The title of this lovely
CD is totally explicit – ‘Composition
Feminine - Music composed for Classical
Guitar – from Baroque to Modern.’ Yet
I must confess straightaway that I only
know the works and names of one of the
composers. Apart from a tiny bell being
rung in my mind by Camilla de Rossi
(or is it just incipient ‘wedding fever’)
they are all closed books to me. There
is a dearth of published information
on these women, so I hope to be excused
leaning on the rather spartan programme
notes. And, incidentally that is my
only criticism of this excellent and
eye-opening disc, although the programme
could have been more generous.
Germaine Tailleferre
is a great composer - there is no doubt
about that. Yet out of ‘Les Six’ she
is the least known. Now I do not profess
to have heard all that she has written
- however everything I have ever heard
from her pen I have enjoyed. None more
so than this present Concerto for Two
Guitars and Orchestra.
This is not the place
to give a biography of the composer;
however a few notes are perhaps useful.
Tailleferre was an exceptionally gifted
composer who had studied with Charles
Koechlin and Maurice Ravel. She won
a number of prestigious academic prizes
but this did not stifle her devotion
to the prevalent spirit of neo-classicism.
All her works have a conciseness, clarity
and wit that is lacking in much music
written during her lifetime by other
better known composers.
She is quoted, rather
modestly I feel, as saying about her
life as a composer, "I write music
because it amuses me. It's not great
music, I know, but it's gay, light-hearted
music which is sometimes compared with
that of the 'petits maîtres' of
the 18th century. And that makes me
very proud."
The Concerto for Two
Guitars and Orchestra was composed in
the early 1960s as a commission by Robert
J. Vidal, who was a producer at Radio
France. It is believed to have been
dedicated to two South American guitarists
for a concert tour. They were possibly
Messrs Pomponio and Zarate. The concerto
was been ‘lost’ ‘somewhere in Latin
America’ but luckily it turned up in
the archives of Radio France.
It is a lovely addition
to the catalogue of concertos for this
relatively little concerted instruments.
To my ear it sits on a par with the
Lennox Berkeley concerto and that is
a high compliment.
The Variations on
a theme by Mercadante by Emilia
Giuliani-Guglielmi is an example of
the passion that some nineteenth century
composers had for writing fantasies
on themes from the popular operas of
the day. We need only think of Liszt
and Thalberg. I am not sufficiently
an opera fan to divine what opera gave
the theme of these variations, but perhaps
it was ‘Emma’. As for Saverio
Mercadante he was exceptionally ‘big’
in his day. He was a favourite of Rossini
and was influenced by Meyerbeer. At
the time Giuliani-Guglielmi wrote her
piece Mercadante would have been regarded
as the most important composer of Italian
opera. He died in 1870 aged 75.
Much more to my liking
are the three short pieces by the Argentine
composer Maria Lusia Anido. In fact,
with the exception of Tailleferre’s
piece they are to my mind the most accomplished
on this disc. They combine a subtlety
of harmonic construction that combines
a wonderful atmospheric feel with the
native simplicity of folk music. The
most substantial is the Preludio
pampeano which is one of the loveliest
guitar works I have heard. It is truly
gorgeous. The Melodia de Argentina
is more predictable in its Latin
American inflections. The last of her
pieces is the near perfect Aire de
Vidalita. This intimate music should
be in every guitarist’s repertoire.
Music to listen to way beyond the midnight
hour!
Ida Presti was a French
guitarist who was somewhat of a prodigy
– she gave her first performance in
Paris aged six! In later life she toured
Europe with her husband, Alexandre Lagoya
who was also a guitarist. Her present
piece, the Danse Rhythmique is
a soft and gentle miniature that perhaps
belies the expectation of ‘rhythm’ in
an American sense. This is a dreamy
prelude rather than ‘hot club’ jazz.
We move to America
for the Falcon Fantasy by Elisabeth
R. Austin. This is the most ‘modern’
work on this CD. In some ways it is
a bit of an anachronism and there seems
to be a certain mixing of styles which
I find a little hard to take. Some of
this is standard ‘Spanish’ guitar figuration
while other sections seem to owe more
to certain avant-garde techniques of
scraping and tapping. A little bit mixed
up, I feel. And the sleeve-notes tend
to exaggerate the ‘deep’ programmatic
content of this slight work. Having
said all this, there are some nice moments
and perhaps it does deserve an occasional
airing.
There seems to be little
known about Camilla de Rossi, except
that she was composing music between
the years 1707 and 1710. Furthermore
she was writing music for the court
chapel in Vienna. As to a place of birth
we are left even more in the dark –
however a number of her remaining holographs
have ‘Romano’ inscribed on them – which
suggest a Roman origin.
Rossi's catalogue is
known to include four oratorios including
one on the Prodigal Son and another
on St Beatrice. However her magnum
opus was the oratorio ‘The Sacrifice
of Abraham.’ And what is more I
have discovered why her name rang a
bell – I reviewed this work a few years
ago for Musicweb! [CPO 999 603-2]
The present Sinfonia
was originally written for the lute
– which appears here taking both a solo
and continuo role. It is a slight work
in durational terms, yet the piece is
a delicate balance between downright
charm and a sadness no doubt derived
from the subject matter. But let it
not be forgotten that the Abraham/Isaac
story has a happy ending. These four
small pieces well reflect the course
of the narrative. I can only wish that
more instrumental works had survived
from the pen of Camilla de Rossi.
Overall this is a lovely
disc. It is one that all guitar enthusiasts
would treasure if they were lucky enough
to come across it in the shops. The
playing is perfect; I cannot fault anything
about the sheer musicality of everything
presented here.
John France
