόμενος που ηχογράφησε έργα του Βarrios ήταν ο José Luis González Julia (1932-1998) στο LP Portrait of the Guitar (CBS 61654)1968 που περιέχονται τα Danza Paraguaya No.1, Aire de Zamba, Prelude in G minor, και Medallon Antiguo. Ενώ ο Oscar Caceres το 1970 κάνει την πρώτη ηχογράφηση του La Catedral μετά από αυτή του ίδιου το Barrios (Les Grandes Études pour Guitare Erato STU 70614)

Ο Alirio Diaz το 1970 στο LP Guitar Music of Spain and Latin America (EMI HQS 1175) ηχογραφεί εκπληκτικά τα  Danza Paraguay No.1, Aire de Zamba και Cueca και ο Baltazar Benitez ένα μόνο χρόνο πριν το LP του John Williams, αν και μετά την ηχογράφηση του 73, το 1976 στο LP latin American music for the classical guitar ηχογραφεί τα Vals op8 no 4, Vals no 3 και το El ultimo Cancion.






                               Αντωνόπουλος Ιωάννης

Σάνια Πλοχλ ρεσιτάλ στο Θερβάντες

Atenas

---

Autor/es: Imagen cedida por Sanja Plohl

Ημερομηνίες

14/12/2012 (19:30 h)

Lugar

Instituto Cervantes
Mitropoleos, 23
10557 ATENAS Atica
(GRECIA)

Α’ Βραβείο του 2ου Διεθνούς Διαγωνισμού Κιθάρας της Σεβίλλης

Συναυλία

 Στο πλαίσιο της συνεργασίας του Ινστιτούτου Θερβάντες της Αθήνας με τον Διεθνή Διαγωνισμό Κιθάρας της Σεβίλλης, φιλοξενούμε φέτος την νικήτρια (Α’ Βραβείο) Σάνια Πλοχλ, μια από τις πιο διακεκριμένες δεξιοτέχνες κλασικής κιθάρας της γενιάς της. Οι ερμηνείες της έχουν τύχει εξαιρετικών κριτικών και μεγάλης αναγνώρισης. Τα τελευταία χρόνια έχει κερδίσει πάνω από 20 διεθνείς διακρίσεις, μεταξύ των οποίων τα πρώτα βραβεία στο Φεστιβάλ Κιθάρας της Κόρδοβας, στον Διεθνή Διαγωνισμό Κιθάρας της Σεβίλλης, το Βραβείο Ivor Mairants στο Λονδίνο και άλλα βραβεία σε διεθνείς διοργανώσεις στην Βαρκελώνη, Λισαβώνα, Λιερένα και Χαέν.Στην καριέρα της έχει υποστηριχθεί από το Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού της Σλοβενίας και διάφορα ιδρύματα.

Programa

Obra: Variaciones sobre el himno O Gloriosa Domina
Compositor/a: Luis Narváez (c.1500-c.1560)
Obra: Sonata del Guadalquivir (2004)
Compositor/a: Angelo Gilardino (1941)
Obra: Fantasía Sevillana (1.Memorias, 2.Leyendas, 3.Lejanías)
Compositor/a: Joaquín Turina (1882-1949)
Obra: Fantasía sobre motivos de la ópera Traviata de Verdi
Compositor/a: Julián Arcas (1832-1882)
Obra: Variaciones sobre 'La Folia de España' y Fuga
Compositor/a: Manuel María Ponce (1882-1948)

Participantes

Sanja Plohl

Entidades Organizadoras

Instituto Cervantes (Atenas)

Μια πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα συνέντευξη του γνωστού λαουτίστα Paul O' Dette στον κιθαριστή Benjamin Verdery με χρήσιμες πληροφορίες για την μουσική του λαούτου, για την εποχή του baroque και της αναγέννησης.

Free Scores: Santiago de Murcia & Domenico Cimarosa

 

Σε αυτό το link μπορείτε να βρείτε το γνωστό Fandango του Santiago de Murcia σε μεταγραφή του Frank Koonce και 88 σονάτες του Cimarosa σε μεταγραφή για κιθάρα του Moshe H. Levy

1982 - "Not louder but closer..." David Russell Interview

Classical Guitar
November/December 1982: Vol.1, N2
by Colin Cooper
One announces one's presence at David Russell's North London home not with anything so ordinary as a bell, so disruptive as a knocker or so suburban as a set of chimes, but with an arpeggio drawn across the strings of a zither by means of a plectrum attached to a length of cord at the other end of which is a carved handle. At once you know you have come to the right address.
Not that there is anything overly aesthetic about the guitarist's appearance. His face is tanned from a stay in Minorca; his sinewy frame would do credit to an Olympian athlete. A windsurfing accident an important thumbnail; patched up with tissue and glue, it typifies his unfussy and practical approach to the problem of reconciling the enjoyment of living with the demands of professional musicianship. You feel that he will never find an insurance company bold enough to insurance those nails, but when he picks up his guitar you realise that it doesn't matter: David Russell is the sort of player who would probably play well even if he had just fallen off the Matterhorn.
Yet he might have become a different musician altogether: a violinist, a pianist, a horn player even. What drew him to the guitar? It was no surprise to learn that it was the records of Andrés Segovia.
"One had Granados, Dance No. 5 and Dance No. 10, another had Sevilla on one side and Granada on the other, another had the Sor variations, yet another had Turina's Fandanguillo. My father was a guitar enthusiast. He started collecting that were turning up in Glasgow shops, along with old jazz records".
"Segovia does some things in those old records, like vibrato and intonation, that I always found slightly haunting. There is a kind of veiled mystery that you can never emulate in new recordings. You can't get that kind of distant sound that comes through all the crackling and popping. I suppose that sounded fairly alluring".
A musician's platform manner has been compared to a doctor's bedside manner. David Russell's arrival on the platform at one inspires confidence, perhaps because he manages to convey an impression of relaxed yet total confidence in himself.
"It's strange how you can go to a concert and, before the player has reached the chair, either you like him or her or you have formed a negative attitude. It happens before the player even touches the instrument, There is a saying in Spain that you can't trust a person who doesn't trust you. The player who walks on to the stage looking scared doesn't exactly inspire great trust. The player who doesn't look comfortable doesn't inspire great respect".
"People generally are aware of body language, the completely irrational feeling by which most of us judge the things that happen. Body language for musicians could be studied in the way actors study it. When you walk on the stage, you are an actor. The way you move, with your elbows stiff, for example, and your stomach muscles tight: those are signs of discomfort, of protecting yourself from your audience. Or you can move with your arms flowing, standing upright, comfortable. Or perhaps you could move with your chest forward and your chin jutting in a arrogant way, which could be interpreted as another kind of defence. Every player has to give it a little thought and maybe even try it out in different ways".
"I was lucky in that before I knew anything about the Alexander Technique I happened naturally to go into a fairly good position with the guitar. It means that I am comfortable and well balanced. There is a trick you can try in the house of someone, an aunt, say, with whom you feel uncomfortable. You are sitting on the end of the couch, completely wrapping yourself up, mentally defending yourself without meaning to. You can't relax. You mind is tight. The next time you go there you try to open up your shoulders, perhaps let your legs fall apart a little bit, balance your back and maybe even lean right back and let all the muscles go. You can't help feeling much more relaxed, and consequently so does your aunty. You have a much better conversation, and you suddenly find she is a more interesting person. There is an analogy with your audience".
"Why has Segovia charmed his audiences? Because he's so charming on stage, even with the halo of fame around him. Like Rubinstein. Before playing a note he's able to smile comfortably at his audience. Eye contact is important. If you can give the impression before you play that you've looked into everyone's eye, corny though it sounds, then you've taken them in. You don't have to stare at them, but it gives the impression that you're playing directly to each person. It's something quite apart from the musical and technical qualities".
Talking about technique and interpretation and the connections between them, David Russell is not primarily an analytical player, though he has a very clear idea of where the music is going and works hard to convey that sense of direction to his listeners.
"The player has to understand the reason for every note, every group of notes. He or she has to understand the direction of those notes. It's the only way the audience is ever going to understand the direction. Obviously, with some great music, even if the player just plonks away, the audience will know the work well enough to fill in any musical qualities the player has left out. I want to understand why the composer has written those notes, and somehow convey that to you so that you are drawn along from one set of notes, one phrase, to another. I hope it will catch you and make you want to listen on. If it doesn't have a sense of direction, then I don't think it will pull you along".
"You can almost verbalise which notes are the important ones; which notes you aim for, which phrase, which climaxes. And how you aim at them. I want to know the whole piece, in the same way as you know your whole road from your house to the pub. You can imagine the whole road in an instant. You know when you're going to turn a corner and you can prepare for it. In the same way you can prepare your audience for the next corner, the next climax, the next cadence or whatever. If you do it well you can achieve a more architectural structure out of a piece."
That sounded so planned, so prearranged that any spontaneity would vanish after the first bar. But changes were made within that architectural structure. In fact, said David, everything got changed.
"I work on my technique so that if I suddenly want to go into a decrescendo where up to now I've worked into a crescendo, or do a backwards rubato, letting something go forward where previously I've done the opposite, then I want to be able to do it that very instant on stage. I don't want to be tied up to having to work out every nuance, hoping it will come out as I have practised it. If you have these abilities it means that it's easier to give your listeners the impression it's the first and only time the piece is going to be played. It's more dangerous from my point of view, but it's more spontaneous."
Wouldn't a lot of composers quarrel with that?
"I agree, but they wouldn't quarrel with a good interpretation if it was successful and was played well so that people understood it. There is a difference between a couple of bars that you turn upside down and the whole intention over the entire span of the piece. There was a part of a piece I didn't understand. The composer wanted it ecstatically loud. As all guitarists know, it is difficult to make something sound ecstatically loud on the guitar. It starts to get staccato, a nasty sound. I was trying to get as much beauty as possible out of that part, trying to get what I thought the piece needed at that point; a certain kind of emotion. I was going completely against what the composer asked, and he had to tell me before I really understood what he meant. Now I try to make a beautiful fat tone, and loud, or at least give the impression to the audience that it's almost the climax."
"In Bach's Chaconne, for example, there are certain places where you wouldn't play quietly. You might want to for technical reasons, because it's easier, but it would be a mistake. On the other hand, within your build-up to that climax you may decide to play the bass notes quiet and the treble loud, and then turn it backwards for the next phrase. One day you may decide to come down to a pianissimo immediately after the climax, or you may decide on a long winding down. Both could be valid, so long as you do them well. I want to have the ability to change just at that instant, so that you don't actually think before you change. You don't say: Right, I am going to do a decrescendo. You simply play it because of the way you think. When you walk you don't actually think of putting the right foot in front of the left. You simply make the movement. Afterwards you realise that you could analyse what you've just done."
That, however, did not negate the preparation that went into each work.
"I think out my pieces very carefully so that if for some reason I'm not in the right mood, I know what the optimum way of doing it is. I've thought about ways of doing it. I don't just sit there and play and hope that the best things come." Nevertheless the apparently spontaneous feel about his performances is something audiences all over the world are relishing. The ability to make the music sound alive in that way is not given to every musician, and not every musician appears capable of acquiring it. There is even a body of opinion that deems it unnecessary, providing the composer's intentions are faithfully carried out. But it is something audiences respond to, even if they do not happen to be, in David's phrase "great connoisseurs of the guitar".
"It is said that people reach their mental peak at 18 and then go steadily downhill. I hope to reach my peak at 90. I intend to keep on developing. I don't want to stop here. Not yet."
"I've had thoughts about perhaps one day doing something completely different. But I'm far too involved in the guitar, and I like it too much to be able to do that. But I don't know, I might suddenly find something else that really draws me. For the moment I am a guitarist."

Cosmology in sounds (on Leo Brouwer's "La Espiral Eterna") by Eduardo Fernandez

The idea that music is, or should be, a reflection of the cosmic order of things is very old, dating from at least the Middle Ages and the beginnings of polyphony. In the Renaissance there was still explicit recognition of this idea. With the evolution of the musical language, music became more and more the expression of an individual, the composer, displacing the aesthetic accent to the personal instead of the universal. In the second half of the 20 th century, a few works have appeared where the old ideal of music as a sign of the cosmos is taken up again; none of them is as convincing and accomplished, in my opinion, as Leo Brouwer's La Espiral Eterna , written in 1971.

In my experience, the Espiral is one of the very few works written in a really modern style that are able to captivate any audience, even those unfamiliar with this style (and the Espiral is unthinkable without a very wide repertoire of previous works; the most notable antecedents would be Continuum for harpsichord, by Ligeti, and the early works of Stockhausen and Penderecki). By "modern", I mean here only that this work could not possibly have been written before; by no means am I taking sides as to what is "modern" or "avant-garde". It is difficult to be on the "vanguard" if you don't know where "forward" lies. However that may be, audiences seem to sense intuitively that there is a deeper truth in the work that goes beyond the sound surface, however impressive and original it is; that listening to this work implies something more than merely following the musical discourse. In fact, so does any player who takes it up for studying. This article intends to try to find out why this happens, to explore the ways in which this work is conceived, and perhaps to serve as a companion to the study of the work.

I am well aware that programmatic interpretations are out of fashion. Nevertheless, a performer must have something on mind when tackling a new work, and in my view it is far better to have an image obtained through analysis and imagination than the beautiful blonde (or blond) in the second row. The analysis that follows may well be a delirium, not unlike that of finding universal numerical clues on the Gizeh pyramid. Anyway, I venture to put it forward, hoping that someone else will also find it interesting. Please refer to the score, Gitarren Archiv 423, B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz.

The basic idea of the work is manifest in the quotation that appears on the first page: "Por primera vez se reveló en los cielos la famosa estructura espiral empleada con derroche por la naturaleza en el mundo orgánico" (more or less: "For the first time was revealed in the heavens the famous spiral structure that Nature had employed with such abandon in the organic world"). The quotation is taken from a book on astrophysics, "The Structure of the Universe", by G.J. Whitrow. The message is clear: the same structure appears in heaven and in living creatures; the whole Universe is made up in the same way, following the same laws, forming the same structures at every level of being. Whitrow's phrase implies, in its original context, nothing more than a recognition of the same basic structure in galaxies and the organic world – not necessarily a revelation of the underlying principle of the Universe. Brouwer's imaginative step anticipated, in fact, scientifical discoveries still to come. We have to remember, this is several years before Carl Sagan made these ideas a commonplace of contemporary culture (and he did not appear in Cuban TV, as far as I know...)

The work is divided in four main sections, designated A,B,C, and D. Let's take them one by one.

1. THE GAS CLOUD

The Espiral begins with a ppp , almost inaudible; the object presented is not necessarily small, but only far away (yet). We are approaching it, so it seems a good idea to start not from ppp , but from silence. What object is this? We hear a group of three notes, D-E-D#, repeated continuosly at high speed (as fast as possible, in fact). It is not too farfetched to see in this group a spiral in embryo:

E

D#

D

To "see" the spiral shape, imagine a curved line connecting the three notes; the repetition, that makes us listen to the three notes in circulation, is an exact correspondence of a rapid rotation of the group. To the eyes of the imagination, we have here a spiral rotating very quickly before our ears, and it does not seem too far-fetched to take this as an analogy (in sound) of the first stage in the life of a star: a gas cloud. The pattern of "two steps forward, one back" is even reflected in the strings in which the notes are to be played: 3 rd , 1 st , 2 nd . This pattern is of course the basic cell of the whole work.

This object evolves in the whole of section A, and the parameters of its evolution are:

• the pitches on each group, or rather, the range of pitches on each group;
• the number of notes on each group, which determine a rythm of sorts: since all notes have the same duration (as short as possible), a group of 4 notes lasts longer than a group of 3 notes (this should be made clear in performance, avoiding the impression of, for example, a triplet on group 1 and four sixteenth-notes on group 2);
• most important, the differentials in each of the two previous parameters, that is, a)growth or lessening of the number of notes from one group to the next, and b)widening or narrowing of the range of pitches from one group to the next.

The 24 groups that appear in section A can be grouped themselves in seven cycles, as follows:

• Cycle 1: groups 1, 2, 3
• Cycle 2: groups 3, 4, 5, 6
• Cycle 3: groups 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
• Cycle 4: groups 11, 12, 13
• Cycle 5: groups 13, 14, 15
• Cycle 6: groups 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
• Cycle 7: groups 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

As we can see, every cycle begins and ends with a three-note group, and the number of groups on each cycle follows a spiral-like pattern as well: respectively, 3, 4, 6, 3 / 3, 6, 5. Or, substracting 3 : 0, 1, 2, 0 / 0, 3, 2. The reason to substract 3 is to find out the underlying structure, which as we shall see, is based on Fibonacci's series. This numerical series begins with 1, 1: each following term is the sum of the two preceding. So the third term is 2 (1+1), the fourth is 3 (2+1), the fifth is 5 (3+2). The series is then: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21... This series is interesting for several reasons. First of all, it is often encountered in Nature (count, for instance, the number of leaves on each side of a branch). It gives the eye or ear the impression of a "natural" growing principle. Also, when the terms are big enough, the relationship between one term and the preceding one approaches the "golden measure" (approx. 0.618), which establishes the way of dividing a line so that the lesser part is to the bigger part what the biggest part is to the whole. This is routinely used in architecture, and has been used in music many times. Bártok made of it one of his main formal principles, and Brouwer uses it often.

If we consider the range of pitches, then the starting point is 2, and we have a different grouping of cycles:

1. 1-2-3;
2. 3-4-5-6;
3. 6-7-8-9-10-11;
4. 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22 (the last two groups are below the minimum level of 2).

Please notice the growing number of groups on each cycle: 3, 4, 6, 12.

The dynamics follow a similar growing spiral-like pattern, but as it is more clear to the eye, I shall concentrate on the other parameters. It is important to notice that the dynamic evolution does not coincide with the groups, and to make this evident in performance.

The following table intends to give an overview of what happens in section A (leaving dynamics aside):

Cycle#/ Group #	Length in Notes	Difference in length	Range of pitches (in semitones)	Maximum of difference in range, per cycle	Effect
I. 1	3	0	2		Gas cloud
2	4	1	3	A. 1	Expansion upwards
II. 3	3	0	2		Contraction
4	4	1	3	B. 1	Expansion down
5	6	2	3		More activity
III. 6	3	0	2		Displacement upwards
7	4	1	3		Expansion upwards
8	8	5	4	C. 2	Expansion upwards
9	4	1	3		Displacement downwards
10	4	1	3		Displacement downwards
IV. 11	3	0	2		Contraction downwards
12	4	1	4		Expansion downwards
V. 13	3	0	4		Contraction
14	4	1	5		Expansion downwards
VI. 15	3	0	4		Contraction
16	7	4	3		Expansion downwards
17	7	4	4		Displacement downwards
18	4	1	4	D. 3	Expansion downwards
19	8	5	5		Expansion downwards
VII. 20	3	0	4		Contraction upwards
21	13	10	4		More activity
22	3	0	2		Contraction upwards
23	3	0	1		Contraction upwards
24	3	0	0		Contraction upwards

A few things are apparent from the table:

• if we look at the length of each group, although each cycle expands and contracts, the expansion is always greater than in the preceding cycle: 1, 2, 5, 4+4 = 8 (plus a 5), 10. (the longest group has 13 notes, # 21). The general tendency is, then, towards expansion. These numbers suggest that the Fibonacci series is in operation.
• The last cycle is particularly interesting: it presents the group with the most notes 13, in group 21), which translates as a great increase in activity, followed by a contraction .
• The maximum of difference per cycle in pitch range (a complicated way of saying how big this range gets on each cycle) is the first 4 terms in the Fibonacci series: 1, 1, 2, 3. Also an expansion, which not only overlaps with the cycling in terms of length, but one in which as the cycle gets bigger, the pitch range also gets bigger.

All this together, which of course is not meant to be perceived directly by the listener, conveys subliminally the feeling of an underlying order, in which the material obeys laws, however complex, and it is this feeling of order, proportion and activity directed towards a goal (however unpredictable at the moment) what the listener hears in this section.

What does this point to? My interpretation would be that the cloud is rotating more and more rapidly, as gravity pulls it together. The last note, which can be played either ppp or as a ff Bártok pizzicato, represents in my view the first "solids" generated in the process.

Another possible view is to consider the section in terms of attack and resonance. In this view, all of section A, excepting the last note, would be a "resonance", and the last note would be an "attack".

Once the first solid has been generated (big or small, ppp or ff , it doesn't really matter which) then the view of the process changes. We need to watch things from closer, and this is what happens in section B.

1. THE STAR BEING BORN
Section B begins reversing the resonance/attack pattern that comprised the whole of section A. The first three groups consist of a composite attack (noise+sound) plus one resonance each. The pitches of the attacks, E flat – F – C sharp are recognizable as the initial cell after an expansion (a whole tone instead of a semitone), and a retrograde. The spiral pattern is now:
F
E flat
C sharp

Seeing things bigger means that we are closer to the object. As we get closer, it becomes apparent that the same overall structure (attack/resonance) is encountered everywhere inside the object as well. In fact, B1 and B2 consist exclusively on this pattern.
The first three groups of B1 have contracting lengths: 10-6-5 (notice that the resonance is modulated by accelerandi/rallentandi, also a form of "spiraling" tempo. The last group is a transition to the"fast" section that follows.
B2 begins with three pitches that are, to no one's surprise by now, based on a slightly irregular expansion of the initial basic cell: C sharp – G sharp – F. C sharp was of course the last pitch played as an attack in the previous section, B1. From there, 3 ½ tones up is G sharp, and four tones down is F. The spiral is now much bigger (notice the octave expansion), with this shape:
G sharp
C sharp
F
Towards the end of B2, the attacks begin to multiply, first two, then four, then eight. Let us look closely at the last group, that closes B2: G#-F#-D-E-C-B-A#-D#. This is made up of three different versions of the basic cell:
Version 1: G# - F#..................................................................G natural (present on the first group of B3)
(inversion of original cell)
Version 2: D – E - ...........................D# (original cell at original state)
Version 3: C – B – A#
(permutation of original cell)
Something significant is happening in the gas cloud: the basic pattern is generating ever more complex versions of itself. In this context, I propose to see B3 as another change in scale, starting with the sound space divided in semitones and moving progressively towards a microtonal space. Of course, all of B3 consists in resonance, modulated by the change in sound color from normal to pizzicato. The spiraling pattern of ascent is clear in the score. The three notes at the end can be seen as a "flattened" version of the original cell.


2. BELOW THE MOLECULAR LEVEL


At first glance, section C seems to suggest to the player that "anything goes". This is, of course, not quite the case. The patterns to be played with both hands on the fingerboard are, of course, the basic cell: 3-1-2 with left hand, i-a-m with right hand. This comes out very clearly if, as Brouwer suggests, the left thumb is held over the strings, damping them (in the position cellists use for playing ultrahigh passages), so as to dampen the resonance produced behind the point of impact of the fingers. What will come out of these actions is an irregular overlapping pattern generated by the basic cell, mostly at tritone or fourth amplitude, expanding and contracting irregularly as the result of the speed cycles overlapping. This is definitely, in my view, a section where the player should have the score before his/her eyes when playing it; nothing is so difficult to generate as irregularity, and one should be reacting to the score every time as if it was the first.
At atomic level, all interactions are regulated by the laws of quantum mechanics: these laws are probabilistic in nature, and I think there is a correspondence between the object and its musical sign here: it would not make much sense to try to write precisely actions that must be indetermined, by their very nature.
The ending of section C suggests going still deeper down, into some kind of mystery; in fact, it is nothing less than the appearance of life forms, as the next stage of evolution. This happens before our eyes in section D.
3. LIFE APPEARS

Section D is divided in four. In D1, we have again the basic cell, expanded along three octaves and permutated (F#-G-A#). What is absolutely new and almost shocking is the way in which this cell appears. There is a rythm imposed on it; a recognizable, danceable, pleasant, Cuban rythm. This forms a sort of landscape against which the next section develops. I would say that this "landscape" corresponds to the appearence of plants and animal life, setting the stage for the next step.

In D2, the rythm becomes fast, and superimposed to this resonance are sharp, cutting attacks. The intervals used are, suggestively, sixths and thirds, the most "human" of intervals. Is it too farfetched to think that this symbolizes human life, permutating endlessly over the planet's landscape? Probably only a Cuban could think of human history as a dance, but isn't it a nice idea?... The rallentando and diminuendo at the end is announcing another change of scale, which comes about in section D3.

D3 takes the cell to the maximun possible expansion in the guitar: from lowest to highest note. Every group is played twice, so let's analyze what happens with them. The following table helps to see the process:

Group #	Nº pitches	Nº notes (= duration of group)	Effect
1	5 (E-D-C#-C-B), ascending and descending	8	Maximum expansion, quasi-chromatic scale
2	4 (E-F-F#-G), ascending and descending	6	Somewhat contracted, accelerating (less duration).Chromatic scale.
3	5 (E-D-C-B flat-A flat), ascending (but descending pitches)	5	Somewhat expanded, accelerating, whole-tone scale. Ascending movement only, seems to increase speed.
4	4 (E-D#-D-C#), ascending, with descending pitches	4	Contracted, accelerating, chromatic scale.
5	3 (G-A flat- D), descending	3	Contracted, accelerating, distorted form of basic cell.
6, 7	"Infinite", chaotic but based on basic cell (especially group 6, if seen as 3+4 pitches)	26	Explosion.

It does not take much imagination to see this as the final process in the life of a star: the contraction and explosion.

This generates a new complex solid, or a double attack (F#-G played as a Bártok pizzicato), followed by a resonance using the pitches of the basic cell in scale form. This pattern appears three times, and it is interesting to notice the pitches used in the resonances:

E-F-G flat

D-D#-E

C-C#-D

The spiral shape, this time composed of little spirals, is again in evidence. The duration of the patterns is also in spiral shape: 12-9-"infinite" (25 seconds).

The ending of the work, D4, suggests another gas cloud, for the moment chaotic, but as it loses itself in the distance of interstellar space (diminuendo to ppp and 6 seconds silence at the end), it is not hard to foresee what will happen: the whole process is about to begin again; in fact, it seems to go on behind the final silence. "In my end is my beginning..."

One last fanciful digression. The first three pitches of the work, and the last three, seem to suggest an open-ended spiral:

X-Y-Z?

D-D#-E

C-C#-D

No doubt the next step, which we won't be able to hear, will use the pitches E-F-F# ..!

La boda de Luís Alonso - G. Gimenez.

...και διασκευασμένο για κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (5ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (5ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (4ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (4ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (3ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (3ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (μέρος δεύτερο)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (μέρος δεύτερο)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (1ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα

[σκληρό... barock] Ο Bach στην κιθάρα (1ο μέρος)(του Νίκου Παναγιωτίδη) - TAR - Διαδικτυακό Περιοδικό με αφορμή την Κιθάρα