Tarrega Anthology

SKU: UT.CH-227

ISBN 9790215324145. 9 x 12 inches.

Emilio Calandin: Piccola sfumatura
Claudia Montero: Lagrimas de Buenos Aires
Marco Reghezza: Como Preludio
Marco Smaili: Preludio
Alessandro Spazzoli: Preludio in Do maggiore
Roberto Tagliamacco: Prelude sur le nom de Tarrega
Paolo Ugoletti: Prelude sur le nom de Tarrega

Having been invited several times onto the jury of the prestigious Certamen Tarrega in Benicasim, I thought I would involve a few composers in a gift to the father of the modern guitar. So I asked the composers to write a Prelude of the kind that Tarrega wrote and which count among his most significant compositions.
These Preludes for Tarrega, all written between August and November 2015, are very different from each other. The common feature, however, between these and the Preludes by Tarrega is their brevity, an average level of performance difficulty and guaranteed easy listening, even when written in a non-tonal language (like the meditative and melancholy piece by Emilio Calandin and the one by Marco Smaili, with its Impressionistic feel reminding one of Tarrega's most famous pupil, Miguel Llobet).
In some Preludes (the ones by Paolo Ugoletti, Roberto Tagliamacco, Claudia Montero) the reference to Lagrima, one of Tarrega's most famous Preludes, is evident in form, title and some citations. Ugoletti and Tagliamacco work well and expressively on harmony and counterpoint, while the Argentinian Claudia Montero links Tarrega to a heartbreaking Buenos Aires...
In Alessandro Spazzoli there is rather more a connection with Tarrega's sense of melody and deep simplicity, while Marco Reghezza remembers ironically what was brewing in European music when Tarrega was alive: in fact, his Como Preludio goes across the 24 keys - and even a reference to Wagner's Tristan raises its head...
I am delighted for this volume to come out at the time of the fiftieth edition of the Certamen Tarrega.
(Piero Bonaguri).