Luis Szaran (4th from right) and Liverpool Guitar Ensemble

Liverpool Guitar Ensemble  performed an impromptu after talk recital for Luis Szarán following his presentation on the Music of Paraguay at LMJU Arts and Design Academy on the 4th April. During a small and varied set of ensemble pieces we performed new arrangements of Come Together by The Beatles and Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin for the first time.

Luis Szarán  is a world renowned Paraguayan musician, orchestra director, composer, musical researcher and communiy educator, whose work with Sonidos de la Tierra - a program of social and community integration through music – has eveolved to become a world wide project.

It was an honour for members of Liverpool Guitar Society to entertain such an eminent musician.

________________  Liverpool Guitar Ensemble  ________________

Aram Khachaturian – Sabre Dance (Liverpool Guitar Ensemble)
Khachaturian was born in Tbilisi, Georgia to a poor Armenian family. Sabre Dance is part of the final act of his famous ballet “Gayane”.

Thoinot Arbeau – Belle Qui Tiens Vie (Liverpool Guitar Ensemble)
Originally sung in Old French, this piece is from Arbeau’s treatise on dancing, Orchesography from 1589.

________________  Three short pieces by Vincent Lynsey Clarke  ________________

Havre Gosselin (David Case)

Vals Navarra & Pamplova (Kathy Inglis)
Vincent Lindsey-Clark is one of the leading classical guitar composers from the UK and has written music for students which is used extensively by examination boards.

________________ Two solo pieces on Celtic themes  ________________

Jay Ungar – Ashokan Farewell (Niall Kavanagh)
Ashokan, in the Catskill Mountains near Woodstock is where Jay ran Fiddle & Dance camps. He described the piece as, “written in the style of a Scottish lament by a Jewish guy from the Bronx”. The theme was used in ‘The Civil War’ TV series.

Andrew Shiels – The Voyage of Maeldun Suite  (Richard Harding)
Irish composer Shiels’ Voyage of Maeldun suite is based on a traditional folklore tale, with each of the 5 movements representing part of the story in which Máel Dúin, the son of a slain warrior sets sail to avenge the murder of his father on “The Island of the Slayers”. He and his crew are blown off course by a storm, adventuring on “The Island of the Black Mourners” and “The Island of the Little Cat” before being shown the redemptive power of forgiveness on “The Island of the Monk of Troy” then “The Homecoming”.

________________ Two French Quartets  ________________

Claude Debussy – La fille aux cheveux de lin
“The Girl with the Flaxen Hair” was originally written as part of a collection of Préludes for solo piano in 1910.

Eric Satie – Gnossienne No. 1
Satie’s Gnossiennes were composed around 1890. The piano solo versions are without time signatures or bar lines, which Satie described as “absolute time.”

________________  Three pieces from South America  ________________

Dilermando Ries: Se Ela Perguntar (Rich Anderson)
“If she asks” is a traditional Brazilian waltz was written in the 1950s whilst Reis lived Rio de Janeiro.

Jose Luis Merlin – Evocation (Robin Turvey)
Merlin is a concert artist, composer and guitar teacher still living in Buenos Aires, and was once a pupil of virtuoso Uruguayan guitarist Abel Carlevaro.

Leo Brouwer – Un dia de Noviembre (Robin Turvey)
The Afro-Cuban composer, conductor and classical guitarist Leo Brouwer originally orchestrated “A day in November” for guitar accompanied by flute, bass, and percussion for a 1972 film, though has only been published for solo guitar.

________________  Trio, Quartet and Ensemble  ________________

Philip Glass – Opening (Trio)
Contemporary American composer, considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century, Glass is popularly renowned for soundtracks to Koyaanisqatsi and The Hours. Opening was originally a solo piano movement from Glassworks.

Chris Tuohey – November (Quartet)
Chris, a key member of Liverpool Guitar Society, wrote November last August! It was premiered at LateNight at the Walker Art Gallery in November 2010.

Pieter Van der Staak – Reflections (Liverpool Guitar Ensemble)
Pieter van der Staak was a Dutch classical guitarist, composer and professor of music. A student of Andrés Segovia, Alirio Diaz and Emilio Pujol, many of his works are written specifically for guitar teaching

________________  Interval  ________________

________________   Five Spanish pieces  ________________

Joaquim Turina – Soleares (Niall Kavanagh)

Joaquín Turina was a Spanish composer whose Homenaje a Tárrega was written for Andrés Segovia in the 1920s. The second flamenco of the piece is a  Soleares in 3/4 time consisting of variations on quick runs and forceful strums characteristic of the flamenco style.

Francisco Tarrega – Gran Valse (Niall Kavanagh)
Francisco Tárrega’s father apparently played flamenco. In 1862 at ten years old, after departing to study in Barcelona, he ran away to play guitar in local coffee houses. Three years later he ran away to Valencia where he joined a gang of gypsies. Tarrega went on to create not only the foundation of modern classical guitar technique but also “probably the world’s most heard tune”, the Nokia ringtone, which can be heard in the Gran Vals

Fernando Sor – Sonata Op15  (Chris Tuohey)
Considered in his day the finest guitarist in the world Fernando Sor defined the parlour sound and culture of the classical guitar in 19th century Europe giving concerts in England, Paris, Berlin and Warsaw. Sonata Op 15 is an early piece reminiscent of Italian opera overtures.

Isaac Albéniz - Tango (Steve Gaskell and Rich Anderson)
Isaac Albéniz  – Asturias (Jenny Nelson)

Isaac Albeniz, was a Spanish pianist composer, though his works are more often played on the guitar now. The Tango is from his “España Album Leaves” whilst Asturias (Leyenda), retitled after the composer’s death was originally a prelude to the Chants d’Espagne.

________________  Two more Impressionist Quartets  ________________

Maurice Ravel – Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant
Beauty in the Sleeping Wood was originally written as a piano duet for children in 1910.

Gabriel Fauré – Bercuese

Fauré, who was one of Ravel’s teachers wrote The Dolly Suite (also for four-hands on a piano) in honour of Hélène, nicknamed Dolly, the daughter of his mistress at the time. The Berceuse (a lullaby) was composed for Hélène’s first birthday.

________________  A selection from England   ________________

John Dowland – My Lord Willoughby’s Welcome Home  (Jenny Nelson and Richard Harding)
From the era of court composers, and at one time involved in “treasonous Catholic intrigue”, John Dowland was one of the most famous English Renaissance composers, most notably for his Lute pieces and songs. This piece was apparently composed for Lord Willoughby de Eresby’s return in 1589, having commanded the English army during campaigns in the Netherlands.

Paul Costello – Catch and Fall (Paul Costello)
Paul is a local guitar teacher who composes his own music which is improvisation in nature. This piece is influenced Brazilian composer/ pianist/ guitarist Egberto Guismonti and Vaughn Williams.

Paul McCandless – Hungry Heart (Paul Costello)
Paul Costello also plays a solo guitar arrangement of ‘Hungry Heart’, by the American oboist, improviser and composer Paul McCandless. This consists of loosely composed sections that are only fully realised during the performance, alternating with improvised sections, based on a rapidly changing series of modes.

Mauro Giuliani – Variations on theme by Handel (Chris Tuohey)
Tenuously connected to England is Italian Giuliani’s reworking of Handel’s “The Harmonious Blacksmith” written in 1828. Giuliani defined a new role for the guitar in Vienna’s musical scene and was a notable contemporary and acquaintance of Rossini and Beethoven.

George Harrison – Here Comes the Sun – (Niall Kavanagh)

According to one of Liverpool’s most famous sons himself, “one day I decided I was going to sag off (working at) Apple and I went over to Eric Clapton’s house. The relief of not having to go see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars and wrote “Here Comes the Sun”.

________________   … and finally  ________________

The Beatles – Come Together (Quartet)
The opening track from the Abbey Road album on 1969. It has been speculated that lines from the song cryptically refer to each of The Beatles. “He’s one holy roller” allegedly refers to the spiritually inclined George Harrison; “he got monkey finger, he shoot Coca-Cola” to Ringo; “he got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker” to Lennon himself; and “got to be good-looking ’cause he’s so hard to see” to Paul.

Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song (Sextet)

The opening track from Led Zeppelin III was written during a tour of Iceland in mid-1970. The song’s lyrics are written from the perspective of Vikings rowing west from Scandinavia and features the line, “The hammer of the gods / will drive our ships to new lands” which prompted some people to start referring to the band’s sound as the “Hammer of the Gods”.
Handel – Passacaglia (Liverpool Guitar Ensemble)
George Frideric Handel’s prolific output include 42 operas, 29 oratorios and more than 120 cantatas etc. He also found time to write 16 keyboard suites. The last movement of one of these, the Harpsichord Suite in G minor (HWV 432) is a passacaglia. The term passacaglia derives from the Spanish pasar (to walk) and calle (street). It originated in early 17th century Spain as a ‘rasgueado’ (strummed) interlude.

________________ h   g _______________

With thanks to Neil Campbell and Hope University. Programme notes reference information from Wikipedia.org.
May 12^th 2011 Capstone Theatre, Hope University, Liverpool.