El Delirio “™ Music by Romantic Guitarist Composers Pobre Ei (elurt meet eee Llobet « Mozzani * Esquembre « bree Vinas * Cano ®* Calleja * tas * Calle)‘The Romantic Guitarist-Composers and their Music During the first half of the 20'" Century the great Spanish master Andrés Segovia and others revived classical guitar playing. But doing that they let a repertoire sink into oblivion although it represented 1a great part of the true soul of the guitar. It was no longer considered quite respectable to play those styles of music which Segovia left out from his repertoire. The great guitar romantic Francisco Tarrega found favour in his eyes, but not many other of the composers who belonged to the circle which | have called “The Romantic Guitarist: Composers", and to whom this cd is devoted. They were men who wrote music for an instrument which most of them mastered to perfection. The sty- listic foundations of their music may be called Souther European brilliant Romanticism. They moved in a musical culture which emerged in the undercurrents of musical life after the golden age of the guitar in the first half of the 1g" Century, The great decline of interest in guitar playing became manifest towards the end of the century and was clear to everyone, New kinds of musical taste, the flamboyant virtuosos of the big concert halls, at not least the piano were the sinners of this somewhat unfortunate turn of events. The guitar no longer had the attention of the educated audience. Nevertheless the guitar lived on in private enthusiastic circles, exclusive guitar societies and other places of little recognition. In some people's opinion the aesthetics of the guitar repertoire froze into sugary frills and show offs that might impress an audience briefly, but which was not attributed any lasting significance in musical history ... Not until the Twentieth Century, and especial- ly because of Andrés Segovias’ incredible effort did the guitar regain its public reputation as a respectable instrument. The master and his disciples set the agenda to promote a repertoire that mirrored the highest spiritual quest of Man. A fine goal to set, but one might ask if that ambitious project really succeeded. ‘The neglect and rejection of the “naive” Romanticists in this master plan had its effects. The repertoire of Segovia assumed the position of truly serious music whereas music by “the others” was not to be touched unless you had a dubious taste and did not quite understand true art. From today's point of view this seems a somewhat simplified problem and it might be useful to give it a look.In painting there is “naive art”. Today this school is fully recognized by art historians and other ‘experts. One might ask ifnot the “Naivism" of music also has fine qualities, e.g. as shown by the guitarist-composers, even if their music doesn't shake the grounds of our existence and perception ‘of the world. | of course mean yes, or | would not have made this ed In these works | have found important values, Simplicity, lyricism, melody, sonority and ramantic sensitivity ~ what more can one want? Sometimes, anyway... About the Composers Miguel Llobet (1878 - 1938) Spanish guitarist and composer who at the age of fourteen became a pupil of Francisco Tarrega, Llobet made his debut in Paris in 1905, after that he had an extensive concert career. The audience loved his characteristic intimate and refined timbre and his romantic execution. Llobet has had a great influence on the following generations of guitarists and has composed a large number of ‘works for the instrument. He also made many innovatory arrangements of which several have become part of the standard repertoire. Together with Andrés Segovia, Llobet is regarded the most influential guitarist in the first half af the Twentieth Century: On a release like this he is an obvious choice even though he is far from forgotten. This time however, he is represented only with his arrangement of the famous romance which in Llobet’s version $0 to speak appears in an original version, free from both clever harmonies and cheerful introductions and transitions. There is great insecurity of the origins of this piece and Llobet quite honestly called it Romance Anonimo. It is also heard under many other names. Luigi Mazzani (1869 -1943) Italian guitarist, composer and guitar maker. In guitar magazines and books he is often pictured with his beloved but monstrous romantic lyre-guitar, Mozzani came from very straitened circum- stances and te begin with he played the clarinet and the oboe, thus for two years he was first oboist in the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, but when he heard guitar music for the first time it made such astrong impression on him that he decided to learn to play it himself and make it his way of living. All through his life he made many successful trips in Europe, Africa, Japan and Russia. From 1894 to 1896 he lived in USA and published two volumes of his collection of etudes. Back in Italy he met some of the most important guitarists of his time, Later, during a stay in Paris, he started building guitars which brought him lots of success. In 1912 he took out a patent for a special kind of lyre-guitar. But it did not make him give up his teaching or his concert tours. In 1942 he founded a school for guitarists in Roverto, Luigi Mozzani is best known for his composition Feste Lariane, but he did not compose it himself, Maybe the story of the ‘theft’ of this composition has overshadewed his numerous ewn compesitions which are really fine. ‘Quentin Esquembre (1885 — 1965) Esquembre was born in Alicante. He was a pupil of Francisco Tarrega, and together with another pupil of Tarrega, Daniel Fortea, he was among the most sought guitar teachers in Madrid, Contrary to Fortea, Esquembre died neglected and forgotten by the guitar scene, Maybe this was due to the fact that he was too nervous to play in public and therefore chose ta live from his job as a cellist in Madrid along with pursuing his activities as a guitarist. He was both a teacher and an industrious composer of solo and duo pieces for his instrument. They were often written for his two favourite pupils Ange! Iglesias and Vicente Gomez who performed them frequently. Today these pieces are as good as unknown or very difficult to trace, but the music that we know such as his Cancione Playera played on this recording, demonstrates fine musical qualities and interesting technical details. Esquembre spent some time in jail because he took sides with the Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, Julio Martinez Qyanguren (1905-1973) was among the very first to introduce Latin American guitar tradition to the rest of the world, Ata tender age he gave his first recital in Montevideo, Uruguay. In 1920 he heard Segovia play for the first time and this was a great inspiration for the young guitarist towards building his own inter- national career. In the Thirties he moved to the USA where he had great success as a concert gui- tarist, Along with his career as a guitarist he had a jab in the US Navy, probably because he wantedsome financial stability in life. He also was a military attaché at the Embassy of Uruguay in the United States, Through the years 1936 to 1940 he frequently appeared in radia concerts as well as in guitar recitals in New York, In the Sixties he went back to Uruguay and stayed there until his death in 1973. Gradually he drift- ed away from music, His recordings are available on cd and they are definitely worth hearing. About twenty of his compositons were printed, today they are very difficult to find, Arabia is a rather unique and daring piece for guitar with its somewhat banal, but yet charming and moving attempts of imi- tating an Arabian sound on the classical guitar, José Vinas (1823 ~ 1888) ‘A Spanish composer who both began and ended his life in Barcelona, one of the centres of guitar mythology Vinas also showed great talent for both violin and piano but chose the guitar as his main instru ment. He had great success with his brilliant style different places in Europe. Later his home in Barcelona became the meeting place of many celebrities of guitar history, among which Francisco Tarrega. Vinas was especially famous for his execution of the great classical guitar composers, namely Femando Sor and Dionisio Aguado. He published 35 compositions for guitar. The title of the piece heard here could not be more characteristic for the guitar romantics and their style, Andante Sentimental... Antonio Cano (181 ~ 1897) A Spanish guitarist and composer born in Madrid where he also had his musical training, In 1847 he met Aguado, a meeting that was to prove very important to Cano, In 1852 he published a “Metodo de guitarra®, followed 1868 by a renewed edition that included a treatise on harmony with particular reference to the guitar. That same year he was appointed professor at the conservatory in Madrid, About 50 compositions and arrangements were published in his own lifetime and twenty more posthumously. His most famous piece El Delirio has lent its name to this cd, It is almost extraordinarily typical of his style. Delirio can mean daydream, but it alsa means enthusiasm, madness and fantasizing.Francisco Calleja (189) ~ 1950) Spanish guitarist and composer. Today Calleja is almost forgotten and thus shares the fate with many of Segovia's contemporaries and several an this cd. As a fourteen year-ald he performed for the famous violin virtuose Pablo Sarasate who praised the boy's musicality. At the age of twenty he left fer South America where he met the great guitar virtuoso Agustin Barrios with whem he played at some private recitals in Montevideo. He gave recitals, among other places in Mexico City and Buenos Aires, Two years later he returned to Spain and toured the larger cities, He left a lacge num- ber of compositions, many of which are still unpublished. He was the first in Spain ta publish guitar transcriptions of Bach's ‘works for lute’. He lived the last part of his life in Uruguay and Arge where he taught and composed. His Cancion Triste played here used to be a favourite amang gui tarists, Itis already recorded in excellent and very different versions by both Iglesias and Gomez. It is an impressive piece in terms of sonority and emotion and really deserves a renaissance, Angel iglesias (1917 — 1977) Spanish guitar virtuoso and composer (more of the first) with an extensive and impressive career which brought him around the world with an almost sensational success, Because of his great interest for Spanish folk music he mostly played in the prestigious world of cabaret and theatre, and that may be one of the reasons that he has been little known in guitar circ- les until new. Those wha were fervent worshippers of the pure and classical guitar may not have appreciated “noisy flamenco guitar” as Segovia elegantly put it. However Iglesias was also a distin- guished classical guitarist, and his roots in folk music gave a unique quality to his performance of classical music in terms of expression. During his career iglesias gave both solo recitals and accompanied various dancers, but he always created great attention with his very popular solo sections. Fora number of years he toured with the breathtaking and beautiful Spanish dancer Nati Morales, who also was his partner private- \y Over the years Angel Iglesias formed a special attachment to Scandinavia and especially to Denmark where he had several long stays. During a visit in Aalborg, Nati Morales gave bith toa ‘son, an event which forever formed a bond with the small Northern country.Both through teaching and performing Iglesias had an invaluable influence on the development of what might be called the vogue for the Spanish guitar. He taught several young Danish guitar pio- neers among which were Jyite Gorki Schmidt who later became my teacher. In 1943 and 1953 he made some histerically important recordings. On these you hear a uniquely brilliant style of playing, influenced by his roots in Spanish folk music which he mastered with ‘equally eminent skill as the classical repertoire. Especially because of growing interest about his role in the history of the guitar.* 1ese recordings there is a Press photo of the dencer Noti Moroles and the guitor virtuoso Ange! Iglesios who for a number of years pesformed successfully all around the worldThe pieces and arrangements by Iglesias on this od are first recordings. The exception is Arabesca which was recorded by the composer and which he wrote at an early stage in his carrees, a piece designed to really bring out the enthusiasm of an audience. Later on he composed more since he cut dewn on the concert tours and to some extent replaced in with teaching, only perform- ing now and then. Towards the end of his life he made long stays in France. His last few years were marked with serious illness and he died in 177, only 60 years old. ‘When the piane works of the legendary Russian composer, conductor and piano virtuoso Sergey \Vassilievich Rachmaninov is transcribed for guitar one must admit that Rachmaninov nearly disap- pears and the composition more or less is the transcriber's, in this case Angel Iglesias. But if you put away the original i.e, the famous prelude, and simply listen to the music for what it now is, — namely an excellent piece of guitar music - you might experience something new! The other arrangement by Iglesias on this cd i the gavotte from Ambroise Thomas’ opera Mignon, He wrote nine operas of which Mignon was extremely popular. The Gavotte was and is a very popu- lar show piece to be heard in very different arrangements and its unpretentious elegance works well in Iglesias’ transcription for the guitar. Soffren Degen (1316 — 1885) Danish guitarist and composer. He has been called "Denmark's Enigmatic Guitar Genius”. He was trained as a cellist and a composer, but Degen was one of the few persons in 19° century Denmark ‘whe tried to live from the guitar, He played recitals and taught but the waning popularity of the instrument from around 1850 caught up with him, His performance is said to have been extremely brilliant and is described in literature. He also worked as a singing teacher, actor, cellist and even became one of the first Danish photographers. Degen left a number of solo pieces for six as well as seven stringed guitars and a large number of pieces for cello and guitar. ** The andante played here is one of Degen's later works, written for a so-called heptachord (seven stringed) guitar constructed by himself, The Andante on this recording, or as | call it, Andante Melanconico because he himself used both words to describe the mood in the music, is modified to be performed on a modem six stringed guitar.José Ferrer (1835 1916) Spanish guitarist and composer with a large production. Besides works for solo guitar it includes church music, guitar duos, duos for guitar and piano, guitar and flute etc, one hundred pieces, more or less. His first teacher was his father and from 1860 he pursued his studies with the renowned Virtuoso José Broca in Barcelona, A few years later he began to play in public. In 1882 Ferrer made a trip to Paris where he among other things played at the Comédie Francaise and taught. Later he returned to Barcelona where he had been appointed professor at the Conservatoire del Liceo. He has written a book abaut the history of the guitar, Resena historica de la guitarra. (On this ed you can hear how this profoundly religious composer describes the dance af the ‘naiades", who are creatures of legends and fairytales. Maybe their world is not religious in @ Christian sense of the word, but still filled with other kinds of magic. Emilio Pujol (1886 — 1980} Spanish guitarist, composer and musicologist who at the age of fifteen became a pupil of Tarrega's. ‘As the author of the extensive four-volume guitar school, “Escuela Razonada de la Guitarra” he is considered the most important exponent for the so-called “Tarrega Schoo!”. In several ways it points the guitar into the Twentieth Century, Besides giving recitals he was a highly appreciated teacher, From 1949 and on he was a profes- sor at the academy of music in Lisbon. In the book “El Dilema del Sonido en la Guitarra” he was a strong advocate of playing without using the nails, a speciality of the Tarrega School, Hardly anyone uses that technique teday but it does give the performance a unique sonorous and hushed charm. However it enly works in surroundings smaller than a concert hall. As a musicologist Emilio Pujol had an important part in recovering the history of the Vihuela, a kind of renaissance guitar or lute used in Spain in the 16" Century. Several of his compositions are part of the standard repertoire for the instrument whereas others like this Barcarolle have been neglected Francisco Tarrega (1854 - 1909) Ona release with this kind of music, the great master of Spanish guitar, Francisco Tarrega cannot be ignored and his name has already been mentioned several times in this booklet. He was a guitar vir-tuoso, teacher, musicologist and the composer of a number of harmonious works and arrange- ments, all belonging to today's standard repertoire. His concert career which brought him much fame took place of course in his native Spain, but also in many other countries. His travelling activities did not stop him composing, arranging or teaching: On the contrary, today his teaching activities are almost mythical, He taught both privately and as a professor at the conservatories in Madrid and Barcelona. Amang his pupils were both Llobet and Pujol, both repre- sented on this ed. Pujol's monumental guitar school is loaded with technical ideas and directions mainly based on Tarrega’s teaching principles. He also worked with the Spanish guitar maker Antonio Torres in giving the instrument the shape it has today. He is also the master of a number of ground-breaking transcriptions of i. Bach, and many Spanish composers among which Albeniz is especially notable. Albeni is supposed to have said that Tartega's guitar transcriptions were superi- | piano versions, There may be some truth to that since Albeniz! work mainly is known in transcriptions by Tarrega and others. Here | have chosen to play some of the most beloved of Tarrega's pieces. Erling Moldrup, April 2003 Translation: Mette Gad +) Today these recordings can be found on the cd Arabesco, the Danish Odeon Recordings, distributed by Classico ‘*#) Degen’s compositions for cello and guitor have been recorded on Clossco by the cellist Morten Zeuthen ond Erling MoldnupErling Maldrup (born 1943) Professor of guitar at the Royal Academy of Music in Arhus. He studied there with one of the Danish pioneers of the guitar, jyite Gorki Schmidt, and received his diploma in 1972. He continued his studies with Milan Zelenka in Prague, as well as studying for shorter pe- rieds with Walter Gerwig, Karl Scheit and Konrad Ragossnig. He has been active as a soloist and chamber musician and has been a soloist with orchestras in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. As a guest teacher, lecturer, soloist and member of various ensembles, he has toured in most western European countries, eastern Europe, South America, Korea and the U.S.A. Since his recording debut in 1975 he has produced numerous recordings: records, cassettes and since the late 1980's thirteen CD's of which the most important are a recording of ).S. Bach's complete works for lute; “In Memory of ..”, a recording of Per Norgard’s at the time complete guitar works; “The Frosty Silence” and "Early Mom”, which presents guitar works by Denmark's most important contemporary com- posers; and “The Danish Classical Guitar,” which includes works by Danish composers of the 19" century, Erling Maldrup's repertoire embraces all styles: renaissance; baroque; classical; music from the Segovia repertoire; and, not least, the very newest music. Since the 1960's he has continually and creatively cooperated with leading Danish and foreign composers regarding new works for his instrument. In this connection he has given first performances and recorded works of, among others, Erik Bach, Axel Borup-jorgensen, Ole Buck, Jarmil Burghauser, john Frandsen, Hans Gefors, Hilding Hallnas, Bent Lorentzen, Tage Nielsen, Svend Nielsen, Per Norgird, Ib Norholm, Karl Age Rasmussen, Poul Ruders, Finn Savery and Flemming Wels. He has given the first Scandinavian per- formances of works by, among others, Jarmil Burghauser, Elliot Carter, Henri Gagnebin, Sofia Gubai- dulina, Hans Werner Henze, Andre Jolivet, Ernst Krenek, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Reginald Smith. Brindle, Carlos Surinach, Ole Schmidt and Toru Takemitsu. For many years Erling Maldrup has done research on the history of the guitar in Denmark. He has written a book on the subject, Guitaren, et eksotisk instrument i den danske musik (The Guitar, an Exotic Instrument in Danish Music), as well as articles for Danish and foreign magazines.| eee iM ere ear ioelte cre le re Re ge Mae eer te aay eel} Sree ecards ee ecg stir EL UTeLUec Lp fee eur Eee oc eet ee cet to [ere ecru alee) BCT en osc er Le) eras Gesu rs Ranunculus aute (Lay This CD are dedicated to Nati Morales and Miguel Ferrera Gil, Barcelona, Spain — the wife and ear Oe a ee nnd ere aoe Ls oodMusic by Romantic Guitarist Composers NY [iv ihemMi telemetry a Rachmaninov (arr.) Thomas (arr) — Degen Ferrer Pujol Tarrega a Se ea cae Peer una) Bory Prec neers] Pee ee) Col eee) 3, Cancion Playera as) Julio Martinez Qyanguren (1905-1973) 4. Arabia Ey] eater rats) Een 04 Antonio Cano (1811-1897) came ir) rary etreekel eter) pee ua 320 Angel Iglesias (1917-1977) rg cal eesti cry} elie cer] ee ee meer sy) Dee ie en ee sD ees Cero ereo) 12, Mignon, Gavota (arr, A. iglesias) Pn ies an ee Peer cuca Pers eames] Pee ecu caret En) Emilio Pujol (1886-1980) Pee i po] Geer terry) mera] 158 Paes cE Lieto eg uel sto elute ees Deals Tg CR URAL aCe tung ree ul aco Eee) of Music in Arhus, Denmark. Prema gute Cc i} par TOTAL ey Wags CLAS Classod 475 / Classico AES eae tt Pe eee aaa ered re