We are delighted to announce that we are back with a ‘real-world, in-person’ Annual Conference for 2022 ! We shall be in a new venue this year, the wonderful Leeds Conservatoire in the heart of the vibrant multi-cultural city of Leeds in West Yorkshire. The conference is on Monday 1st and Tuesday 2nd August 2022. More Info »
Conference, EGTA conference, Latest newsVisit the Book Reviews section of our web-site for more recently-published reviews of new publications for teaching and performing. We are pleased to be able to highlight the latest books and repertoire from the leading publishers of classical guitar material, including Schott, Universal Edition, Berben, Ricordi, ABRSM, Trinity, Doblinger, Orpheus, Oxford, Chanterelle and more… It’s More Info »
Editted by Thomas Schmitt. Published by Doblinger DM1502 I’ll be honest with you. The most interesting part of this collection, for me, was the Preface. Thomas Schmitt has clearly researched widely and laboured hard to bring this collection to fruition. I’m left wondering whether or not it was music worthy of such trouble. But I’ll More Info »
The Boosey & Hawkes Bartok Edition Selected and arranged by Michael McCartney (with a CD included) Boosey & Hawkes BH 13242 and Mikrokosmos Volume 1, editted by Antonio D’Augello UT Orpheus CH 323 I’ve played violin on and off for many years and I recall encountering Bartok’s arrangements of the Mikrokosmos for violin duet, and More Info »
UT Orpheus CH 353 I have never come across Venicio Palumbo before. The back cover tells us he is a lutenist as well as a guitarist who has played in theatre and along with ancient music groups. He certainly knows his way around the guitar. This is the 1st of 3 volumes of Characteristic pieces, More Info »
Published by Doblinger 35 967 Jeffrey Lewis, a Welsh composer, once told me he thought it was impossible to write dissonant music for the guitar. That opens up a wider debate as to whether or not atonality is inherently dissonant, and the 12-tone’s role in forms that rely on harmonic tensions to stabilise and destabilise More Info »
UT Orpheus G352 Following on from what I thought was a near-miss of a collection of Characteristic Pieces, I opened this book with trepidation. I was relieved. This distinctive voice seems to have found an apt vehicle of expression in etudes. They are mostly focussed on the right hand ; the left hand simply has More Info »
Ed. Peter Ansorge and Bruno Szordikowski Published by Schott, ED 23212 (45 Stücke für Gitarre – Romantische Miniaturen) Another beautifully prepared and page-turning anthology arrives from Schott’s and it is a pleasure to open the cover. The editors and arrangers, Peter Ansorge and Bruno Szordikowski, have chosen composers whose dates range from 1797 – 1944, More Info »
6 Preludios Fáciles by Manuel Ponce, edited and fingered by Flavio Nati. Published by UT ORPHEUS CH 331 I didn’t know these pieces before they arrived for review, being familiar only with the more famous 24 Preludes for Guitar. Flavio Nati opines that non-guitar-playing composers sometimes write more interesting music because they are capable of More Info »
My New Landscape : 4 Pieces for Guitar by Giorgio Signorile. Published by UT Orpheus. CH344 It’s a safe bet we all love out instrument and before we started to apply ourselves seriously, lots of us would doodle around making arpeggiated patterns based on a chord. Over time we decide to structure our meanderings and More Info »
