ALSO--SEE ORGAN MUSIC
Chamber Music With Guitar
Da Chara (flute and guitar) (1984) [6’]
Air (flute and guitar) (1982) [4’]
Guitar Quartet No. 8 (Cuatro Canciones Melancólicos) (soprano and four guitars) (1996) [14’]
Guitar Quartet No. 7 (Civil Guard) (for low voice and four guitars) (1996) [12’]
Labyrinth (On A Theme of Led Zeppelin) (AKA Guitar Quartet No. 5) (1994) [23’]
Portrait of a Young Woman (1993) (two guitars) [13’]
Folías (AKA Guitar Quartet No. 4) (1993) [14’]
Bulerías (AKA Guitar Quartet No. 3) (1989) [15’]
Antique Suite (AKA Guitar Quartet No.2) (1976) [15’][CLICK HERE FOR TRANSCRIPTIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS]
Da Chara (flute and guitar) (1984) [6’]
Commissioned and premiered by Objet d’art (Valarie King, flute, Anisa Angarola, flute) 1984.Guitar EnsemblesFirst recording by Objet d’art, ‘Pastorale’, James Mars Productions, released 1986. (Cassette only, out of print.) CD release coming soon from Lissadell. Second recording by Jim Walker, flute, Scott Tennant, guitar, ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’, Delos DE 3207, released February, 1998.
Published by Peer-Southern Music.
Program notes and performance history:
Da Chara, Gaelic for "two friends," one of a growing series of pieces written in the traditional Irish style, was commissioned by guitarist Anisa Angarola and flutist Valarie King. Written in a form largely inspired by Paddy Maloney of the Chieftains, it begins with a flute air in free style, followed by another air in 3/4 time, played first by the guitar alone, then with the flute. Next, the original air returns as a march, which gradually picks up energy until it bubbles over into a wild reel. At the end of the reel, the first air returns one last time as a cantus firmus, as the flute continues to spin wild variations above. Though all the melodies are "original" in the sense that they were not lifted from traditional sources, they were intended to be taken for authentic Irish melodies. Guitarist Juan Carlos Laguna with flutist Marisa Canales, as well as guitarist Scott Tennant and flutist James Walker, among others, have also performed the piece.
Reviews:
“This piece is written in “traditional Irish style,” beginning with a free, improvisational air and progressing through another air, a march and a wild reel. The opening improvisation is a lovely melody embellished in the Irish manner. Ian Krouse includes written ornamentation, which is very helpful to those not yet familiar with the style. This portion of the piece is probably the most difficult because of the ensemble issues in playing a “double improvisation.”
The following air in 3/4 is introduced by the guitar alone and then played by both instruments. This evolves into a march, which uses material from the opening improvisation. The tempo accelerates throughout the march into a quick reel which then becomes a “wild reel,” with the guitar playing the melody and the flute playing variations above the guitar.
The composer explores typical guitar techniques, such as rolling arpeggios, strummed chords and swept chords, as well as giving the guitar an equal role in exposing melodic material. The guitar is not just an accompanying instrument. The ethnic character of the music is explored in both instruments with the style clearly conveyed to the performers. The flute range is moderate with ample suggestions for performing style, and is reminiscent of Irish music performed on a penny whistle.
This is a delightful piece that is fun and exciting to play, and which will be pleasing to an audience. It is especially suitable for a recital of ethnic music or as an encore piece in n any performance.”
Sharon Lebsack, AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER, June-July, 2007
Air (flute and guitar) (1982) [4’]
Arrangement by the composer of a piece originally for guitar solo. Premiered by flutist Valarie King and guitarist Terry Graves, October, 1982.
First recording by Objet d’art, ‘Pastorale’, James Mars Productions, 1986. (Cassette only, out of print.) CD re-release on Lissadell.
Score available from the composer. P.O. Box 117, 23705 Vanowen Street, West Hills, CA 91307
Score $8.00
Program notes and performance history:
Air is the earliest in a series of pieces inspired by traditional Irish music. Though many are decidedly neo-Celtic, this, the first, sounds fairly authentic. Though originally conceived for performance by an Irish band, it has most often been performed in an arrangement for solo guitar, and, in that form, has been championed by guitarist Scott Tennant. It is also performed in arrangements for flute and guitar, and flute and harp.
Guitar Quartet No. 8 (Cuatro Canciones Melancólicos) (soprano and four guitars) (1996) [14’]Un-premiered. Score and parts available from the composer. P.O. Box 117, 23705 Vanowen Street, West Hills, CA 91307
Score: $19.00
Parts: $38.00
Guitar Quartet No. 7 (Civil Guard) (for low voice and four guitars) (1996) [12’]
Premiered by the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet with Tom Speckhard, baritone, Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, March 6, 1999.
Score and parts available from the composer. P.O. Box 117, 23705 Vanowen Street, West Hills, CA 91307
Score: $19.00Program notes and performance history:
Parts: $63.00The Ballad of the Spanish Civil Guard is a concert arrangement, for guitar quartet and low voice, of a scene from my opera Lorca, hijo de la luna. The Minneapolis Guitar Quartet premiered this version with American baritone Tom Speckard at Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 6, 1999, and has subsequently performed it several times.
In the opera it is sung by a mezzo-soprano and baritone soloist with chorus, and is intended to be richly and powerfully choreographed, as it was by Mari Sandoval in the 1997 Los Angeles Production by the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. I remember feeling rather daunted by the density and power of the text, to say nothing of the length. (Prior to this point I had never before set such an ambitious text.) In the end, under great time pressure, I wrote the first two-thirds of the piece very quickly, having settled upon the rhythmic figure that starts things off. The final section of the piece was written after a lapse of a year or so.
The piece also exists in an arrangement for low voice and piano, a version that has been performed many times, mainly by mezzo-soprano Suzann Guzman, who premiered the role of ‘La Gitana’ in the opera, and for whom the concert version was made.
Labyrinth (On A Theme of Led Zeppelin) (AKA Guitar Quartet No. 5) (1994) [23’]
Requested and premiered by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, Andrew York, Mechanics Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, October 21, 1995.
First recording by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, ‘Labyrinth’, Delos, DE 3163, May, 1995.
Score and parts available from the composer. P.O. Box 117, 23705 Vanowen Street, West Hills, CA 91307
Score $38.00Reviews:
Parts $63.00"The most successful is Krouse’s tongue-in-cheek admixture of rock & roll with his classical compositional ingenuity – there are many surprises to be found."
John Schneider, GFA SOUNDBOARD, Fall, 1996
"On fresher turf, Ian Krouse’s "Labyrinth" takes, as a conceptual springboard, the Led Zeppelin song "Friends." Rather than using the chamber-rock angle as a novelty, a la the Kronos Quartet’s "Purple Haze," the composer pays respects to Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page – one of rock’s great exotic riff-makers – by extending the harmonic language of the original tune. Extra-classical guitar effects abounded, with the use of picks, slides and open tuning, and a blues chord progression inserted in the middle seemed irrelevant. But, in the main, this was a gutsy attempt to bridge different musical worlds."
Josef Woodard, LOS ANGELES TIMES, January 20, 1996
"The disc’s cynosure is the mammoth Labyrinth by Ian Krouse. Officially the composer’s Guitar Quartet No. 5, Labyrinth uses Led Zeppelin’s exotic song "Friends" as a cantus firmus of sorts. Artificial, Middle-Eastern sounding scales, bottle-neck slide, string bending, flat picking, microtones, scordatura, improvisation, and singing, all cast a new light on what the classical guitar can do. By appropriating the tools of rock and folk music, Krouse has added colors to the art guitar’s palette. For once, here’s an adventurous highly crafted work that insults neither high nor low musical camps. Bravo!"
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, November/December, 1995
"…Ian Krouse’s remarkable mulling over of a Led Zeppelin tune. They not only pick, pluck, and strum in a variety of manners, but they also retune the guitars, bend notes, improvise, knock on wood, and sing a lot…truly adventurous."
STEREO REVIEW, October, 1995
"…a fascinating six-movement work that successively reproduces, reinvents, and reassembles Zep’s "Friends," is but one highlight of this extraordinary recording. Listen and marvel."
GUITAR PLAYER, October, 1995
"Ian Krouse’s ‘Labyrinth’ is inspired by Led Zep, and at 20 minutes does seem to hit the marathon runner’s famous "wall." In seven sections of varying rock and blues orientated passages, it sometimes has a nostalgic charm – I particularly liked the slow, moody blues of the fourth part, and the fragmentary nature of the second with its stabbing motifs fighting for elbow room…"
Chris Kilvington, CLASSICAL GUITAR, October, 1995
Program notes and performance history:
Labyrinth, my fifth effort for four guitars, was written at the request of my ‘friends’ the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and represents the fulfillment of a long-held desire to do something personal and substantial with rock and roll materials. For at least a decade I had mused over the possibility of composing a rock/blues piece utilizing a full battery of classical and modern compositional techniques. Inspired by the unique musical and technical qualities of the LAGQ I finally mustered the courage. The result is Labyrinth. I based my work on the song Friends by Led Zeppelin because its complex, exotic qualities resonated perfectly with my own compositional language. The song became a kind of ‘portal’ between the often diametrically opposed worlds of rock ‘n’ roll and contemporary classical music.
The unusual scale upon which this work is based (C – D-flat – E – F# - G – A – B) is drawn from the ‘ritornello riff’ of the Led Zeppelin song, which is chanted near the outset of the piece. I decided to use this melody as a kind of ‘cantus firmus.’ Furthermore, by rotating the seven-note scale upon which it is based, I created six other related modes that account for the majority of the melodic and harmonic materials in the work. For instance, the ‘Boogie’ section (Part III) is based on the fifth rotation (A – B – C – D-flat – E – F# – G) while the "blues" (Part IV) is derived from the first, (D-flat – E – F# – G – A – B – C) and so on. The large-scale structure is created by turning each of the nine notes of the ‘row’ into a lengthy harmonic region, establishing a giant labyrinth which must be successfully traversed before the final return to the original key of C! This arrival home is celebrated by a manic fugue based upon another important motive of the Led Zeppelin song (C – E-flat – D – F – E – G – F#, etc.), which gradually transforms itself into a massive coda and a return to the song ‘Friends’.
In order to evoke accurately the world of acoustic rock and blues, the normal palette of classical guitar techniques has been expanded to include pitch-bending, micro-tonal inflections, de-tuned unisons, bottle-neck slides, unusual tunings (two of the players are tuned C – G – C – G – C – E), capos, improvisation, singing, and, most importantly, extensive use of flat picking.
Portrait of a Young Woman (1993) (two guitars) [13’]
Commissioned and premiered by Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl, Shenandoah Conservatory, Oct. 6, 1996.
Score available from the composer. P.O. Box 117, 23705 Vanowen Street, West Hills, CA 91307
Score: $25.00Reviews:"The most remarkable piece…was an Ian Krouse work, "Portrait of A Young Woman"…based on the "Frog Galliard" by John Dowland, although the tune does not become recognizable until the middle."
GFA SOUNDBOARD, Summer, 1997
Program notes and performance history:
Portrait of A Young Woman was commissioned and premiered by Julian Gray and Ron Pearl. It is largely made by "deconstructing" Dowland’s famous lute solo, the "Frog Galliard" as an elaborate canon for two guitars. Although I don’t think it is possible – or reasonable – to hear the piece as a canon, given the vast distance in time between the "leader" (Guitar 1) and the "follower" (Guitar 2), both guitarists play essentially the same part. I remember musing as I wrote the piece, over the very reasonable possibility of the two players practicing their parts in unison! The "Frog Galliard" is one of those unusual pieces in the western canon which has no accidentals – not one – using only the notes of an E-major scale. I had often wondered whether or not it would be possible to "pull off" a larger work which remained in one scale throughout, without that fact being noticed, or worse, becoming tedious. The Portrait afforded me the chance to give this a try. Thus, for 13 minutes or so, the piece proceeds, like the Dowland upon which it is extracted, entirely in the key of E-major, though its modal orientation does "modulate" to G#-Phrygian for a long stretch in the middle, before concluding back in E.
Folías (AKA Guitar Quartet No. 4) (1993) [14’]
Requested and premiered by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, Andrew York, St. Louis, Missouri, October 4, 1992.
First recording by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, ‘Evening in Granada’, Delos, DE 3144, Winter,1994.
Published by Peer-Southern Music.
Reviews:
"Ian Krouse’s "Folías" is a variation set that quotes Renaissance and Baroque versions of the "Folías" theme between more adventurously modern expansions."
Allan Kozin, NEW YORK TIMES, May 28, 1994
"What follows is Folías, a heated contemporary piece by guitarist Ian Krouse that begins where Boccherini’s flamenco strums end. Boisterous rasgueado jump starts the 15-minute set of variations which travel back in time as each new treatment of the theme gets closer in language to the original Spanish Renaissance dance; by the fade-out finish, the players have exited one by one, as in Haydn’s Farewell Symphony, giving Folías a ghostly ending that sweeps away the music like so much desert sand and collective memory"
AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE, September/October, 1994
"This remarkable 15 minute piece is an absolutely compelling work, which only reveals its famous theme halfway through and moves in a circle of ‘time travel’ as the composer puts it. Commencing with a sort of minimalistic whispering alternated with powerful chords, it journeys backwards in style from today to the Baroque and Renaissance, with guitarists sure to recognize Gaspar Sanz en route. I loved its prolonged motifs changing by voice, tonal sounds occasionally becoming dissonant, and then gradually evolving majestically with strong themes coming and going against a backwash of murmuring arpeggio. Folías concludes by the disappearance of each player in turn, gradually becoming nothing. A terrific composition."
CLASSICAL GUITAR, June, 1994
"Krouse’s Folías leaps into the 20th century, only to commence a journey back to the popular Renaissance dance theme known to students of baroque music through Corelli’s famous Op. 5, No. 12 variations. Krouse’s intricate development of the old melody extends the concept of variations well beyond Corelli’s simple musical geometry, and we are almost relieved to hear the familiar theme directly stated after 8 ½ minutes of ingenious exploration and extrapolation. There is anticipation in this piece, and maybe a little frustration, but the purposeful motion of the music keeps us involved and always waiting for the next note."
CD REVIEW, February, 1994
"Ian Krouse’s "Folías" takes one of the most famous tunes of all times – there are more than 1,000 settings – and makes a fantastic set of variations on it."
Glenn Giffin, DENVER POST, November 19, 1992
"The [L.A. Guitar Quartet] surprised the crowd with the world premiere of Ian Krouse’s set of variations based on "La Folia," a popular harmonic pattern used in baroque music. The harmonic pattern is obscured here, used with prominence only in a reference to Corelli’s famous version. At the end, a la Haydn’s "Farewell Symphony," the musicians leave the stage while playing the closing four guitars."
Sue Taylor, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, October 5, 1992
Program notes and performance history:
In ‘Folías’, which was composed at the request of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the composer set out to add a work evocative of Spanish style to a distinguished tradition of "folias" that includes over 1,000 compositions, including versions by Marais, Bach, Vivaldi, Corelli, Paganini, Rachmaninoff, Ponce, and Lutoslawski. About his own Folías the composer writes:
"The folia was popular in Spain as a sung dance accompanied by guitar and sonagas – metal disks attached to a wooden ring. The word folia means "mad" or "empty-headed," for the dance was so fast and noisy that the dancers seemed out of their minds. My version is set in the usual form of the variations, but with two twists. First, the theme itself is not presented until almost halfway through the piece – and even then – it is stated in several forms. Second, the variations start out quite long and gradually become shorter…they continue to accelerate until they move so fast that each takes only a few beats to complete. The piece concludes with a festive series of variations based on a form of the folia which was popular in the late Renaissance."
The compositional style of Krouse’s Folías is an eclectic circle. It is described by the composer as a kind of "time travel," beginning with improvisatory, neo-minimalistic murmurings reminiscent of flamenco style. The music develops backward in time, stylistically, to a statement of the them in Baroque style, then back further to neo-Renaissance style, and finally comes full circle back to the present. One hears the theme emerging gradually until its full statement at the gravitational center of the piece, designated by the composer "Follia after Corelli" [at 8:25]. Shortly thereafter [at 10:31] the theme is stated in minor, this time quoting the "Folías of Sanz." As the variations draw to a close, the score indicates that the players should, each in turn, leave the stage, in an elaborate visual, as well as aural, diminuendo.
Bulerías (AKA Guitar Quartet No. 3) (1989) [15’]
Requested and premiered by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Anisa Angarola, John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, Second Guitar Congress, Wake Forest University, June, 1989.
First recording by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, ‘The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet’, GHA – 126.016, released Winter, 1992.
Published by Peer-Southern Music.
Reviews:
"Ian Krouse’s "Bulerías" explores the obsessive side of flamenco in sweaty volleys of iterative chords, building impressively…It lives on rhythmic interplay, and the collisions of granitic harmonies and primal motivic fragments, all fiercely projected here."
John Henken, LOS ANGELES TIMES, March 23, 1991
"Accented with dissonant, crashing passages, sometimes rhythmically at odds, the work gradually evolved into beautifully harmonic, layered patterns, performed with great spirit."
Karen Knutson, ARKANSAS GAZETTE, February 21, 1990
"…Bulerías, a piece with fabulous textures…is absorbing, brutal, beautiful, and harsh, all at the same time."
GFA SOUNDBOARD, Winter, 1989-90
"Bulerías has to be mentioned in a separate breath, for it was quite literally breath-taking. Firmly footed in its Spanish origin, this item provided a challenge to the members of the quartet. The difficulties of this marathon piece may not have been readily evident, since they were mostly based on rhythmic intricacies between the four guitarists. Bulerías was tailor-made for the L.A. Guitar Quartet, or so it seems. Using a number of minimalist devices and techniques, the piece very quickly transported the listener beyond the state of ordinary excitement into a realm of hypnotic suspension. As the piece came to a close, I had a sense of exhausted exhilaration over having been returned to earth in one piece. I shall not forget this experience any time soon."
GFA SOUNDBOARD, Fall, 1989
Program notes and performance history:
The idea for Bulerías came to me while listening with awe and fascination to the multiple guitar improvisations of the touring show Flamenco Puro. This single movement virtuoso work is neither "flamenco" nor "pure." But it is solidly rooted in the characteristic 12-beat rhythmic patterns of the "soleares" and its festive cousin the "bulerías," and is imbued throughout with the spirit and actual techniques of the flamenco guitar. After an impressionistic and improvisatory opening section marked Quasi cadenza – senza misura, the work becomes gradually more rhythmically clarified, leading to an intense Tempo di Soleares and finally culminating in a riotous final (and longest) section – Tempo di Bulerías. The piece makes extensive use of antiphonal effects, all based on the improvised clapping – palmas – of flamenco.
Antique Suite (AKA Guitar Quartet No.2) (1976) [15’]
Premiered in its revised version by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Anisa Angarola, John Dearman, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, Bovard Auditorium, USC, Los Angeles, California, April 18, 1987.
First recording by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, ‘El Amor Brujo’, GHA 126.001, released Winter, 1987.
Published by Peer-Southern Music.
Reviews:
"Ian Krouse’s ‘Antique Suite after Neusidler’ is based on pieces by 16th century lutenist Hans Neusidler, and is a dynamic, often unsettling, fusion of 20th century and Renaissance musical languages."
GUITAR PLAYER, April, 1990
"…the astonishing and beautiful ‘Antique Suite’ …was inspired by themes of the German Renaissance. Although the work is a difficult one the four guitarists rose to the occasion brilliantly. The first two movements each began with sustained effects produced by drawing a bow across all six strings."
CORDOBA LOCAL, July 24, 1987
"[Antique Suite] is an interesting work where colorful Renaissance harmonic progressions are given modern resolutions. The use of the bow in the manner of a viola da gamba and the percussive effects produced by the fingers on the bridge add richness and variety to the work. The L.A Guitar Quartet gave us a colorful and seductive version of the work."
GRENOBLE LOISIRS, July 8, 1987
Program notes and performance history:
The original version of the Antique Suite was written in 1976 while I was an undergraduate composition major at Indiana University at South Bend, and premiered by myself with several friends on the occasion of my senior recital. It was composed in a burst of enthusiasm over hearing Stravinsky’s Pulcinella for the first time. (I could not have known at the time, that this ‘recreational’ little piece would be a harbinger of my mature style.) Several years later, while a graduate student at the University of Southern California, I decided to re-visit this piece, as I wanted something to give my friends the Los Angles Guitar Quartet, who, at that time, were still largely unknown. I quickly realize that the piece, as it stood, had several problems! I tossed out two of the inner movements, wrote one new one, tightened up the seams, and polished up the counterpoint. The result worked out quite well, and I have left it alone ever since.
The work assumes the form of a suite-like series of re-constructed lute dances by the prolific German lutenist-composer Hans Neusidler. At first I recall being somewhat ‘intimidated’ by the material and somewhat cautious in my arranging. I also remember being frustrated by this unintended conservatism. As I got deeper into the piece I found it easier and easier to treat the material as my own, and wondered, with some chagrin, what Neusidler would have thought of my efforts. In fact, when I returned to "repair" this piece after a lapse of about ten years, it was primarily the first movement – the first to be composed – which received the most radical revision. It appears as if I shed some of my reticence in the intervening years!
TRANSCRIPTIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS.
(as performed by members of the De Falla Trio)
Johannes Brahms:
Sarabande (original for piano)
Claude Debussy:
Prelude VI (original for piano)
Prelude VII (Dans le style et le Mouvement d’un Cake-Walk) (original for piano)
Prelude VIII (La Filles aux Cheveux de Lin) (original for piano)
Prelude IX (original for piano)Maurice Ravel:
Sonatine (1st: Modere)(original for piano)
Pavane for the Sleeping Beauty (from Mother Goose Suite) (original for piano four hands)
Pavane for a Dead Princess (original for piano/orchestra)Enrique Granados:
Spanish Dance No. 1 (Menuet) (original for piano)
Spanish Dance No. 2 (Oriental) (original for piano)
Spanish Dance No. 4 (Villanesca) (original for piano)
Spanish Dance No. 5 (Andaluza – Playera (original for piano)
Spanish Dance No. 6 (Jota – Rondalla Aragonesa) (original for piano)
Transcriptions for three guitars (as performed and recorded by the De Falla Trio)Isaac Albeniz:
Aragón (Fantasía) (original for piano)J.S. Bach:
Chorale Preludes: (originals for organ)
I. Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland
II. Erschienen ist der herrliche Tag
III. Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich
IV. Jesu, meine Freunde
V. Wenn wir in Höchstein Nötes sein
VI. Christ lag in Todesbanen
VII. Herr Christ, der einge Gottes Sohn
VIII. Ich ruf’ zu dir, Herr Jesu ChristConcerto in D – after Ernest (Allegro, Grave, and Presto) (original for organ)
Concerto in E-flat major (original for organ)
Fugue in A-minor (student level) (original for clavier)
Prelude No. XIII (from WTC) (original for clavier)
John Bull:
In Nomine (original for virginal)Manuel De Falla:
Suite from “El Amor Brujo” (original for orchestra)
Pantomime
Will-o-the-wisp
Dance of Terror
Fisherman’s Song
Dance of Love’s Play
Ritual Fire DanceSuite from “The Three Cornered Hat” (original for orchestra)
The Neighbors’ Dance (Seguidillas)
The Miller’s Dance (Farruca)
Dance of the Corregidor
Dance of the Miller’s Wife (Fandango)
Spanish Dance from “La Vida Breve” (original for orchestra)
Enrique Granados:
Spanish Dance No. 3 (Zarabanda) (original for piano)
Spanish Dance No. 12 (Arabesca) (original for piano)Franz Josef Haydn:
Trio 97 (Fatto por la felicissima nascita di S:Al:S: Prencipe Esterhazi)(original for baryton trio)
W.A. Mozart:
Andante in F-major K.V. Nr. 616 (original for piano)
Divertimento K. 136 (Allegro, Andante, Presto) (original for strings)
Eine Kleine Gigue K.V. 574 (original for piano)
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Allegro, Romanze, Menuet, Rondo) (original for strings)
Menuett in D-major K.V. Nr. 355 (original for piano)Domenico Scarlatti:
Cat’s Fugue (original for harpsichord)
Sonata in d-minor (original for harpsichord)Antonio Soler:
Fandango (original for harpsichord)Georg Philipp Telemann:
Triosonate in F-major (Largo, Allegro, Largo, Allegro)
Antonio Vivaldi (arr. Bach):Concerto in D-minor (Allegro, Adagio, Allegro) (original for organ)
Sonata in g-minor (Preludio, Corrente, Grave, Giga)
Transcriptions for three guitars and orchestra (as performed by the De Falla Guitar Trio)Georg Philipp Telemann:
Concerto in F-major
Transcriptions for four guitars
William Byrd The Carman’s Whistle (original for virginal)
Manuel De Falla Ritual Fire Dance/Danza Ritual del Fuego (as performed by the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) (original for orchestra)
Georges Bizet La Toupie, Op. 22, No. 2(original for piano four hands)Claude Debussy Marionettes (original for voice and piano)
Maurice Ravel Menuet Antique (original for piano/orchestra)
Alexander Tcherepnin Bagatelle (Op. 5, No. 5) (student level) (original for piano)
Transcriptions for five guitars
Bach ‘Mache dich, mein Herze rein’ (from the St. Mathew Passion)
Trio for Three Guitars
Commissioned by the Gaudeamus Festival Week and premiered by the Gitaartrio Dik Visser at the Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam on September 13, 1981.
Published by Ian Krouse Music
Score: $19.00
Parts: $38.00Program notes and performance history:
Following its successful premiere in the Netherlands, the Trio for Three Guitars was substantially revised and became a staple of the performing repertoire of the de Falla Guitar Trio (of which the composer was a founding member) and was performed to critical acclaim at the trio’s New York debut in 1985, as well as in masterclasses conducted by Witold Lutoslawski and Pierre Boulez, both of whom had much praise for the highly virtuosic and, for its time, quite unusual work. Its extensive use of rapid-fire hocketing and antiphonal panning makes it a precursor to later works such as Bulerías, and, as with most of the guitar ensemble pieces, this one assumes the form of a continuous movement despite the fact that a close listen reveals several discernable ‘proto-movements.’ Later, the composer transcribed the Trio as his Toccatta for two pianos, which was premiered by pianists Vicky Ray and Laura Bell at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, April 18, 1987. The two-piano version was awarded First Prize in the National Association of Music Club’s National ‘Young Composer’s Competition’ in 1988.
Reviews:
“The Trio for Three Guitars” by the American Ian Krouse turned out to be a captivating piece, compact and strongly set up with a very effective use of the three instruments. Sparkling arpeggios and many contrasts made these miniature pieces a real pleasure.”
ALGAMEEN DAGBLAD, 1981
“Mr. Krouse composed an imaginative and virtuosic Trio especially for his ensemble.”
Tim Page, THE NEW YORK TIMES, May 13, 1984
Variations on ‘Non a tempo d’aspettare’ (for three guitars) 1981
Written in 1981 for the de Falla Guitar Trio.
Published by Ian Krouse Music
Score: $8.00
Parts: $15.00Duration: 6’
Program notes and performance history:
The Variations on ‘Non a tempo d’aspettare’ started off as an arrangement and ended up as a composition. Though modest in scope and not at all difficult to play, it does make an attractive recital piece that is entirely suitable for an advanced student ensemble.
Guitar Quartet No. 8 (Canciones Melancólicos) (soprano and four guitars) (1996)
Premiered by Michele Williams, soprano, Iren Arutyunyan, Taylor Ballenger, Colin Davin, Tim Dobby, guitars, ‘Pepe Romero Masterclass,’ USC Thornton School of Music, Los Angeles, April 11, 2006
Published by Ian Krouse Music
Score: $19.00
Parts: $38.00Duration: 18’
Program notes and performance history:
The ‘Canciones Melancolicos’ is an arrangement of the soprano arias from the music I wrote for the 1988 Bilingual Foundation of the Arts’ Los Angeles productions of Lorca’s Mariana Pineda. (It also exists in a version with piano accompaniment entitled ‘Songs from Mariana Pineda.’) The work was given two premiere performances by a superb group of USC students in 2006 with an enthusiastic Maestro Pepe Romero in attendance.
The romantic, folkloric style is characteristic of the many songs I wrote for productions of Lorca plays in the eighties and early nineties.Text and translation:
‘Canciones Melancolicos’
(Guitar Quartet no. 8)Texts and translations
I
Las agujas de plata, With silver needles
bastidor de cristal, and a crystal frame,
bordaba una bandera, she sewed a banner.
cantar que te cantar. and sang and sang.
Por el olivo, olivo, Beneath the olive, the olive,
¡madre, quién lo dirá! Mother, who could know?Y la verde, verde orilla On the green, green border,
del olivarito está beneath the olive trees,
una niña morena there is a dark young maiden
llorar que te llorar. who weeps and weeps.
Por el olivo, olivo, Beneath the olive, the olive,
¡madre, quién lo dirá! Mother, who could know?II
Si toda la tarde fuera If this whole afternoon
como un gran pájaro, ¡cuántas were a huge bird, how many
duras flechas lanzaría angry arrows I would launch
para cerrarle las alas! to make it fold its wings!
Hora redonda y oscura A rounded shadowy hour
que me pesa en las pestañas. hanging heavy on my lashes.
Dolor de viejo lucero The aching of an ancient star
detenido en mi garganta. is imprisoned in my body.
Ya debieran las estrellas By now stars should be beginning
asomarse a mi ventana to appear at my window,
y abrírse lentos los pasos slowly revealing the lonely
por la calle solitaria. way along my street.
¡Con que trabajo tan grande How hard, how terribly hard
deja la luz a Granada! for the daylight to leave Granada!Se enreda entre los cipreses It winds around the cypress trees,
o se esconde bajo el agua. it hides beneath the water.
¡Y esta noche que no llega! This night that does not come!¡Noche temida y soñada; This night I’ve dreaded and dreamed of
que me hieres ya de lejos stabs me from the distance
con larguísimas espadas! with its swords extended!III
“Luna tendida, marinero en pie,” “The moon is low, the sailor must stand watch,”
dicen allá, por el Mediterráneo, that’s what the men who work the frigates
las gentes de veleros y fragatas. and the sailboats say in the Mediterranean,
¡Como ellos, hay que Like them, we have to
estar siempre acechando! be on constant watch!
“Luna tendida, marinero en pie.” “The moon is low, the sailor must stand watch.”Dormir tranquilamente, niños míos, Sleep in peace, my children,
mientras que yo, perdida y loca, siento while I, confused and half insane,
quemarse con su propia lumbre viva consume myself with my own living flame.
esta rosa de sangre de mi pecho. A rose of blood blooms within my breast.
Soñar en la verbena y el jardín I dream of the verbena in the garden
de Cartagena, luminoso y fresco, of Cartagena, so fresh, so cool
y en la pájara pinta que se mece and of the bird who rocks himself
en las ramas del verde limonero. upon the green branches of the lemon tree.
Que yo también estoy dormida, niños, Because I am also asleep, my children,
y voy volando por mi propio sueño, and I go flying off in my own dream,
como van, sin saber adónde van, the way they fly, not knowing
los tenues vilanicos por el viento. where they’re blown, the fragile little bits of thistledown.IV
A la vera del agua, At the edge of the water
sin que nadie la viera, with no one to witness,
se murió mi esperanza. all my hope has died.
Esta copla está diciendo This song is telling me
lo que saber no quisiera, what I do not wish to know,
corazón sin esperanza, that a heart without hope
¡que se lo trague la tierra! must go into the earth!V
Recuerdo aquella copla que decía I remember that song I used to sing
cruzando los olivos de Granada: beneath the olives of Granada:
“¡Ay, qué fragatita, “Oh, my little privateer at sea,
real corsaria! ¿Donde está you must call on all your courage!
tu valentía?
Que un velero bergantín Because a swift brigantine
te ha puesto la puntería.” has taken aim at you!”
Entre el mar y las estrellas Between the stars and the summer sea,
¡con qué gusto pasearía how sweetly you could sail,
apoyada sobre una borne upon the long caressing
larga baranda de brisa! balustrade of the breeze!
Pedro, coge tu caballo. Pedro, mount your horse,
o ven montado en el día. Or come riding on the day.
¡Pedro, pronto! ¡Que ya vienen Pedro, hurry! They are coming
para quitarme la vida! to take away my life!
Clava las duras espuelas. Dig in to your spurs.
“¡Ay, qué fragatita, “Ay, my little privateer at sea,
real corsaria! ¿Dónde está You must call on
tu valentía? all your courage!
Que un famoso bergantín Because a swift brigantine
te ha puesto la puntería.” has taken aim at you!”Texts by Federico García Lorca
from ‘Mariana Pineda’
Guitar Quartet No. 7 (aka ‘The Civil Guard’) (low voice and four guitars)
Premiered by the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet with Tom Speckhard, baritone, Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota, March 6, 1999.
Published by Ian Krouse Music
Score: $19.00
Parts: $38.00Duration: 11’
Program notes and performance history:
The Ballad of the Spanish Civil Guard is a concert arrangement, for guitar quartet and low voice, of a scene from my opera Lorca, Child of the Moon. The Minneapolis Guitar Quartet premiered this version with American baritone Tom Speckard at Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 6, 1999, and has subsequently performed it several times.
In the opera it is sung by a mezzo-soprano and baritone soloist with chorus, and is intended to be richly and powerfully choreographed, as it was by Mari Sandoval in the 1997 Los Angeles Production by the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. I remember feeling rather daunted by the density and power of the text, to say nothing of the length. (Prior to this point I had never before set such an ambitious text.) In the end, under great time pressure, I wrote the first two-thirds of the piece very quickly, having settled upon the rhythmic figure that starts things off. The final section of the piece was written after a lapse of a year or so.
The piece also exists in an arrangement for low voice and piano, a version that has been performed many times, mainly by mezzo-soprano Suzann Guzman, who premiered the role of ‘La Gitana’ in the opera, and for whom the concert version was made.
Text and translation:Romance de la guardia civil española/Ballad of the Spanish Civil Guard
Los caballos negros son. The horses are black.
Las herraduras son negras. The horseshoes are black.
Sobre las capas relucen On the cloaks gleam
manchas de tinta y de cera. stains of wine and wax.
Tienen, por eso no lloran, They have, and for this reason do not weep,
de plomo las calaveras skulls made of lead
Con el alma de charol With souls of patent leather
vienen por la carretera. they come along the road.
Jorobados y nocturnos, Hunchbacked and nocturnal,
por donde animan ordenan wherever they go imposing
silencios de goma oscura, silences of dark rubber,
y miedos de fina arena. and fears of fine sand.
Pasan, si quieren pasar, They pass, if they wish to pass,
y ocultan en la cabeza and they hide in their heads
una vaga astronomía an obscure astronomy
de pistolas inconcretas. of shapeless pistols.
.
!Oh ciudad de los gitanos! Oh city of the gypsies!
En las esquinas banderas. At the corners flags.
La luna y la calabaza The moon and the pumpkin
con las guindas en conserva. with cherry preserves.
!Oh ciudad de los gitanos! Oh city of the gypsies!
¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda? Who could see you and forget you?
Cuidad de dolor y almizcle, City of sorrow and musk,
con las torres de canela. with towers of cinnamon.Cuando llegaba la noche, When the night falls,
noche que noche nochera, darkest night of nights,
los gitanos en sus fraguas the gypsies in their forges
forjaban soles y flechas. were making suns and arrows.
Un caballo malherido, A horse badly wounded,
llamaba a todas las puertas. cries out at all the doors.
Gallos de vidrio cantaban Crystal roosters were singing
por Jerez de la Frontera. throughout Jerez de la Frontera.
El viento, vuelve desnudo The wind, turns naked
la esquina de la sopresa, the corner of surprise,
en la noche platinoche in the night silvery night
noche que noche nochera. darkest night of nights.La Virgen y San José, The Virgin and Saint Joseph,
perdieron sus castañuelas, lost their castanets,
y buscan a los gitanos and they look among the gypsies
para ver si las encuentran. to see if they have found them.
La Virgen viene vestida The Virgin comes dressed
con un traje de alcadesa with an outfit like a mayor’s wife
de papel de chocolate of wrappers from chocolates
con los collares de almendras. with necklaces of almonds.
San José mueve los brazos Saint Joseph moves his arms
bajo una capa de seda. beneath a cape of silk.
Detrás va Pedro Domecq After him goes Pedro Domecq
con tres sultanes de Persia. with three sultans of Persia.
La media luna, soñaba The half moon, dreamed
un éxtasis de cigüeña. an ecstasy of storks.
Estandartes y faroles Banners and lanterns
invaden las azoteas. invade the rooftops.
Por los espejos sollozan Into the mirrors weep
bailarinas sin caderas. ballerinas without hips.
Agua y sombra, sombra y agua Water and shadow, shadow and water,
por Jerez de la Frontera. throughout Jerez de la Frontera.!Oh ciudad de los gitanos! Oh city of the gypsies!
En las esquinas banderas. At the corners flags.
Apaga tus verdes luces Put out your green lights
que viene la benemérita. noble guardians are coming.
!Oh ciudad de los gitanos! Oh city of the gypsies!
¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda? Who could see you and forget you?
Dejadla lejos del mar, Abandon her far from the sea,
sin pienes para sus crenchas. without combs for her hair.Avanzan de dos en fondo They advance two by two
a la cuidad de la fiesta. towards the city of the fiesta.
Un rumor de siemprevivas A rumor of immortal flowers
invade las cartucheras. invades their catridges.
Avanzan de dos en fondo. They advance two by two.
Doble nocturno de tela. Doubled nocturne of cloth.
El cielo, se les antoja, The skies, they would like to think,
una vitrina de espuelas. a showcase of spurs.
La cuidad libre de miedo, The city free of fear,
multiplicaba sus puertas. multiplied its gates.
Cuarenta guardias civiles Forty Civil Guards
entran a saco por ellas. entered and attacked them.
Los relojes se pararon, The clocks stopped,
y el coñac de las botellas and the cognac in the bottles
se disfrazó de noviembre disguised itself as November
para no infundir sospechas. so as not to arouse suspicion.
Un vuelo de gritos largos A flight of long screams
se levantó en las veletas. rose up through the vanes.
Los sables cortan las brisas The sabers cut the breezes
que los cascos atropellan. that the helmets trampled.
Por las calles de penumbra Through the streets of shadows
huyen las gitanas viejas old gypsy women flee
con los caballos dormidos with their sleepy horses
y las orzas de monedas. and their jars of coins.
Por las calles empinadas Through the climbing streets
suben las capas siniestras, rise the sinister capes,
dejando detrás fugaces leaving behind brief
remolinos de tijeras. whirlwinds of scissors.
En el portal de Belén At the gate of Bethlehem
los gitanos se congregan. the gypsies gather.
San José, lleno de heridas, Saint Joseph, filled with wounds,
amortaja a una doncella. shrouds a young girl.
Tercos fusiles agudos Stubborn rifles piercing
por toda la noche suenan. resound throughout the night.
La Virgen cura a los niños The Virgin heals the children
con salivilla de estrella. with spittle from a star.
Pero la Guardia Civil But the Civil Guard
avanza sembrando hogueras, advances sowing flames,
donde joven y desnuda where young and naked
la imaginación se quema. the imagination is consumed.
Rosa la de los Camborios, Rosa of the Camborios,
gime sentada en su puerta moaning seated in her doorway
con sus dos pechos cortados with her two breasts severed
puestos en una bandeja. placed on a tray.
Y otras muchachas corrían And the other girls are running,
perseguidas por sus trenzas pursued by their own braids,
en un aire donde estallan in the air all around them
rosas de pólvora negra. roses of black powder.
Cuando todos los tejados When all the rooftops
eran surcos en la tierra were ploughed into the earth
el alba meció sus hombros the dawn turned her shoulders
en largo perfil de piedra. in a long profile of stone.!Oh ciudad de los gitanos! Oh city of the gypsies!
La Guardia Civil se aleja The Civil Guard departs
por un túnel de silencio through a tunnel of silence
mientras las llamas te cercan. while the flames enclose you.!Oh ciudad de los gitanos! Oh city of the gypsies!
¿Quién te vio y no te recuerda? Who could see you and forget you?
Que te busquen en mi frente. They seek you on my brow.
Juego de luna y arena. Play of moon and sand.
Text: Romance de la Guardia Civil Española by Federico García Lorca (from Romancero Gitano 1924-1927). Translation by Ian Krouse.
Guitar Quartet No. 6 (aka ‘La Corrida’)
Published by Ian Krouse Music
Score: $19
Parts: $38Duration: 6’
Program notes and performance history:
In the eighties and early nineties I composed dozens of songs and ensemble pieces for use in the bilingual (Spanish/English) productions of Lorca plays by the Los Angeles based Bilingual Foundation of the Arts. Most of these pieces were written in a quasi-folkloric style and designed to be sung live to pre-recorded piano or guitar accompaniments. It is full of high spirits and youthful intensity, appropriate to the character of the excitable and impressionable young woman who sings it in the play.
Texts and translations:
- En la corrida mas grande
En la corrida más grande At the splendiferous bullfight
que vio e Ronda la vieja. down in the town of Ronda.
Cinco toros de azabache, There were five magnificent bulls
con divisa verde y negra. and black and green were their ribbons.
Yo pensaba siempre en ti; But of you I was thinking;
yo pensaba; ¡si estuviera but of you I was thinking.
conmigo mi triste amiga, in my mind you were there, Marianita,
mi Marianita Pineda! my Marianita Pineda!
Las niñas venían gritando All the Señoritas were laughing
sobre pintadas calesas each in a painted carriage,
con abanicos redondos they were flaunting fans in big circles
bordados de lentejuelas flashing with shining sequins.
Y los jóvenes de Ronda And the young men of Ronda
sobre jacas pintureras, mounted on comical ponies,
los anchos sombreros grises their wide grey sombreros
calados hasta alas cejas. pulled down over their eyebrows.
La plaza, con el gentío The plaza, so full of people,
(calañés y altas pienetas) (simpatico Andalusians)
giraba como un zodiaco a zodiac turning, turning, and turning –
de risas blancas y negras. black and white was their laughter.
Y cuando el gran Cayetano And then the great Cayetano
cruzó la pajiza arena came into the sandy arena
con traje color manzana, his suit the color of apples,
bordado de plata y seda, embroidered in silk and silver,
destacándose gallardo there he stood, so brave and so graceful
entre la gente de brega among all the raucous people
frente a los toros zaínos facing bulls so brave and so vicious
que España cría en su tierra, bred from the Spanish soil.
parecía que la tarde Then the light of afternoon
se ponía más morena. started spreading like a sunburn.
!Si hubieras visto con qué How graceful was his manner
gracia movía las piernas! and the way his legs were moving!
!Qué gran equilibrio el suyo With what equilibrium he dazzled
con la capa y la muleta! with his rapier and his cape!
Ni Pepe-Hillo ni nadie Not Pepe Hillo, no, no one
toreó como él torea. could fight the way that he fights them!
Cinco toros mató;cinco,There were five bulls. He killed five –
con divisa verde y negra. green and black were their ribbons.
En la punta de su estoque And his rapier’s point left open
cinco flores dejó abiertas, five blooming crimson flowers.
y en cada instante rozaba So close, so close upon the creatures,
los hocicos de las fieras, brushing up against their nostrils,
como una gran mariposa butterfly, a butterfly so gigantic,
de oro con alas bermejas. glowing gold and vermillion.
La plaza al par que la tarde, The afternoon, the bullring,
vibraba fuerte, violenta, all Ronda throbbed with violent passion,
y entre el olor de la sangre the smell of blood was mingled
iba el olor de la sierra. into the smell of the sierras.
Yo pensaba siempre en ti; But of you I was thinking;
yo pensaba: ¡su estuviera in my mind you were laughing
conmigo mi triste amiga, in my mind, you were there, Marianita,
mi Marianita Pineda! my Marianita Pineda!English translation by Carmen Zapata and Michael Dewell with permission from the Lorca estate. Copyright 1984. All rights reserved.
Guitar Quartet No. 1 (1977)
Written for the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and premiered on the occasion of my Masters Degree recital at the University of Southern California in May, 1979. The performers were, in addition to myself, Terry Graves, Agnes Narciso, James Smith, and Thomas Wong.
Published by Ian Krouse Music
Score: $19.00
Parts: $38.00
Program notes and performance history:My first guitar quartet was written while I was pursuing a Masters Degree in composition at the University of Southern California. My teacher at the time was the late Halsey Stevens. This piece is characteristic of my ‘severe’ style, and is quite influenced by Elliott Carter, Bartok and Ligeti. The version that I premiered with James Smith, Agnes Narciso, Thomas Wong and Terry Graves (yes, it took five players for this ‘quartet’!) involved two pairs of guitarists spread apart by about twelve feet or so, and each tuned ¼ tone from the others. We played the heck out of it and it came off rather well, but I subsequently made a second version that eliminated the microtonal aspect (I discovered that at the speed we played most of the piece the ¼ tone effect was all but negated) and simplified some of the textures, especially towards the end. The revised version has never been played – my style changed radically before that could happen! Still, for those interested in my work, it might be interesting to see what the composer of Antique Suite, Bulerías, Folías, and Labyrinth was doing in the 70’s. For its time it was a radical piece, in either version, and might be interesting in revival. The piece may also be deconstructed as series of ‘etudes’ for guitar duo, an exercise we undertook in the Guitar Ensemble class at USC during the period in which we were working up the piece for performance.
Chiacona (for guitar and organ) 2002
Commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for the 2004 Biennial National Conference in Los Angeles, Christoph Bull, organ, and Scott Tennant, guitar, Royce Hall, UCLA, 9:15 &10:45 A.M., July 6, 2004.
Published by Ian Krouse Music.
Score and parts: $18.00
Duration: 12’
Program notes and performance history:
The source for my Chiacona, is a work of the same name for violin and continuo written by the mid 17th century virtuoso, Antonio Bertali. However, my freely realized interpretation is far more than an arrangement: though it is true that, if one took the trouble to strip away my contributions, the original would be revealed basically intact, I have altered the fundamental geometry of the piece by extending certain sections – creating a kind of emphasis that goes far beyond mere performance practice decisions – or employing augmentation, mensural canons, neo-isorhythmic procedures, and the like, to create fractal-like fluctuations in the original architecture. Probably, these sorts of techniques are mere composerly amusements, serving mainly as a creative aid to ‘find’ or ‘get into’ the piece. The first time listener will likely be more aware of the high level of the (increasingly risky) contrasts that populate this brief landscape; contrasts made possible by simply exaggerating or magnifying the inherent qualities of the spectacular original. Bertali’s score abounds in quick-fire modulations, peppery cross relations, abrupt tempo changes, eerie chromaticism, and playful – at times awkwardly long – pauses; its moods sway between the pastoral and the brilliant, the playful and the majestic, and from ‘pop’ to ‘arty’. It was both easy and amusing – ultimately satisfying – to exaggerate or augment these found conditions and stretch them far beyond the stylistic and performance practice limits of the time. In a way my ‘treatment’ could be viewed as an anachronistic – though admiring – application of modern performance practices to a 17th century object. Ultimately, I dare to hope that neither my own voice nor that of my unknowing collaborator will be completely obscured: I have endeavored to allow my own voice full reign without doing so at the expense of its original author.
Thomas Harmon, James Hopkins, and Frances Nobert, and, of course Christoph Bull, provided me with expert advice along the way, otherwise I would surely have floundered long before completing this – my first – composition for organ.
Chiacona (for guitar and orchestra) 2008
Commissioned by the Korean Community Cultural Center and premiered by guitarist Scott Tennant and the Los Angeles Festival Orchestra conducted by Jong Bae, Disney Hall, Los Angeles, California, July 28, 2008.
Published by Ian Krouse Music.
Conductor’s score: $48.00
Score and parts rental: $500 (Academic pricing available.)Duration: 12’
Program notes and performance history:
The Chiacona for guitar and orchestra is a re-working of a piece I wrote in 2002 for organ and guitar, in effect, an arrangement of a transformation! The source for my piece is a work of the same name for violin and continuo written by the mid 17th century virtuoso, Antonio Bertali. However, my freely realized interpretation is far more than an arrangement: though it is true that, if one took the trouble to strip away my contributions, the original would be revealed basically intact, I have altered the fundamental geometry of the piece by extending certain sections – creating a kind of emphasis that goes far beyond mere performance practice decisions – or employing augmentation, mensural canons, neo-isorhythmic procedures, and the like, to create fractal-like fluctuations in the original architecture. Probably, these sorts of techniques are mere composerly amusements, serving mainly as a creative aid to ‘find’ or ‘get into’ the piece. The first time listener will likely be more aware of the high level of the (increasingly risky) contrasts that populate this brief landscape; contrasts made possible by simply exaggerating or magnifying the inherent qualities of the spectacular original. Bertali’s score abounds in quick-fire modulations, peppery cross relations, abrupt tempo changes, eerie chromaticism, and playful – at times awkwardly long – pauses; its moods sway between the pastoral and the brilliant, the playful and the majestic, and from ‘pop’ to ‘arty’. It was both easy and amusing – ultimately satisfying – to exaggerate or augment these found conditions and stretch them far beyond the stylistic and performance practice limits of the time. In a way my ‘treatment’ could be viewed as an anachronistic – though admiring – application of modern performance practices to a 17th century object. Ultimately, I dare to hope that neither my own voice nor that of my unknowing collaborator will be completely obscured: I have endeavored to allow my own voice full reign without doing so at the expense of its original author. In the version premiered at Disney Hall in 2008, the famous Korean song ‘Arirang’ is heard as a cantus firmus as the guitar dies away at the end.
All works as performed and recorded by the De Falla Trio, except those marked with asterisks.
Two guitars
Claude Debussy:
The Girl With the Flaxen hair $12.00
Prelude No. ?? (Footsteps in the Snow)$12.00Enrique Granados:
Spanish Dances $48.00
No. 5 $12.00
Oriental $12.00Three guitars
Isaac Albeniz:
Aragon (Fantasia) from ‘The First Spanish Suite’ Op. 47 $28.00J.S. Bach:
Concerto in D-major (after Johann Ernst) $36.00
Allegro
Grave
PrestoManuel De Falla:
Spanish Dance from ‘La Vida Breve’ $28.00Suite from ‘El Amor Brujo’ $48.00
Pantomime
Will-o-the-wisp
Dance of Terror
Fisherman’s Song
Dance of Love’s Play
Ritual Fire DanceSuite from ‘The Three Cornered Hat’ $48.00
The Neighbors’ Dance (Seguidillas)
Miller’s Dance (Farruca)
Dance of the Corregidor
Dance of the Miller’s Wife (Fandango)W.A. Mozart:
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik(Serenade in G, K. 525) $48.00
Allegro
Romanze
Menuet
RondoSerenade in D-major $48.00
Allegro
Andante
PrestoPadre Antonio Soler:
Fandango $28.00
George Philip Telemann:
Trio Sonata in F-major $28.00
Antonio Vivaldi:
Concerto in d-minor (as arranged by J.S. Bach) $36.00
Allegro
Adagio
AllegroFour guitars
Manuel De Falla:
Danza Ritual del Fuego* (as recorded by the Los Angeles
Guitar Quartet) $36.00Three guitars and orchestra
Georg Philipp Telemann:
Concerto in F-major