20th Century Guitar Music - Jose Luis Gonzalez

 

20th Century Guitar Music

20th Century Guitar Music

By Ponce, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Villa-Lobos, Tarrega, Tansman, Barrios, Libaek

Jose Luis Gonzalez 

Recorded by Australian Record Company Limited, a CBS Subsidiary

Odyssey STEREO 32 16 0200

A Product of CBS

From the back cover: José Luis Gonzalez is one of the most outstanding guitarists to come out of Spain since the debut of the great Andrés Segovia in 1909.

Gonzalez was born in Alcoy, Spain, in 1932. At the age of sixteen, he gave his first public recital in Madrid's Realto Theater. In 1957, he was graduated from the Valencia Conservatory. For a time, Gonzalez was a scholarship pupil of Regino Sainz de la Maza in Madrid and also studied for many summers with Segovia at Santiago de Compostela. In 1961, Gonzalez won the Margarita Pastor prize in a competition organized by the Orense Conservatory and held in conjunction with the Music at Compostela Festival. In this contest, the young virtuoso competed against master guitarists from all over the world.

After being acclaimed in recitals throughout Continental Europe and in North Africa, Gonzalez moved to Australia in 1962, settling in Sydney to teach, concertize and to record for CBS Australia. Recently, he has expanded his concert activities again to include Europe, plus England and North America.

In addition to giving outstanding performances of the classical and Spanish repertoires for guitar, Gonzalez also specializes in contemporary music from many nations, such as this collection of guitar pieces by composers from Poland, Norway, Italy, Mexico, Spain and South America.

Manuel María Ponce (1882-1948) was born in Mexico, but studied piano in Germany and composition in Italy. He later taught at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, where for two years he also conducted the National Symphony Orchestra. He was an enthusiastic admirer of his country's folk songs and utilized them in many compositions.

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - ) was born in Italy, but now makes his home in the United States. He is famous for his guitar pieces, especially his Concerto in D Major, but is also well known for a variety of orchestral, chamber and choral works. The "Tonadilla for Guitar on the Name of Andrés Segovia" was composed in 1925, the melody deriving from notes assigned to the letters in Segovia's name. Sven Erik Libaek (1938- ) was born in Oslo, Norway, and has lived in Australia since 1961. He studied piano and composition at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. The two pieces featured in this album are from a series of six "Musical Pictures for Guitar," written in Australia during 1964-65.

Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909) was an outstanding representative of the modern Spanish-guitar school. Born in Villarreal, Castellón, he studied at the Madrid Conservatory, where he later became Professor of Guitar. Tárrega is noted for his many original pieces for guitar and for transcriptions of classical and modern works.

Alexandre Tansman (1897- ) was born in Lodz, Poland. He made an extensive tour of the United States in 1927, performing his own piano works. Tansman has lived in France since 1919, and his works reflect both Polish and French influences. "Mazurka" was composed in 1925 for Andrés Segovia. Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) is South America's most famous composer. Although born in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Villa-Lobos traveled extensively in the interior of Brazil to collect folk music. "Chôros No. 1" is one of more than a dozen works bearing the title "Chôros" and composed for a variety of instruments and combinations. This "Chôros" was written for violão (Brazilian guitar) and represents a synthesis of both Indian and pop- ular melodies of Brazil.

Augustín Barrios was a native of Paraguay, where he died in 1944. Little is known about him except that he was of Indian descent and was a gifted guitarist and composer. His "Medallón Antiguo" is recorded here for the first time.

Side 1

Ponce: Six Preludes (BMI-5:42)

Ponce: Thème varié et finale (BMI-7:52) Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Tonadilla for Guitar on the Name of Andrés Segovia (BMI-4:18)

Libaek: Musical Pictures for Guitar,

Nos. 2 and 3 (ASCAP-6:25)

Side 2

Tárrega: Six Preludes (BMI-6:06)

Tansman: Mazurka (BMI-5:00)

Villa-Lobos: Chôros No. 1 (BMI-4:19) 

Barrios: Medallón Antiguo (ASCAP-3:17)