Wednesday 7 March 2012

Villa-Lobos - 12 Guitar Etudes [Bream]

Another first for my Blog, this is the first time Villa-Lobos appears, and in one of his very best works indeed, his 12 Etudes have a kinship with Chopin, technically difficult, and yet not mere 'studies' or 'exercises', first and foremost they're satisfying music regardless of whether they're easy or difficult for the player, they are beautiful on the ear, i certainly feel that Classical Composers have neglected the guitar, why compose on the guitar when you have the piano?, but the guitar has such a unique and individual voice, its solo music sits perfectly as miniatures, a short 'commercial' as it were, to introduce an idea and tickle the ear / brain, and those that compose in books of works [books of 12 or 24 pieces work perfectly], make individual statements within a framework of an even bigger whole, these 12 small pieces [just over 30 minutes], are some of the very best things you can listen to, and i was wowed by their inventiveness today.