10/3 Francisco Tárrega, “Sarasate of the Guitar” We explore the genius of the composer known as the “Sarasate of the guitar.” Francisco Tárrega’s works are challenging to play and inspiring to hear, especially as performed by Julian Bream, Narciso Yepes, and Slava Grigoryan.
10/10 Music for Two Guitars and Orchestra Chopin wrote that the only thing more beautiful than one guitar is two guitars. On today’s show, we prove him right, with works for two guitars and orchestra by Federico Moreno Torroba and Joaquín Rodrigo.
10/17 Canciones españolas / Spanish Songs One of Spain’s musical glories is her wealth of songs -- from every region and every era, loved and kept alive through the ages through transcriptions and arrangements. We’ll hear Manuel Valls’s transcription of Sephardic songs, a cello and piano version of Manuel de Falla’s Popular Spanish Songs, and José Luis Greco’s work for voice and string quartet, inspired by songs collected by Federico García Lorca.
10/24 Best-Loved Spanish Guitar Classics Claude Debussy defined the guitar as an expressive harpsichord. Joaquín Rodrigo believed this to be the best definition ever given of the Spanish guitar. Of the works for guitar solo, guitar duo and guitar with orchestra on this week’s program, only one was written specifically for the guitar. We’ll hear Julian Bream, Rupert Boyd, and the Heinrich-Albert Duo perform Albéniz, Plus, works by Granados, and Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.
10/31 La Fiesta de Halloween It’s a North American holiday, but Halloween is now celebrated throughout Spain and Latin America, though it is no longer the night of terror. Perhaps no instrument can give you la piel de gallina/goosebumps as can the theramin, and we’ll feature that early electronic instrument. We’ll also hear some fun and scary music from Spain and South American, including the complete El Amor Brujo/Love, the Magician by Manuel de Falla.
