Description
Apanhei-te cavaquinho, Turbilhão de Beijos, Escorregando (2
guitares)
niveau 2-3
Rezension:
The piano music of Ernesto Nazareth (pronounced and spelt Nazaré by the
Brazilians) (1863-1934) has been revered in Brazil ever since this enchanting
musician first came to prominence with his compositions and the flowering of
chôro music forms, including the diminutive chôrinho, which had flowered from
the streets to the parlours of Rio. An influence of European, English and
Scottish dance forms, combined with whatever indigenous, plus African music, was
to hand, the tango, famously associated with the bordellos of Buenos Aires, also
had origins in the Rive Plate area of Argentina and Uruguay; the Creole tango,
transmogrifying into the Brazilian tango, filtering into the chôrinho and chôro
(confused? you still will be - to borrow a famous by-line from a past but
hilarious, comedy). By the time Nazareth's compositions were published it was
fairly obvious they were chôrinhos rather than tangos but the publishers stuck
with the name. Nazreth also composed a wealth of waltzes, polkas, schottisches
and sambas etc; over 200 works survive. One of the great things about reviewing
music for Classical Guitar is the knowledge that the readership will contain
those who have never had the pleasure of hearing this music nor have the
faintest clue who this composer was and that by reading what I scribble here
will go on (hopefully) to discover the delights of which I quite rightly
passionately espouse. The challenges of transcribing and arranging this music
for guitar(s) are similar to those of doing the same with the music of the much
more widely known Scott Joplin. This has been done with varying degrees of
success in the past and for the most part been highly commendable and effective.
I would say that the South American ?ragged? music has rhythms that while
syncopated skip across the line far more than the northern neighbours
(neighbors?) and have more of a tendency for extra passing notes, chromatism and
colourful modulations. It feels and sounds ?spicier? is what I'm trying to say.
Rather than go into blow-by-blow detail I can let you know that Jürg Kindle has
done a fantastic job in arranging these pieces for two guitars. He has kept
within the boundaries of the fingerboard without sacrificing the highs and lows
of the piano keyboard too much. They are a very clean set of arrangements that
should allow for a fair amount of interpretation from the players; enough to
play with and enough slow-to-fast ratios to keep the attention fixed. Fingering
is verging on the minimal, along with dynamic, and tempo markings, but enough to
let you know that this must never be bland repetitive music. If it should do one
thing it should sparkle. With the scores in front of you and the perfume of the
past teasing your senses this music will surely be a delight.
Highly
recommended.
Tim Panting (Classical Guitar Magazine)


